Peace Theories and the Balkan War

"Peace Theories and the Balkan War" by Norman Angell is a deep look at the Balkan War in the early 1900s, questioning common beliefs about peace and war during that time. The book checks out things like building up military strength, how countries talk to each other, and money issues that lead to fights, pushing for a new way for countries to get along and solve problems. Angell kicks things off by asking some tough questions about why wars happen and why peace is hard, pointing out that ideas that ignore the importance of military strength and power don't really work. He brings up people like Winston Churchill and goes against some of Angell's own peace-loving ideas, showing how much people disagreed about whether going to war was okay when the Balkan conflict was going on. Angell wrestles with tricky social situations, money-related reasons, and what people believed in, setting the scene for a full study of why the Balkan War happened and what came of it.