Professor Annika Mombauer

Professional biography

Annika Mombauer's research interests are in nineteenth and twentieth-century European history, in particular Imperial Germany and the origins of the First World War, the history of the First World War and its historiography.

She has published widely on German military planning in the years before the First World War, and has contributed to the historiographical debate on the nature of the Schlieffen Plan. She has edited primary sources on the origins of the First World War, and published a German language book on the July Crisis of 1914. Her most recent book, The Causes of the First World War: The Long Blame Game, was published by Routledge in June 2024.  

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Fritz Fischer’s publication Griff nach der Weltmacht, which sparked the infamous Fischer controversy, she organised, together with Professor John Röhl, an international conference at the German Historical Institute in London. She has edited some of the conference proceedings which were published in a special issue of The Journal of Contemporary History, entitled ‘The Fischer Controversy after 50 Years’ (April 2013; 48, 2).

In May 2019, she organised (with colleagues in the History Department) a Royal Historical Society Symposium entitled Contested Commemorations: Reflections on the centenary of the First World War, 2013-2019, jointly funded by the Royal Historical Society and the Open University. https://royalhistsoc.org/rhs-symposium-ou-2019/

She would be interested to hear from prospective PhD students wishing to research a topic in modern German or European history.

Publications

Monographs

The Causes of the First World War: The Long Blame Game, Routledge, London 2024

 Find out more about this book;The Causes of the First World War | The Long Blame Game | Annika Momba (taylorfrancis.com)

Die Julikrise. Europas Weg in den Ersten Weltkrieg, Beck Verlag, Munich, 2014

 Find out more about this book; http://www.chbeck.de/Mombauer-Julikrise/productview.aspx?product=13110273

(Also published in Danish: A. Mombauer: Julikrisen. Europas Veu ind I Første Verdenskrig, Ellekaer, 2014. A Turkish translation is forthcoming.)

The Origins of the First World War. Controversies and Consensus, Longman, 2002

Find out more about this book; IHR review  H-Net review

(Also published in Serbian - ISBN 978-86-7102-452-5 and Croatian translation - ISBN 978-953-303-726-4 - with a new foreword, 2014)

Helmuth von Moltke and the Origins of the First World War, Cambridge University Press, 2001 

 Find out more about this book; IHR review  H-Net review

Edited Volumes

The Origins of the First World War: diplomatic and military documents, Manchester University Press, 2013

Find out more about this book

‘The Fischer Controversy after 50 Years’, special issue of The Journal of Contemporary History, April 2013, 48 (2)

The Kaiser. New Research on Wilhelm II’s role in Imperial Germany, Cambridge University Press, 2003 (edited with Wilhelm Deist)

Find out more about this book 
 

Chapters in edited volumes

'The July Crisis', in 1914-1918 online

'Diplomatie und Kriegsausbruch', in Gerhard Hirschfeld et al (eds), Enzyclopädie Erster Weltkrieg, 2nd edn, Schöningh, Paderborn 2014, 1015-1020.

‘Germany and the Origins of World War One’, in Matthew Jeffries (ed.), Ashgate Reseach Companion to Imperial Germany, Ashgate, London 2014, 413-431

‘Germany’, in Holger Herwig and Richard Hamilton (eds), War Planning 1914, Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp. 48-79  Find out more about this book

‘Der Moltke Plan. Modifikation des Schlieffenplans bei gleichen Zielen?’, in Hans Ehlert, Michael Epkenhans and Gerhard P. Groß (eds), Der Schlieffenplan. Analyse und Dokumente, Paderborn, Schöningh 2006, pp.79-99

‘Das Bild Helmuth von Moltkes in der Biography’, in Michael Epkenhans, Stig Förster and Karen Hagemann (eds), Militärische Erinnerungskultur. Soldaten im Spiegel von Biographien, Memoiren und Selbstzeugnissen, Paderborn, Schöningh 2006, pp.132-151

‘The Coming of War, 1914’, in Gordon Martel (ed), A Companion to Europe, 1900-1945 ( Blackwell Companions to European History), Oxford, Blackwell 2006, pp.180-194

‘Wilhelm, Waldersee and the Boxer Rebellion’, in Annika Mombauer and Wilhelm Deist (eds), The Kaiser. New Research on Wilhelm II’s role in Imperial Germany, Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-82408-7, pp.91-118.

‘Helmuth von Moltke: A General in crisis?’, in Matthew S. Seligmann and Matthew Hughes (eds), Leadership in Conflict, 1914-1918, Leo Cooper, London 2000, pp. 95-116, 0-85052-751-1.

Journal Articles

Co-authored with Matthew Stibbe: 'Nekrolog John C. G. Rohl (1938-2023)', Historische Zeitschrift, vol. 319, 1, August 2024, pp.110-122

'The German Centenary of the First World War', War & Society, 36, 2017, pp.276-288

'Sir Edward Grey, Germany, and the Outbreak of the First World War: A Re-Evaluation', International History Review, April 2016, 38, No.2, 301-325

'Guilt of Responsibility? The hundred-year debate on the origins of the First World War', Journal of Central European History, December 2015, 48, 541-564

'Julikrise und Kriegsschuldfrage – Thesen und Stand der Forschung', Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte, Spring 2014

'The July Crisis', History Today, June 2014

'Der hundertjährige Krieg um die Kriegsschuldfrage', in Geschichte in Wissenschaft und Unterricht, 65, 5/6 2014, pp.303-337

‘The Fischer Controversy, Documents and the “Truth” About the Origins of the First World War’, The Journal of Contemporary History April 2013 48 (2), pp. 290-314

‘Introduction: The Fischer Controversy 50 years on’, The Journal of Contemporary History April 2013 48 (2), pp.231-240

‘The First World War: Inevitable, Avoidable, Improbable or Desirable? Recent Interpretations on War Guilt and the War’s Origins’, German History, vol. 25, No 1, 2007, pp.78-95

‘The Battle of the Marne. Myths and Reality of Germany’s “fateful battle”’, The Historian, vol.68, No 4, Winter 2006, pp.747-769

‘Of War Plans and War Guilt: the Debate surrounding the Schlieffen Plan’, The Journal of Strategic Studies, vol. 28, 5, 2006, pp.857-885

‘From Imperial Army to Bundeswehr: continuity and change in the role of the military in German history’, Review Article, The Historical Journal, 47, 1 (2004), pp.1-7

‘Vom kurzen Krieg zum Ersten Weltkrieg: Der deutsche Kriegsverlauf im August und September 1914’, HISTORICUM, (Vienna) December 2001

‘Germany’s Last Kaiser - Wilhelm II and political decision-making in Imperial Germany’, New Perspective, Volume 4, Number 3, March 1999 Online article

From 2001 – 2005 Annika Mombauer chaired AA312 and AA319, and its associated residential school AXR312: Total War and Social Change: Europe 1914-1955. She wrote several teaching units for these two modules, and  units on the New German Cinema for AA310: Film and Television History and on the German Empire for A200: Exploring History: Medieval to Modern 1400-1900. She served as deputy chair of the MA in History, and as co-chair of the second-level course A200: Exploring History: Medieval to Modern 1400-1900. She has written teaching units on the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for A326: Empire 1492-1975 and on the end of the Ottoman Empire for A328: Empires: power, resistance, legacies. She co-chaired the production of A327 Europe 1914-1989: war, peace, modernity, first presented in October 2013, for which she wrote teaching units on the origins and the nature of the First World War. She has written teaching material for the MA in history. She is currently writing teaching units for A337, the department's new 20th century history module and, since 2023, has chaired A327.

Annika Mombauer's research into the origins of the First World War has contributed to public debates on the topic, particularly during the centenary year of 2014. Her work has underpinned an Impact Case Study submitted for the Open University for REF2021. 

During the centenary debates on the causes of the war, her research made an important intervention in public debates. She argued against new interpretations which suggested that Germany's imperial government had not been responsible for the outbreak of war in 1914. Her work enhanced public understanding and learning. You can read more about the impact of her research here: https://results2021.ref.ac.uk/impact/9e924b96-4ce6-48f0-a3b9-6aae2a429e46?page=1