Sidney Bradshaw Fay (April 13, 1876, in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

– August 29, 1967, in

Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston. The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by ...

) was an American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

whose examination of the causes of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, ''The Origins of the World War '' (1928; revised edition 1930), remains a classic study. In this book, which won him the 1928 George Louis Beer Prize of the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...

, Fay argued that Germany was too readily blamed for the war and that a great deal of the responsibility instead rested with the Allies, especially Russia and Serbia. His stance is supported by several modern scholars, such as Christopher Clark, but it remains controversial. Fay left

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

(Ph.D. 1900) to study at the Sorbonne and the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

. He taught at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

(1902–14) and

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

(1914–29) and, after the publication of his major book, at both Harvard and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. Fay's conclusion was that all the European powers shared in the blame, but he blamed mostly the system of secret alliances that divided Europe after the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

into two mutually suspicious camps of group solidarity: Triple Alliance against

Triple Entente The Triple Entente (from French meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was built upon th ...

(Fay's student Allan B. Calhamer, would later develop and publish the game ''Diplomacy'', based on this thesis). He considered

Austro-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

to be primarily responsible for the immediate cause of war's outbreak. Other forces besides

militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

and

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

were at work, as the economics of

imperialism Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of Power (international relations), power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power (diplomatic power and cultura ...

and the newspaper press played roles. Fay was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1931 and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1947. Fay also wrote ''The Rise of Brandenburg-Prussia to 1786'' (1937). He married (August 17, 1904) Sarah Eliza Proctor.Genealogical notice
/ref>

Works

''Germany: Revised and Edited from the Work of Bayard Taylor,''
H. W. Snow, c. 1910 . F. Collier & Son Corporation, c. 1939, "Memorial edition"
''The Hohenzollern Household and Administration in the Sixteenth Century,''
with John Spencer Bassett, Dept. of History of Smith College, 1916. * ''The Origins of the World War,'' 2 Vols., The Macmillan Company, 1928 d ed., 1930br>online

H. Holt and Company, c. 1937 eprint, Malabar, Fla.: R.E. Krieger Pub. Co., 1981
''A Guide to Historical Literature,''
edited by George Matthew Dutcher, Henry Robinson Shipman, Sidney Bradshaw Fay, Augustus Hunt Shearer, William Henry Allison, The Macmillan Company, 1937.

Other

* Eduard Fueter (1876–1928)
''World History, 1815–1920,''
Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1921, Zurich ranslated by Sidney Fay, 1922 * Friedrich Meinecke, ''The German Catastrophe,'' Harvard University Press, 1950 ranslated by Sidney Fay

Articles

* "The Roman Law and the German Peasant." ''American Historical Review,'' Vol. 16, No. 2, Jan. 1911. * "New Light on the Origins of the World War, I. Berlin and Vienna, to July 29," ''American Historical Review'', Vol. 25, No. 4, Jul. 1920. * "Serajevo Fifteen Years After." ''The Living Age'', July 1929. * "June 28, 1914." In Eugene Lohrke, ''Armageddon'', 1930. * "Peace-Making: 1919, 1945." T''he Forum'', November 1945. * "Our Responsibility for German Universities." ''The Forum,'' January 1946. * ''"''The First U.N.O. Assembly." ''The Forum,'' April 1946. * ''"''The Power of the Soviet Press." ''The Forum'', August 1947. * "The Marshall Plan: Second Phase." ''The Forum'', February 1948. * "Germany's Social Structure." ''The Forum'', October 1948.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fay, Sidney Bradshaw American historians Harvard University alumni University of Paris alumni Dartmouth College faculty Smith College faculty Harvard University faculty Yale University faculty Presidents of the American Historical Association 1876 births 1967 deaths American expatriates in France American expatriates in Germany Members of the American Philosophical Society

Works

Other

Articles

See also

References

Further reading

External links