Fay, Sidney Bradshaw, 1876-1967, American historian, b. Washington, D.C. Fay, professor of history at Dartmouth College (1902-14), Smith (1914-29), and Harvard (1929-46), earned his name as an authority on European diplomatic history. In The Origins of the World War (1928; 2d ed., rev. 1930; repr. 1967), Fay asserted that the responsibility for World War I was shared by all the powers involved, but that Austria, Serbia, and Russia were primarily to blame. His other works include The Rise of Brandenburg-Prussia to 1786 (1937).

Sidney Bradshaw Fay (13 April 1876 — 29 August 1967) was an American historian whose reexamination of the causes of World War I, The Origins of the World War (1928; revised edition 1930) remains the classic study. Fay left Harvard University (Ph.D. 1900) to study at the Sorbonne and the University of Berlin. He taught at Dartmouth College (1902–14) and Smith College (1914–29), and, after the publication of his major book, at both Harvard and Yale University.

Fay's conclusion was that all the European powers shared in the blame, but most of all the system of secret alliances that divided Europe after the Franco-Prussian War into two mutually suspicious camps of group solidarity, Triple Alliance against Triple Entente, but that Austro-Hungary Serbia and Russia were primarily responsible for the immediate cause of war's outbreak. Other forces besides militaristic nationalism were at work: the economics of imperialism and the newspaper press played roles.

Fay also wrote The Rise of Brandenburg-Prussia to 1786 (1937).

He married (17 August 1904) Sarah Eliza Proctor.

External links

• Bibliography of Sidney Bradshaw Fay
• Sidney Bradshaw Fay: the Fay Thesis