The Great War Season 12, Episode 9: Why Did the First World War Break Out?

Was Germany Really Starved Into Surrender in WW1?

18 min

Battle for Gaza 1917: The Palestinian Campaign of WW1

25 min

The Irish Wars 1919-1923

48 min

The Most Pointless Battle of WW1? - Passchendaele 1917

22 min

Russia's Great Retreat 1915

In May 1915, the Central Powers launched one of the greatest offensive operations of the First World War. The armies of Germany and Austria-Hungary planned to smash their way through Russia lines and tip the strategic balance in their favor. The result was one of the biggest and bloodiest campaigns of the war, known today as the Great Russian Retreat.

27 min

The Spanish-American War 1898

In the last years of the 19th century, tension was building in the Caribbean. American newspapers were filled with grisly reports of Spanish atrocities against the people of Cuba struggling for independence. US businessmen and expansionist politicians also saw practical opportunities in Spain’s struggles: great power status and an empire for the United States. It’s the Spanish-American War.

34 min

Why Did the US Enter WW1?

In early 1917, the United States was still neutral in the First World War. Meanwhile, German leaders were getting desperate – if they couldn’t find a way to break the war of attrition on the Western Front, the Allies would probably defeat them. The result was multiple gambles that staked everything on a quick victory with the risk of drawing the US into the war.

19 min

The First Poison Gas Attack of WW1: 2nd Battle of Ypres 1915

By April 1915, the Western Front was mired in trench warfare. Germany’s new Chief of Staff, General Erich von Falkenhayn, didn’t think his army could break the deadlock, and Germany needed to help struggling Austro-Hungarian forces in the East. Before the Germans turned against Russia though, they decided to attack in the West to keep the Allies off balance. They chose to strike at the vulnerable Ypres Salient – and they would support the coming offensive with a weapon their enemies had never seen.

22 min

1917: Turning Point of WW1

Both the Entente and the Central Powers didn't achieve a breakthrough in 1916. 1917 would bring dramatic changes on all fronts with new weapons, tactics, two Russian Revolutions and more.

203 min

4 Wars Directly After WW1

The armistice of November 11, 1918 ended the fighting between the Great Powers in the first world war. But for much of Europe and the Middle East, the armistice nor the peace treaties that followed failed to achieve a stable peace. The collapse of the German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian Empires left an unstable power vacuum and brought opportunities for political violence. The so-called Big Four victorious powers at the Paris Peace Conference – the Americans, British, French, and Italians – didn’t have the power or political will to impose peace everywhere. The result was a series of bitter regional wars that would plunge millions into ruin, radically reshape the map, and still fire debates today.

124 min

A German Soldier in WW1: Diary and Photos from 1914-1918

More than 13 million men served in the German army during the First World War. Most wrote letters home, some kept diaries, and some wrote memoirs if they survived. But over a century later, it’s rare to have a window into the everyday thoughts and feelings of one man, a time capsule of the experience of one of those 13 million.

35 min