Why Did The First World War Break Out? (July Crisis 1914 Documentary)

Watch 16 Days in Berlin on Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/16-days-in-b...
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo on the 28th of June 1914 kicked off a crisis among the European Powers. Tensions that built up in the decades before erupted and in early August 1914 the world was at war. But what happened in these fateful July weeks 1914?
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John Ozment, James Darcangelo, Jacob Carter Landt, Thomas Brendan, Kurt Gillies, Scott Deederly, John Belland, Adam Smith, Taylor Allen, Rustem Sharipov, Christoph Wolf, Simen Røste, Marcus Bondura, Ramon Rijkhoek, Theodore Patrick Shannon, Philip Schoffman, Avi Woolf, Emile Bouffard, William Kincade,
Daniel L Garza, Stefan Weiß, Matt Barnes, Chris Daley, Marco Kuhnert, Simdoom
» SOURCES
Albertini, Luigi, The Origins of the War of 1914: Volume II, (Westport, CT : Greenwood Press, Publishers 1980)
Becker, Jean-Jacques & Krumeich, Gerd, “Outbreak” in Winter, Jay (ed), The Cambridge History of the First World War: Volume I, (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2013)
Berghahn, Volker R., “Origins” in Winter, Jay (ed), The Cambridge History of the First World War: Volume I, (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2013)
Bischof, Günter & Karlhofer, Ferdinand (eds), 1914: Austria-Hungary, the Origins, and the First Year of World War I, (Innsbruck : Innsbruck University Press, 2014)
Clark, Christopher, The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914, (London : Penguin Books, 2013)
Hamilton, Richard F. & Herwig, Holger H. (eds), The Origins of World War I, (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2012)
Levy, Jack S., “Preferences, Constraints, and Choices in July 1914” in Miller, Steven E., Lynn-Jones, Sean M. & Van Evera, Stephen (eds.), Military Strategy and the Origins of the First World War: An International Security Reader, (Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, 1991)
McMeekin, Sean, The Russian Origins of the First World War, (Cambridge, MA : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2011)
Mombauer, Annika, The Origins of the First World War: Controversies and Consensus (London: Pearson, 2002)
Paddock, Troy R.E., Contesting the Origins of the First World War: An Historiographical Argument, (Oxford : Routledge, 2020)
Kaiser Wilhelm II & Tsar Nicholas II, “The “Willy-Nicky” Telegrams” in Neiberg, Michael S. (ed.), The World War I Reader, (New York, NY : New York University Press, 2007)
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»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Director of Photography: Toni Steller
Sound: Toni Steller
Editing: Jose Gamez
Motion Design: Philipp Appelt
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com
Research by: Jesse Alexander
Fact checking: Florian Wittig
Channel Design: Yves Thimian
Contains licensed material by getty images
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2022

[@TheGreatWar]

Watch 16 Days in Berlin on Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/16-days-in-berlin-01-prologue-the-beginning-of-the-end

[@lightyami5934]

Just a random Question,if sb. captured more than one whole Trenchline in ww1,were the Trenches (which served as previous Frontline) abandoned,having the Artillery move closer to the "new" Frontline or were the previous ones still populated with Soldiers?

[@haroldsmith3607]

Signed up for Curiosity Stream promotion, how do I get Nebula? Only thing I see is a way to go premium for much more money.

[@jessealexander2695]

@@haroldsmith3607 You'll get a separate email to sign up for Nebula for free if you used our link to sign up to Curiosity Stream.

[@flashgordon6670]

Dear Jesse, Pls can you create a League of History organisation? For historians everywhere and on YT, to share their productions and help people to find more easily, historical content that they’re particularly interested in and is new for them. Bc it’s difficult to find things and stay focused on specialised subjects. With so many distractions and irrelevant attractions on YT. Many thanks and keep up the great work!

[@flashgordon6670]

‘The League of Historical Gentlemen, Ladies and others’?

[@nevarran]

Warmongering is so easy when you're not the one who's going to actually fight on the battlefield.

[@tombutler3754]

Yep that’s so true even today with joe Biden, Putin, and zelensky

[@petert1692]

@@tombutler3754 Joe Biden? You mean GW Bush?

[@tombutler3754]

@@petert1692 no I mean joe Biden? You know the current president who started a new war?

[@seventh-hydra]

@@tombutler3754 Zelensky? He didn't want this war.

[@tombutler3754]

@@seventh-hydra no one did. But there were no adults willing to compromise. So now we have death on an unforetold scale.

[@t.google1495]

I think the craziest thing about WWI is how all the leaders of all the countries were all related to each other in some way. Most of them were 1st or 2nd cousins. I know Britain, Russia, and Germany were the grandsons of Queen Victoria. And some of her granddaughters married other royal families in Greece, Denmark, Romania, Sweden, and Spain. So basically, all they needed was a family dinner to squash this business before it went down the way it did. (I know there's more to it, but still!) They couldn't pick up a telegraph and talk it out? lol

[@armenhartoonian2732]

That’s why all were planned. All wars were /will be banks wars, particularly central banks the real financial communism.

[@user-db9yd6vz9r]

That what I thought. Thanks.

[@gulamjilani61973]

Before voting system countries and vast lands were owned by families and were called as kings or chancellors or whatever and every one came under worked for them killed got killed and they drew borders on papers in their homes and when they knew they are not going to win met at dinner tables and called truce😂 . That why they never killed kings if they got caught instead they took ransom. And he would go to his home and begin preparing for another game. Earlier population was not that much u can counqours state with just 30 Or 40 k troops

[@wrestlingPC]

Wow!

[@linusschmutz3985]

Most families hate each other.

[@robertgoss4842]

This is one of the finest programs on WW I that I have seen. The writing is lucid and succint, and the presentation itself is quite professional. Viewing this program has led me to greater study of the conflict and new appreciation of its complexity.

[@matthewstroud7610]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="140">2:20</a> - Empires Threatened by Germany <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="188">3:08</a> - Triple Entente and the Morocco Resolve <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="275">4:35</a> - German Ambition or British-France Resistance to sharing? <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="297">4:57</a> - The Serbian Context <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="330">5:30</a> - Serb Nationalist and Arch Duke Ferdinand's (heir to Austro Hungary) Assassination <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="582">9:42</a> and <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="652">10:52</a> - Triple Entente vs Triple Alliance perspectives <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="710">11:50</a> - The July Crisis; Ultimatums and Mobilizationj <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="818">13:38</a> - The Austrian Ultimatum to Serbia <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="930">15:30</a> - Partial Mobilization, and Austria's Declaration of War to Serbia <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1010">16:50</a> - Russian full mobilization. German Involvement (Kaiser WIlhelm II) <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1145">19:05</a> - The Schlieffen Plan and State of Threatening Danger of War <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1260">21:00</a> - French General calls to Stop Passivity <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1300">21:40</a> - Germany Calls War with Russia <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1320">22:00</a> - Brits Neutral if Germany doesn't attack France; Kaiser Wilhelm II can't stop the Schlieffen Plan <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1380">23:00</a> - Belgium, the Final Red Line ---- Interpretting the War ---- <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1519">25:19</a> - 1960s Fritz Fischer (German Historian) 'Germans preplanned war' <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1550">25:50</a> - Sean McMeekin (Russia made Balkan Conflict international) and Nial Ferguson (Britians Naivety) <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1557">25:57</a> - Christopher Clark's 'Sleepwalker Theory' (unintended, perceived insecurities, miscalcs, etc) <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1580">26:20</a> - Was it Inevitable? Alliance System did not force anyone to fight. <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1610">26:50</a> - James Joll's cultural, infrastructure and military zeitgeist theory <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1655">27:35</a> - "War is politics by other means" challenged. Belgium-German test case

[@Danielpro1278]

are you unreal in Fortnite?

[@matthewstroud7610]

@@Danielpro1278 nope, idk who that is. Just had this to annotate for a pol sci class, stoked people find it useful

[@johnqpublic2718]

Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" - I caught that.

[@TheGreatWar]

All for you, Sophia: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fn7JoaWsgdVgqpo

[@richardenrooijen]

Love that subtle reference :D

[@SortenRavn]

Oh shoot..

[@anthonybird546]

So if you're lonely, you know I'm here waiting for you I'm just a cross-hair, I'm just a shot away from you And if you leave here, you leave me broken, shattered I lie I'm just a cross-hair, I'm just a shot, then we can die Oh, oh, oh I know I won't be leaving here with you

[@justinanderson617callme]

No u diiiiiiidnt

[@mihovildanicic5305]

"Well... Possibly. But the REAL reason for the whole thing was that it was just too much effort NOT to have a war. You see, Baldrick, in order to prevent war in Europe two super blocks developed: us, the French and the Russians on one side and the Germans and Austria-Hungary on the other. The idea was to have two vast opposing armies, each acting as the other's deterrent. That way there could never be a war." "But, this is a sort of a war, isn't it Sir?" "Yes, that's right, you see, there was a tiny flaw in the plan." "What was that, Sir?" "It was bollocks." "So the poor old ostrich died for nothing..."

[@keithpugh6761]

A man called archie duke shot an ostrich cos he was hungry

[@DeadlySpecies]

Boom boom boom boom

[@jtgd]

I mean…. Why spend so much time and material building an army when you can just defeat your enemy really quickly and have more stuff? And think about the glory! Honour is as important as peace!¡! We would look cowardly backing out without them doing it

[@petekay6509]

Some Austrian circles killed Ferdinand,as they had killed King George of Greece earlier.

[@mammuchan8923]

But that sounds MAD Mutually Assured Destruction, oh what the heck, let’s do it anyway

[@alexandrebacci6589]

Excellent approach and development, as unbiased as possible, plenty of info, bata, graphs and images. And narration is also Excellent. Congratulations

[@user-xp1qe3gd2c]

You guys are absolutely great. Thanks for this work that help us understand our history. It is the only way to avoid this type of crisis in our times.

[@mariovigario4240]

my grandfather was a sapper in the Portuguese army, and he fought against the germans in WWI on the border between Mozambique and what was then Tanganyika (Deutsch-Ostafrika). Even though this conflict was a minor blip in comparison, it would be interesting if you could do a show on the various skirmishes that took place throughout the African continent and why they took place.

[@mrsupremegascon]

Yeah that would be very interesting, we don't know much about the Africans theatres.

[@powerdriller4124]

@@mrsupremegascon :: In the 2014-2018 episodes of this Great War KZbin channel, there were a few that treated the war in Africa. It was a terrible merciless use of the native populations as cannon fodder and tactical attrition.

[@Kevinkapon]

@@powerdriller4124 the only real winner in the African Theater was the bees.

[@mrsupremegascon]

@@eandaautosports3143 American civil war: 1861-1865 WW1: 1914-1918

[@mrsupremegascon]

@@deontewynn4325 That was one of the reason, but not the major one. WW1 was the failing of diplomacy, no sides wanted war but none could afford to back down either. Germany also wanted to cut down Russian power until it became too large.

[@PalmelaHanderson]

I personally believe that a lot of it had to do with the mindset of military leaders at the time, all of whom subscribed to the "Cult of the Offensive." Basically, if you're on defense in war, you've already lost. As we found out in WW1, that was a ridiculous notion as modern warfare had made it so being on defense was often where you wanted to be, but at the time it was taken as gospel. Always be on the offensive. Austria-Hungary moving on Serbia was just the first chess piece, but everyone immediately started moving to make sure they wouldn't get caught on defense, and then that turned into a snake eating its own tail. Why is Russia mobilizing? Because Austria is mobilizing. Why is Germany mobilizing? Because Russia is mobilizing. Why is France mobilizing? Because Germany is mobilizing. Etc. "If there's going to be war, then we'd better win it, and if we're going to win it, we need to attack." - every general in 1914

[@Snow_Fire_Flame]

This idea is less dumb than presented. If you can catch your enemy with their pants down, the war is going to be swift and brutal. WWI was an age of mass mobilization when far larger armies could be mustered and supplied than previous eras, so the size of a wartime army is going to be 100x larger than a peacetime army. And an offensive will certainly work fine with that kind of troop disparity! If you wait around, it could well be too late. Also, a successful offensive offers the chance of knocking your foe out of the war altogether - look at the Franco-Prussian War, over in 6 months after the French lost one battle. It may be worth gambling on that kind of outcome (which DID happen - if not in France, in places like the Balkans, or the idea behind Gallipoli if it hadn't been executed absurdly poorly.).

[@Mr.Nichan]

That might also be the reason why there's been so much opposition to missile defense systems. I think the logic I heard once is that missile defense systems work better if you're already expecting a nuclear strike, and thus works better if your nuclear strike was first and your fighting a retaliation, thus encouraging pre-emptive strikes. I don't entirely buy that, because it doesn't make sense if you're ALWAYS ready to intercept nuclear strikes. What does make sense to me is that is that it allows people to think they'd survive a nuclear war, reducing the MAD discouragement of wars between nuclear powers, but I don't see how that particularly encourages pre-emptive strikes, unless the preparation for those pre-emptive strikes involves evacuating your cities and spreading out your population, infrastructure, and military, which doesn't exactly lend you the element of surprise.

[@rednex1989]

@@Mr.Nichan you said is that twice

[@Mr.Nichan]

@@rednex1989 Interesting. I only see one copy of the reply.

[@noorgonzalez1076]

😱

[@yvonnemason9137]

This is very clearly explained and makes a very complex situation understandable. Thanks very much!

[@raysithlord20]

Great video. Educational without being boring and provides information from all sides.

[@DoraFauszt]

I was just last week in Sarajevo and saw the spot the archduke was killed and visited the museum on the corner. Was really fascinating to be finally here.

[@artnatal2117]

There is a street in Belgrade named after the hero Gavrilo Princip

[@Princip615]

🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸

[@cristianm7097]

Ground Zero.

[@samy29987]

Lets take a moment to appreciate the narrator's attention to detail when pronunciating any name no matter where it came from, albeit being Austrian, German, French, Russian, etc. Solid video 👍

[@mouthpiece200]

must have some language skills.

[@evzenvarga9707]

@@mouthpiece200 He does have language skills, I think he speaks German, French and Russian, but it is appreciated nonetheless, when you speak in English you naturally want to pronounce those names in English.

[@63Baggies]

Solid, yet incomplete, with zero mention of the City of London, House's of Rothschild and Morgan, not to mention the newly minted Federal Reserve and the many industrialists for whom war mean pure profit. Always follow the money.

[@neilwilson5785]

Yeah I really appreciate the skill this guy possesses.

[@adielstephenson2929]

He didn't know that in Hungarian, an "s" is pronounced "sh", so István (Stephen in Hungarian) is pronounced Ishtván.

[@DeanFWilson]

Brilliant video that highlights the complexities involved in this.

[@ranjitrajandr]

Fascinating account! Thank you very much!

[@davinkubota]

This was well done. The entire time I was watching All Quiet on the Western Front, I kept wondering what the preexisting tensions to the war were and this answered my question in detail.

[@lyancheng785]

Same here! I hurriedly searched for documentaries relating to All Quiet on the Western Front... especially the details of the armistice.

[@owenvanmaaren4505]

Unfortunately it still isn't detailed enough and gives a bit the expression that Germany/Austria-Hungary are the bad guys while this is most definitely not the case.

[@boboboy8189]

but allied never told you they started the war. whoever started the war they're the bad guy but sadly allied are the winner and control the history

[@summeroflove394]

@@lyancheng785 I literally just paused the movie and came to watch this video to understand the reasons that led to it in details.

[@MrDreskee03]

Germany is made to be the bad guys because they could have stopped it. They provoked everyone just to show how big their balls were. The problem is they didn't actually have any stamina. If ww1 was a boxing match, Germany definitely had power and was quick. They just didn't have time to keep going. They almost single handedly beat everyone. They just kept pissing off everyone. Had America not joined, I'm sure Germany would have won. 3 revolutions happened, and almost a fourth in England. Had Germany kept up with the navy and made it to England, Europe would be very different.

[@bavery6957]

If you're ever in Vienna, Austria be sure to visit the Bundesheer museum - you can view the shirt and jacket Franz Ferdinand was wearing when he was killed, complete with bullet hole and dried blood. Pretty fascinating and eerie to see the physical damage which caused his death and led to 75-100 million killed in wars over the next 30 years or so

[@bavery6957]

@Dalibor Oh, okay. So, they just invaded out of nowhere...

[@Princip615]

Gavrilo says hi 🔫🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸

[@tribal4244]

If you ever come to Sarajevo, visit the museum of the hero Gavrilo Princip, who killed the occupier of his country. Germanic kleptomania occupied territories that did not belong to it leading to the death of 75 to 100 million lives in Europe

[@WatchOutPoison]

@@tribal4244 conquer or be conquered

[@tribal4244]

@@WatchOutPoison I understand that, but it bothers me when Germanoids try to wash away their genocidal history by blaming the victim. They occupied Bosnia and prepared for the First World War for 2 years in order to do to the Eastern Europeans what the English did around the world and now Gavrilo Princip is to blame for everything.

[@pweddy1]

The quote at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="240">4:00</a> Ending with “And develop into ninnies!” Made me laugh, this belongs in a Monty Python Skit!

[@jenniferjuniper12]

Thank you so much for this! It's a great narration of the tumultuous events

[@Dukes608]

I saw what you did there. “Take me out” by Franz Ferdinand

[@Olderaccount17]

It's been a few weeks since I've basically put off Netflix and took a deep-dive into World War I. You guys make a fantastic, I mean absolutely *fantastic* job at creating educational and informative material that is entertaining and enthralling to watch. I really dig that you don't go straight to the main events and take some time to research and show things like the communications of several players-big and small- in the months leading to the war. I will be visiting Europe for the first time next June and, after watching so many of these videos, I've decided I will probably spend most of my time in France, visiting WWI battlefields such as Verdun, Fleury or the trenches. Cheers from Argentina!

[@jessealexander2695]

Thanks!

[@dannwhitehead6193]

Did you happen to see all quiet on the western front? I realized I had no recollection of learning the events and participating countries in WW I

[@ProvisionalPatrioticAlliance]

Get to Waterloo my man!

[@arfatahmad6594]

Is there any conspiracy theory of WW1? did WW1 happened or was it caused to happen?

[@tubulzr]

Pretty rare high quality history video. Very well done.

[@nfc14g]

Great signoff, well played this sir.

[@TheSmsawyer]

It looks like "the Sleepwalkers" was a major source in your research. Great book. Even humorous at times. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in WWI.

[@Mattdewit]

It makes sense since its the most thorough analysis we have to date. My modern history professor reconmended it to me so I picked it up, no regerets. I think we can easily say the poor ostrich died for nothing.

[@abdulsudaisy]

@@Mattdewit who is the poor ostrich ?

[@castlerock58]

@@abdulsudaisy The ostrich had an empire with the Hungarians.

[@evanblythe2283]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check it out!

[@tashatsu_vachel4477]

Try Albertini's 'The Origins of the War of 1914 Vols I - III' as a far better overview, it details stuff Clarke left out deliberately to create a false impression allowing for relative German innocence.

[@308473mb]

The animations in your videos keep on getting better and better! Lovely stuff as always.

[@RootlessNZ]

Thank you for such an excellent presentation. The narrator too was excellent. It was the first time I have heard a North American narrator pronounce a non-English word accurately. German, Hungarian, French and Russian names and places were all enunciated clearly and correctly. I was stunned.

[@Skim_beeble7125]

Love these videos I’ve been addicted to them

[@yorick6035]

This is the second time this channel looks at the start of the Great War, this time with Jesse instead of Indy, and I love both equally. Keep being awesome and keep this awesome content coming. Gunfingers to the entire team!

[@ThePereubu1710]

"gunfingers"?

[@frankpienkosky5688]

Austria-Hungary did not want a war...but were goaded into it by...guess who?

[@TheSnoopindaweb]

🤨🤔💫👉👉👉👍👌👀

[@colehampton4579]

Yeah up ur as

[@abdulsudaisy]

@@frankpienkosky5688 Germany.

[@maximillianschonhausen]

Another brilliant episode Jesse, Many thanks! You should reconsider the Ninnie option - making heaps of money while being protected by the japanese armed forces sounds a lot better than present conditions for history channels on KZbin.

[@TheGreatWar]

Moltke was always thinking ten steps ahead

[@johnsowerby7182]

And the you get the Austrian response.. 'War..War...war'

[@YvonTripper]

Germaninny

[@chrisa3289]

Lol

[@cornfednebraskaneer]

The Germans were far too proud to go down without a fight. Of course, things have certainly changed.

[@12TribesUnite]

Great video! Thanks!

[@ML-uu7wy]

This is perfectly done…thank you

[@neurofiedyamato8763]

This is the episode I wanted since the start of this channel. Definitely one of your most well done episodes yet

[@amartin4423]

Great thumbnail pic. Crazy to know the line between chaos and order is so thin.

[@instinctivechannel6668]

the narrator does excellent presentation very informative excellent one best on detailed info

[@NachoR95]

I can't believe i haven't found this channel earlier. This is by far the best war channel i've even seen!!

[@tokencivilian8507]

Sparks landing on bare dirt don't ignite a conflagration. A pile of dry tinder without spark likewise will not spontaneously erupt into a firestorm. People willing and able to quickly pour a bit of water onto a spark that lands in tinder will stop the fire in its infancy, before it spinning out of control. Sadly, Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries seemed determined to heap up the tinder and hand out matches to all the Generals to add to the sparks of Sarajevo. Another fine episode Jessie.

[@GuinessOriginal]

Similar to the Sutton we find ourselves in today

[@kylevernon]

Germany, France, and Russia were the kindling. Austria and Serbia were the Spark. US, UK, Italy, Ottomans were the ones not pouring any water.

[@GuinessOriginal]

@@kylevernon not only did they not pour water, they poured petrol instead

[@richardmorgan607]

Nicely done

[@francessmith2265]

Thank you for a wonderful history lesson

[@chrisedrev9519]

Excellent analysis! The most in-depth one yet, and I have been a fan of the channel since its very inception. Thank you for this. It was incredibly relevant for current affairs as well.

[@curiousme8]

Thank you for your work! I can't help but also mention your wonderful articulation and pronunciation of words. Such a pleasure to listen to, Jesse!

[@Arunnejiro]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="246">4:06</a> I like how without saying anything, the pause says a lot about how the great war feels about this statement.

[@katfayegarrett3872]

I love this channel!

[@M81_WOODLAND]

Glad to see this channel is still alive and pumping out great content. 👍

[@alexholl654]

Another great episode, this is the channel that just keeps giving, thanks jesse for the great video

[@vanutsteen]

This is the best explanation of why the First World War started I’ve seen. Thanks for the clear and complete explanation.

[@75gremlen]

Interesting facts are shown. This was not taught in school. Very versatile Interesting...ty

[@isaactomangrief9158]

Hours of in-depth research, illustrated by solid but not flashy and distracting graphics, plenty of references to primary sources, not shying away from historiography. After watching you, it's hard to go back to most other history KZbin channels, who often rely on one source, present an interpretation as fact, and haven't learned that ascribing causes to effects can only ever be a theory. You managed to avoid all of that while remaining accessible. To that end, I wonder if I might convince you that a video explaining the aggressive moves and troubling strategic problems each Power had with the others would be a worthwhile supplement, if only to illustrate the complexity of the situation. e.g. the Slap of Tunis, and the Great Game/the Eastern Question don't fit neatly into the standard narratives of blame and inevitability. You could even restrict it to global/colonial issues if that would help squeeze it all into one video.

[@alexzero3736]

Slap of Tunis and Great game (Russia and Britain, right?) Are things of 19 century. Slap of Tunis stopped be a problem after Italo-french neutrality pact of 1902, and especially after invasion of Libya. Great Game stopped to be a thing with Britain and France signing the Entente cordiale in 1904, recognizing Germany as greater threat. That's the Central Powers problem, igniting the war they still acted like it's 19th century...

[@isaactomangrief9158]

I don't normally respond to these because I don't care to get into online debates, especially when none of the participants are experts, but I have to disagree. I don't think the Central Powers have a special responsibility or a more bellicose mentality. I think the problem arises from treating each Power's policy as something uniform. There was a constant negotiation within these powers as well. Britain was looking to expand in the Middle East, where Russia was the predominant threat-and to a lesser extent France. Colonial office men who made their careers in NE Africa, like Kitchener, and India were incensed that Britain was allying with Russia. They had big dreams of partitioning the Ottoman Empire and taking more of Central Asia off Russia. David Fromkin's book on this is excellent. Italy seriously shook up the international order with their invasion of Libya and the Dodecanese, which itself precipitated the Balkan Wars. Italy was in the Central Powers' camp at the beginning of the war. Movements within Italy hated this because they saw Austria-Hungary as the real enemy. Yet many cleft to A-H and Germany because they saw more opportunity in Africa, if only they could break French hegemony of North Africa and British influence in the Ottoman Empire. My point isn't to blame Britain or Italy for WW1. Rather, it's that there were belligerent parties in all the Powers who did continue the 19th century mentality. Indeed, even the more defensive minded politicians hadn't much broken with 19th century-WW1 itself was the break. You also can't easily group them into bellicose (or 19th century) and defensive (or modern) attitudes.

[@flashgordon6670]

@Isaac: WW1 was entirely and unequivocally all Great Britain’s fault. For not invading and conquering Germany and much of mainland Europe beforehand. Only a smaller preemptive war, could’ve prevented WW1. As it was inevitable, with 90% of the globe’s power, concentrated in the small corner Europe.

[@andyfumo8931]

@@flashgordon6670 WTF are you fascist fantasizing? You think Britain should have conquered all of Europe?????

[@davidwallace3871]

Everything you guys do is great! I hope you are able to do these documentaries for years to come

[@rogueninja2466]

This is the best KZbin channel

[@Ahmarnie22]

Watching this video to help me understand why WWI began, great job going into detail.

[@chrisendrey5481]

What an astonishingly high quality channel this is. Thanks so much for all the wonderful content 🙏

[@TheGreatWar]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@HauntedAbysss]

This was actually a great breakdown. My history teacher actually will very much love this front to back explanation. A little bit of a sidebar would have been helpful if you ask me to kind of explain their training thoughts but I understand the straight explanation of what happened.

[@DaRyteJuan]

Great historical analysis, but the reverberations on the audio is a major distraction. Hopefully, you’ve been able to address this problem in your later videos. I especially like how the video shares the varying perspectives of different historians rather than spinning a singular narrative like they do on mainstream media or in history class.

[@futurehanged]

Can you provide a PDF of this video

[@Virgin_Stacker]

Your "real history" insight on this subject, and other subjects, is excellent. More people need to learn history, or be doomed by ignorance.

[@boboboy8189]

actually history we know today has been altered. seriously, why you think German-hungary really want to fight against allied? and looks who started the war but why historian saying both side are bad guys when the allied are the one started the war? did you ever read about first Zionist congress? Russia spy manage to wrote down what Zionist planning. and why it's impact WW1? and how Britain asking US help but US won't do until Zionist in US manage to give supposed through US army. in every we event, it's always about Zionist involvement

[@nemanjabajic2350]

?

[@adambane1719]

??

[@WildBillCox13]

Well done, Jesse, Flo, and team. Liked and gladly shared.

[@TheGreatWar]

thanks! great to see you are still here

[@lightyami5934]

@@TheGreatWar Just a random Question,if sb. captured more than one whole Trenchline in ww1,were the Trenches (which served as previous Frontline) abandoned,having the Artillery move closer to the "new" Frontline or were the previous ones still populated with Soldiers?

[@flashgordon6670]

@light Yamuna: They were both abandoned and populated.

[@lightyami5934]

@@flashgordon6670 may I ask... how?

[@CurtisBrown3]

Would you be willing to give the name of the music that runs from <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="565">9:25</a> to <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="710">11:50</a>?

[@josepinheiro292]

Thank you

[@deaddocreallydeaddoc5244]

As a lifelong student of history (70 yrs old), I love your content. I'm an American who lived in Slovenia in the late 90s for a few years (worked with an orthopedic surgeon there). While I was there, I read up on the history and traveled as much as possible (restrictions due to the War in Kosovo, etc). Crossing borders was interesting because gun running was a problem. But I collected a few items while there. One is an Austrian saber with the work, "Service in Bosnia - 1878" inscribed on its backstrap (German). The 19th-century Serb wars of independence from Ottoman control had been suppressed by the Hapsburgs who colluded with the Turks who promised to not interfere as Austria conducted a bloody campaign of repression against the Serbs in Bosnia. Gavrillo Princip was a member of a secret society"The Black Hand" which was dedicated to revenge against the Hapsburgs. Aside from the formal history of the Hapsburg Empire, I've read "Balkan Ghosts," Kaplan, and Rebecca West's 1940 tome, "Black Lamb, Grey Falcon - A Journey Through Yugoslavia." I recommend those last two for a deep dive into Balkan cultural history. I have Clark's book, as well as several others on the war. The great thing about reading multiple histories on the same subject is that they always add more dimension with confirmations and exposure of bias and inaccuracy if they exist.

[@freestyle8886]

thanks for this comment, a lot to learn from it

[@amadeusasimov1364]

Thank you guys for all of your massive amount of work on this channel. You've helped me learn so much about WW1 and helped bring to life, the lives and memories of those involved.

[@lucabezdikian2766]

npc

[@cherrielynjaninenatividad8525]

i am done learning about the history of world war 2 and now here i am with world war 1... i enjoyed it though it brought me a lot of tears...

[@martyREq2]

Nice video just the date format should be day/month/year 👌

[@mammuchan8923]

Superb episode team⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Yes it was a very complex and long coming crisis. But when I hear Conrad demanding War!War!War, I am ready to let him take all the blame🧐. And of course when he got his war, he covered himself in glory didn’t he?

[@TheGreatWar]

soooooo much glory

[@lucabezdikian2766]

why not 6 snake

[@vonschlesien]

I found Keegan's phrasing on the respective military commands' culture interesting. He notes the difference between a Clausewitzian or Cold War-era "national security strategy" (where military plans are made in consultation between civilian and military authorities, so that military plans are made to suit political ends) and the immediately-pre-WWI system where generals made plans in complete isolation from politicians and often entirely without their knowledge. Kaiser Wilhelm's experience of being surprised when his generals told him there was only one plan - for simultaneous war with France and Russia including a diplomatically-risky violation of Belgian neutrality - was repeated in other capitals across the Continent.

[@Christopher-qq4dl]

Lol

[@gregoryt8792]

I had a great history professor in university who listed yellow sheet journalism (sounds like mainstream media) as one of the top reasons.

[@Mike-gl2pf]

In my history class in the US we were taught that there were 5 main reasons for WW1: Alliances, Imperialism, Militarism, Nationalism, and Assassination. However even in my High School World History class they didn’t teach about the specific events that led to WW1. They didn’t teach about the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire or the German and Italian wars of Unification. I didn’t learn about the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) or the Balkan Wars which happened right before WW1. I’m not sure if they even told us why the Archduke was assassinated. At the end of the war school focused mainly on Wilson’s 14 Points, the League of Nations, and the Treaty of Versailles. We didn’t learn about the German Civil War, Greco-Turkish War, or the Polish Soviet War. The only conflict after the war we learned about was the Russian Revolution. I didn’t realize how violent the aftermath of the war was. I guess they didn’t want to focus too much on things that weren’t relevant to the US.

[@TNTVK]

time is limited .... there are things more insteresti,g to learn !

[@earltaylor1893]

I sympathize with both the Kaiser and Tsar, but their political incompetence played a big role in allowing the situation to escalate to the point of mobilization. In the end, they both lost their empires. Thank you for going into detail of such a complicated subject. I learned things that I didn’t know!

[@alexzero3736]

Tsar Nicholas actually lost his life together with his family...

[@shaider1982]

I sympathize with the Romanov children, no need for them to be killed like that.

[@davidpnewton]

Wilhelm II and Nicholas II? Neither deserves any sympathy at all. Both were vile, dictatorial militarists and imperialists. The fact that both were replaced by worse later on shows the folly of their actions. Wilhelm II deserves particular damning because he shipped Lenin back to Russia.

[@BasementEngineer]

@@davidpnewton Can you cite some examples for kaiser Wilhelm II? Thanks.

[@Wickedonezz]

@@davidpnewton the complete opposite actually lol do you just believe propaganda? Wilhelm tried to cool the war multiple times but the entente just wanted death You can literally see this at the Christmas truce

[@micro7vista]

It would seem unfathomable that a handful of people could result in millions of deaths. Deaths of folks who by no means had any idea what they were fighting for or why. And yet after seeing this happen not once but twice the world still hasn't learned anything and still only a handful of people could result in millions of deaths all over again.

[@mochiebellina8190]

And again and again. Power mad maniacs run many world capitals.

[@Slav4o911]

That's because most ordinary people don't care.... and when they do start to care it's already too late. They mostly care about some small domestic affairs... they "start to care" about what's happening in the world, when the bombs literally start to fall on their heads. Even now, with nuclear weapons "ready to fall" on our heads, we are still the same, we didn't learn our lesson... the problem is, we might not learn, because we might not have a 3rd chance. Some people today even "contemplate" a nuclear world war can be won. (which is complete madness) It seems our brains can't comprehend how powerful are actually nuclear weapons and we fall back to "standard terms". Some say there were "thousands of nuclear tests".... which is true but they were mostly small fission bombs... and the largest part was underground or underwater, thermonuclear tests were far fewer.... and at least one of them was more powerful than "expected". Now let's imagine a 1000 thermonuclear warheads going off at one time.......... over cities and not in the desert or underground....

[@boboboy8189]

citizen won't care because they were pleased with unlimited entertainment. you give them entertainmen and the people with power will use their power. "Men with power obey neither policy nor principle. No one is different; no one is neutral."

[@jrdoo7x]

Fear is the midwife to war. a great quote I heard once.

[@user-kh2ef1ol9i]

Memory is the mother of all wisdom.

[@jimswan3203]

Blackadder; "There was a tiny little flaw in the plan." Baldrick; "What was that?" Blackadder; "It was bollocks..."

[@paulw6057]

Of course, Baldrick thought that WW1 broke out because "Archie Duke shot an Ostrich 'cause he was hungry".

[@Kbrusky15]

IDK If anyone else has said it but I'm just here because of the thumbnail. Now I have Franz Ferdinand's Take Me Out stuck in my head lol.

[@zudemaster]

I want one of those spiked helmets!

[@sanatrashobbiez]

I believe that there was also a lot of debate about who was getting, what they thought, was their fair share of Africa. All of the countries mentioned, before they went to war with each other, all teamed up to invade Africa. They then split it among themselves, leaving some with more natural resources than others. Which also helped those nation gain the capital to build their militaries. They were itching to use their newly formed power (military).

[@m.patsyfauntleroy9645]

FORCE !!!

[@courirfr6755]

This is exactly what happened but we can’t teach our younger generation that. We need them to think that our Ancestors were great. Since we are the winners we get to rewrite history exactly how we want it!

[@timlane2918]

Great video 👊

[@itinerantpatriot1196]

That was well done. Who was responsible for the war? Everyone. There had been rumors of war in Europe and close calls for more than a decade. It's like most everyone on all sides were either itching for a fight or resigned to its inevitability. Every side had a plan and once the plans were put into motion nobody knew how to stop them. Perhaps if the lines of communication had been more advanced something might have been done reduce tensions but I think it would have only delayed the war. The tragedy of the trenches was that the European officers who had observed the U.S. Civil War didn't learn the proper lesson, that technology was moving faster than tactics. The carnage of the frontal assaults on fortified positions in that war would be repeated in France but on a much larger scale. Countries always prepare for the previous war, that is the real tragedy and that hasn't changed, not even in a world where asymmetrical warfare has become the norm.

[@powerdriller4124]

The British Colonial Army was prepared for modern war, learned fighting the Boers (who were the ones that first developed the tactics), but it was an Army of just 300,000 men. It positioned in South West Belgium for two months and caused terrible losses to the Germans (maybe half million casualties), but was severely outnumbered and was peeled down to the off, to annihilation.

[@kylevernon]

It’s a tragedy that war happened in the first place, but anything could have sparked it. The reason we look down upon the First World War isn’t because we care about the Balkans but because of the sheer scale and waste of life. That easily could have happened by any other inciting incident. I think it was inevitable for the there to be a giant war near the early 20th century. Before WW1 they treated war like an art, but ever since the industrial revolution and advancement in technologies War became an industry, a “machine” as many people called it.

[@godlovesyou1995]

90% Germany's fault though. 5% Austria Hungary, 3% Russia, 2% Serbia imo

[@The-Heart-Will-Testify]

U mean europeans , don’t blame everyone

[@thetruechaby]

@@godlovesyou1995 50% Germany, 50% Austria-Hungary. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary attempted to expand their power eastward; Germany by gaining influence in the declining Ottoman Empire (the Eastern Question) and Austria-Hungary through the acquisition of territory in the Balkans (such as Bosnia and Herzegovina).

[@silvermyr3268]

Very well made and easy to understand for those of us who are not historians. High production value and neat animations and quotations. One thing I have heard about the beginning of the first world war beginning that bears mentioning is that from what I know there was hardly any active campaigns for peace in any of the countries. By and large, the general populations, perhaps drunk on propaganda, was not against the war. Therefore it became difficult to argue for restraint on a political level, and it further emboldened those who sought to resolve the issue through force of arms.

[@kenhansew7892]

From what I’ve learned the lack of protest from the citizenry is because they had no concept of the new weapons and weapon systems and the immense slaughter that could now be inflicted by a relatively small number of the enemy. This is manifest in the great lengths England went to so as not to engage in warfare fought with now even more modernized killing machines!

[@trekkintexan5160]

Great content. But, the audio really needs to be synced

[@chuckhunt2605]

The rulers were all cousins that got jealous of each other. Crazy to me that he didn’t mention that at all

[@sglenny001]

I feel this quote says it all "The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time", British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey I feel this Quote applies for all the 20th century and see the 20th as the second 100 years war

[@indianajones4321]

Back to 1914… perhaps this war will end by Christmas now

[@Dan-sy1lv]

hello@KZbin he told us to go nebula 🤣 Jokes aside, such a rich documentary. Thank you for the knowledge shared!

[@FrankVermeulen-tw3fn]

At <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1700">28:20</a> is that Chris from @VloggingThroughHistory?

[@tzaryr]

I can’t believe they made Willy and Nicky throw hands… That’s the saddest part about WW1😢

[@vaughanlloydjones3884]

He mentioned "our own place in the sun" but no mention of the Berlin Baghdad railway....

[@naucs_]

you know that nebula ad is comin in hot when you hear "unfortunately i cant show that footage here because it would be demonitized and you would never see it".

[@stevent4955]

I agree with Christopher Clark

[@ClavesCoelorum]

Every time I look at the beginnings of the Great War, it makes me overwhelmingly sad. The Old World, which was at the height of culture and civilisation, died as a result. In its wake came untold suffering, evil, disorientation and ugliness.

[@cookingwithtool159]

I mean meh, a bunch of autocrats died and it meant all the colonial empires fell at some point

[@iorransilva8596]

What a precise shot man, unfortunately we're still living in this walking corpse society. 🔥💀🔥

[@zaneleradebe2808]

Feels like it was a family feud that got out of hand and then somehow dragged the rest of the world into it.

[@landsea7332]

The sad part is the loss of young men - something like 1/3rd of all males in Europe , aged 19 to 23 , would be dead at the end of the war . .

[@00BAAM]

​@@cookingwithtool159 But they didn't fall. If they fell why are they still rich? Their wealth has to come from somewhere😊

[@mattherron173]

Nice little reference there in the thumbnail.

[@TheGreatWar]

😏

[@Saint_Ann]

Is there horizontal adjustment?

[@joelcasseus628]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="63">1:03</a> Great premisse on industrialization and social context

[@theironduke981]

honestly, watching this makes me think that the emperors and kings of europe lost control as soon as mobilisation started. which is incredibly sad considering the fact that the Russian, German, and British kings were family and should have stuck together as family should. it would have been an incredibly short war if those 3 kings and their empires were on the same side.

[@Slav4o911]

They couldn't be "on the same side". Did you forget Austria-Hungary attacked Serbia, which is Russian ally ?! If England, Germany and Russia were "on the same side" there would not have been any war.

[@jurisprudens2697]

@@Slav4o911 What he means that it was the nations who wanted the war, not the royal families.

[@aravindhanil7235]

Bismarck said it best: "Europe today is a powder-keg and all leaders are walking around with lit cigars. I dont know what will set it off but itll be some dammed foolish thing in the Balkans"

[@thetruechaby]

Of course, when he planned it all along. 😉

[@bigchunk1]

"What do you expect me to do? Just stop the trains?" Can't flick that switch off once you flick it on.

[@BabarKhan-vf1wt]

A super documentary 🌟🐅💞💞💞💞

[@alexchopov]

8 years after starting a chanel on WWI (been here since) finally time to ask why DID the war start, lol :-)

[@jessealexander2695]

Never too late. ;)

[@Dilley_G45]

@@jessealexander2695 that question was satisfactorily answered in the final episode of "Blackadder 4" 😆

[@WallyBDO]

Konrad: "War, war, war" also Konrad: "Lose, lose, lose"

[@shaider1982]

Cadorna: Izonso, Izonso, Izonso....

[@ToyotomiHideyoshiGre]

I would like to see the activities of the Imperial Japanese Navy in WW1 better publicized.