The History of the Twentieth Century

The Great War was by no means restricted to Europe. In this episode, we begin an occasional series examining the war in Africa.

When the Ottoman Empire joined the war, it opened new strategic possibilities for the Central Powers. It also led to a declaration of jihad against the Allies.

The phrase "shackled to a corpse" is often used to describe Germany's dilemma in the Great War. Surrounded by enemy nations that collectively have a greater population and larger economies, she also finds herself stuck with a disappointing alliance partner.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the USA was the major market for Central American coffee, cotton, sugar, and especially bananas, leading to US investment in the region, leading in turn to US involvement in Central American affairs.

German soldiers committed numerous war crimes against civilians in the initial offensive, especially in Belgium. The Allies made use of this for propaganda purposes, while adding lurid embellishments.

When the Great War began, Germany had a number of naval units stationed around the world. These ships attempted to disrupt British shipping.

The murder of Francisco Madero and the iron-fisted rule of Victoriano Huerta that followed might seem like the end of constitutional democracy in Mexico, but in fact the revolutionaries like the ones who had overthrown Díaz took up arms once again, and the US military occupied the Mexican port city of Veracruz.

The UK and Japan had an alliance agreement, and when the Great War began, Japan was eager to enter the conflict. Aiding their ally was nice, but the Japanese were also eyeing German colonial possessions in the Pacific.

Kaiser Wilhelm told the troops they would be "home before the leaves fall." By autumn of 1914, it was clear they would not.

Germany invested heavily in building itself a great navy, including paying the price of a strained relationship with the United Kingdom. Now that the world is at war, how is this navy going to be used?

The Great War began as a confrontation between Austria and Russia. It soon became about a lot more than that, but for Austria, job one is defeating the Russians, or at least holding them at bay. The Austrian Army will prove incapable of accomplishing either.

President Wilson pushes through more reform legislation, including the Federal Reserve Act. The outbreak of the Great War creates a financial panic in the US, and Vice President Marshall pines for the days of a really good five-cent cigar.

The German First Army was only thirty miles from Paris, and the final victory was tantalizingly close. But the German Army was weakening, and the French and British not so beaten as the Germans believed.

In response to pleas from the French, the Russian Army undertakes an invasion of East Prussia in the hope of taking some of the pressure off of France.

The failure of the French counteroffensive has the Allies in retreat across the front, and it now appears there is no stopping the Germans short of Paris.

The Great War started as a conflict between Austria and Serbia. Now, amid all the other conflicts emerging as the war goes continental, Austria makes its bid to punish Serbia for the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand.

The French plan to respond to a German offensive was a counteroffensive into the German center. The French attempted this on August 21-23; it was an utter failure.

The outbreak of the Great War saw one of the German Navy's newest and most powerful battlecruisers in the Mediterranean. She was a threat to the Entente and had to be stopped. Only...what exactly is she trying to do?

The German war plan called for a massive offensive against France that would pass through Belgium, but one of the big unknowns in German war planning was whether the Belgians would resist, and if so, how fiercely.

French strategists emphasized the importance of offense and planned to respond to a German invasion with an offensive of their own. British strategy increasingly revolved around joining with France in a ground war.

A look at how Germany and Russia planned to fight the Great War.

A survey of the most important reasons why the Great War happened and why the international order failed to prevent it.

Germany mobilizes and declares war on Russia and France. As German troops move into Luxembourg and Belgium, the British Cabinet comes around and joins the war.

Russia finds the Austrian ultimatum unacceptable. Austria, egged on by Germany, pursues war with Serbia anyway.

In the four weeks following the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the Austrian government slowly pondered its response. Meanwhile, in the rest of Europe, the murders were already being forgotten.