Overview

The “Great War.” The “War to End All Wars.” It destroyed four empires (German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, Russian) and redrew the map of the world. It was the suicide of Europe.

Core Idea

Industrialized Slaughter: 19th-century tactics (charging) met 20th-century technology (machine guns, poison gas, artillery). The result was a stalemate.

Formal Definition (if applicable)

Total War: A war where the entire society is mobilized. Factories make shells, women work in factories, food is rationed. Civilians are targets.

Intuition

  • The Spark: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo.
  • The Powder Keg: A web of secret alliances. (Austria attacks Serbia -> Russia attacks Austria -> Germany attacks Russia -> France attacks Germany -> UK attacks Germany).

Examples

  • Trench Warfare: Living in mud, rats, and lice. “Going over the top” meant almost certain death.
  • The Somme: 60,000 British casualties on the first day.
  • Russian Revolution: The war caused the collapse of the Tsar and the rise of Communism (Lenin).

Common Misconceptions

  • “Germany started it.” (It’s complicated. Everyone was eager for war. Germany gets the blame because they lost.)
  • “It solved nothing.” (True. The peace treaty (Versailles) was so harsh on Germany that it practically guaranteed WWII.)
  • Shell Shock: PTSD.
  • League of Nations: The first attempt at a UN (failed).
  • Spanish Flu: A pandemic that killed more people than the war itself.

Applications

  • Middle East: The borders drawn after the Ottoman collapse (Sykes-Picot) are still causing conflicts today.

Criticism / Limitations

“Lions led by donkeys.” (The brave soldiers were led by incompetent generals).

Further Reading

  • Tuchman, The Guns of August
  • Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front