# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The First World War’s deadliest battle was stalling, but everything changed when Little Willie arrived

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As trench warfare paralysed the Western Front, an experimental vehicle pointed the way toward a different type of warfare – and a century of armoured combat

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
La Première Guerre mondiale - Résumé sur cartes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Première Guerre - 03 L'assassinat de Sarajevo

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Russian Revolution and Civil War: Crash Course European History #35

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Treaty of Versailles, What Did the Big Three Want? 1/2

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
READ: What Caused the First World War (article) | Khan Academy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The First World War feels almost like a murder mystery, with many suspected causes, and complex motives. Millions of lives were lost in this confusing conflict that gripped the world.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
WW1 at Home: a growing collection of stories about life on the WW1 Home Front

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Comment l’Empire ottoman est-il devenu la République de Turquie ? [QdH#54]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
All Quiet on the Western Front | Official Trailer | Netflix

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
World War I Battlefields: Crash Course European History #33

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How World War I Started: Crash Course World History 209

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
FIRST WORLD WAR

start

How the War started...

Manchester Evening News - Monday 29 June 1914

BREAKING NEWS

How the War started...

Wilhem II, German Emperor

Franz Joseph I of Austria

Antonio Salandra, Prime Minister of Italy

H. H. AsquithPrime Minister of the UK

Georges Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France

Nicholas II , Emperor of Russia

Albert I, King of Belgium

Mehmed V, Ottoman Sultan

Austro-Hungarian Empire

How do you react to the assassination of the Archduke?Justify your positionYou ask support from....

You declare war on Serbia

You remain neutral

You propose a diplomatic solution

RIGHT!

On July 28, 1914, one month to the day after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were killed by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, effectively beginning the First World War.

NEXT

WRONG!

RETURN

Russian Empire

How do you react to the declaration of war against Serbia?Justify your positionYou support......

You declare war on Austria

You stay neutral

You mobilise your army

RIGHT!

On July 29 1914, the Russian army gets ready to help Serbia defend itself against an Austrian attack. Germany warns Russia not to help the Serbs.

NEXT

WRONG!

RETURN

Ottoman Empire

How do you react to the mobilisation of the russian army?Justify your positionYou support...

You declare war on Russia

You stay neutral

You declare war on Austria

RIGHT!

In the summer 1914 the Ottoman Empire keeps out of the war but gets prepared for the conflict.

NEXT

WRONG!

RETURN

United Kingdom

How do you react to the declaration of war on Serbia and the mobilisation of the Russian army?Justify your positionYou support......

You declare war on Germany

You stay neutral

You propose a diplomatic treaty to solve the crisis

RIGHT!

For the time being the UK doesn't feel threatened enough to get involved in the war.

NEXT

WRONG!

RETURN

German Empire

How do you react to the declaration of war on Serbia and to the mobilisation of the russian army?Justify your positionYou support......

You declare war on Russia

You stay neutral

You come up with a diplomatic treaty to solve the crisis

You declare war on Austria

RIGHT!

On August 1, 1914, Germany declares war on Russia.

NEXT

WRONG!

RETURN

ITALY

How do you react to the declaration of war on Russia?Justify your positionYou support......

You declare war on Russia

You stay neutral

You declare war on Austria

RIGHT!

In the summer 1914 Italy declares itself neutral in the conflct despite its membership in the Triple Alliance

NEXT

WRONG!

RETURN

FRANCE

How do you react to the declaration of war on Russia?Justify your positionYou support......

You declare war on Germany

You remain neutral

You start the general mobilisation

RIGHT!

On August 2, 1914, France orders the general mobilisation.

NEXT

WRONG!

RETURN

How the War started...

BREAKING NEWS

August 3, 1914

August 3, 1914

BELGIUM

How do you react to ther German invasion?Justify your positionYou ask for support from......

You declare war on Germany

You surrender

You fight back and ask for help

RIGHT!

Belgium fights back during all of the summer 1914 . The British are still bound by the 1839 agreement to protect Belgium in the event of war.

NEXT

WRONG!

RETURN

United Kingdom

How do you react to the German invasion in Belgium?Justify your position

You come up with a diplomatic solution for the crisis

You remain neutral

You declare war on Germany

RIGHT!

On August 4 the UK declares war on Germany.

NEXT

WRONG!

RETURN

NEXT

How the War started...

Wilhem II, German Emperor

Franz Joseph I of Austria

Antonio Salandra, Prime Minister of Italy

H. H. AsquithPrime Minister of the UK

Georges Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France

Nicholas II , Emperor of Russia

Albert I, King of Belgium

Mehmed V, Ottoman Sultan

How the War started...

BREAKING NEWS

Octobre 29 1914, Black Sea Raid The Ottoman navy attacks Russian ports in the Black Sea supported by Germany,

NEXT

How the War started...

Wilhem II, German Emperor

Franz Joseph I of Austria

Antonio Salandra, Prime Minister of Italy

H. H. AsquithPrime Minister of the UK

Georges Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France

Nicholas II , Emperor of Russia

Albert I, King of Belgium

Mehmed V, Ottoman Sultan

How the War started...

BREAKING NEWS

Agreement between France, Russia, Great Britain and Italy, signed at London, April 26, 1915On May 24 1915 Italy declares war on Austria

NEXT

How the War started...

Wilhem II, German Emperor

Franz Joseph I of Austria

Antonio Salandra, Prime Minister of Italy

H. H. AsquithPrime Minister of the UK

Georges Celemenceau, Prime Minister of France

Nicholas II , Emperor of Russia

Albert I, King of Belgium

Mehmed V, Ottoman Sultan

NEXT

ThE FRONTS OF WW1

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
FIRST WORLD WAR start How the War started... Manchester Evening News - Monday 29 June 1914 BREAKING NEWS How the War started... Wilhem II, German Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria Antonio Salandra, Prime Minister of Italy H. H.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
100 years after the end of the First World War, one might be tempted to ask if there is anything left to say about this conflict. Yet, the contemporary relevance of an historical topic is unusually clear in the case of First World War studies. The conflict continues to intrude on the public sphere of former belligerent societies, and in many instances, historians have been called upon to engage in controversies that have produced more heat than light. Indeed, it seems that World War I has gained in importance since the 1990s. The growing interest in commemoration and the increased 'social demand' addressed to professional historians account, to a certain extent, for the dynamism of First World War studies. Indeed, as we conclude the centennial commemorations of the war, the history of what George F. Kennan called "the great seminal catastrophe of the twentieth century" remains a vibrant field of investigation.

This special subject will allow students to develop a comparative understanding of the experience of the First World War in the context of the period between 1912 and 1923. The students will also consider the evolution of the historiography of the conflict since the late 1980s. Transformed by a comparative and cultural turn, the field was also reinvigorated by gender studies and innovative approaches to warfare. Questions of methodology as well as of chronology are now at the core of the historiographical debate. This course will challenge the conventional focus on national experiences and offer a pragmatic approach to the comparative and transnational history of the First World War. It will explore a range of historical questions including: war and social modernization, nationalism and cultural mobilization, the experiences of soldiers and commanders, economic mobilization, the transformations of the state, gender and citizenship, race and imperialism, the reconstruction of Europe, international relations and peace-making. It will combine a thematic approach with a particular attention to key military engagements.

You will be expected to have read the following book by the end of the year. It is available for purchase at the campus bookstore. A reading schedule will be circulated to help you plan your reading.

WARNING! This is a long book. Do start reading as soon as possible.

Leonhard, Jörn, Pandora's Box: a history of the First World War, trans. Patrick Camiller (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2018)

In preparation for our first meeting, please read the introduction to Pandora's Box as well the following article:

Heather Jones, 'As the centenary approaches: the regeneration of First World War historiography', The Historical Journal, 56, no. 03 (2013), pp. 857-878.

Horne, John (ed.), A Companion to World War I (Oxford, 2010)
An excellent collective volume, synthetic and comprehensive and very useful bibliography

Neiberg, Michael S., Fighting the Great War: A Global History (Cambridge, MA, 2005)
Clear and concise, an invaluable military history of the First World War

Stevenson, David, 1914 - 1918: the history of the First World War (London, 2004)
A very good general history of the conflict.

Strachan, Hew (ed.), The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War (New edition, Oxford, 2014)
A brilliant collection of thematic essays by leading authorities.

Winter, Jay M (ed.), The Legacy of the Great War: Ninety Years On (Columbia : Kansas City, Mo, 2009)
A very interesting book aimed at a general audience but articulated around dialogues between historians of the war.

Winter, Jay M. (ed.), The Cambridge History of the First World War, vol. 1. Global War (3 vols, Cambridge - New York, 2014)
--- (ed.), The Cambridge History of the First World War, vol. 2. The State (3 vols, Cambridge - New York, 2014)
--- (ed.), The Cambridge History of the First World War, vol. 3. Civil Society (3 vols, Cambridge - New York, 2014)
An outstanding multi-volume history of the war as a global conflict.

Please contact me on p dot purseigle at warwick dot ac dot uk as early as possible if you are considering writing a dissertation in connection with this Special Subject. Students returning from a year abroad and/or with good linguistic skills are strongly encouraged to explore non-British topics.

Adrian Gregory's book, A War of Peoples 1914-1919 (Oxford, 2014) is one of the very best introductions to the war on the market. Read it and make an initial list of themes and questions you are interested in. Then, get in touch!

The following volume should be your first port of call to investigate available primary sources:
Beckett, Ian, The First World War: the essential guide to sources in the UK National Archives(Richmond, 2002)

The British Library's website offers a good introduction to the BL's First World War collections at https://www.bl.uk/world-war-one

The Imperial War Museum in London was created to document the experience of the First World War. Its WWI collections are therefore among the richest and most significant in the world. Please visit https://www.iwm.org.uk/research/research-facilities

Warwick's own Modern Records Centre also holds a number of collections and documents pertaining to the First World War. Please visit their website ( https://warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/) and contact their staff.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Comparative History of the First World War, 1912-1923 (HI33W)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
100 years after the end of the First World War, one might be tempted to ask if there is anything left to say about this conflict. Yet, the contemporary relevance of an historical topic is unusually clear in the case of First World War studies.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.entities[].name
BBC News Panorama North Korea Undercover | BBC

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Drone reveals Somme battlefields 100 years on - BBC News

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Battle of the Somme was one of the deadliest of the First World War. 100 years on - see some of the key landmarks, battlefields and memorials from the air.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
WWI's Civilians, the Homefront, and an Uneasy Peace: Crash Course European History #34

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Battle of the Somme - GCSE Source Analysis Skills: Reliability & Usefulness

# data[].attributes.headline
Videos about various topics relating to WW1

# data[].attributes.subject
Videos about various topics relating to WW1

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discover new perspectives on the war that changed everything.