WWI: The War That Changed Everything | 5 Minute Video
Think of all the horrors of the 20th Century: The Holocaust. The Bolshevik Revolution. The Cold War. Were it not for the assassination of one Austro-Hungarian archduke in 1914, none of those events would have ever happened. Historian and author Andrew Roberts explains.
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Script:
As an historian, I’m often asked if I could stop one event in modern history from happening, what would it be?
My answer is World War I.
If there had been no World War I, there would have been no Russian Revolution, no World War II, no Holocaust, no Cold War.
And that doesn’t even consider the millions who died in the war itself.
Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, Europe experienced an unprecedented period of economic growth. Brought about by the Industrial Revolution, this new prosperity spawned rapid developments in science, medicine, art, and political philosophy.
The future of civilization never looked brighter. And then, suddenly, it all went up in flames.
The fuse was lit in June 1914, in a street in Sarajevo, Bosnia. It was there that Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist. It should have been no more than a sad footnote in history. Instead, it changed history.
Austria-Hungary, seeking to avenge the Archduke’s murder, declared war on Serbia. But before taking this drastic step, it asked for—and received—a blessing from its powerful ally, Germany.
Serbia, knowing that it had no chance against Austria-Hungary, called on its ally, Russia, to defend it. Russia agreed.
To strengthen its hand, Russia solicited French support should war break out. France, ever suspicious of German intentions, assented.
Germany then made a pre-emptive move to take France out of the war. The German command, having long planned this war, invaded France through neutral Belgium. This prompted Britain to join France against Germany. Suddenly, the entire continent was engulfed in war.
The key player was Germany. Their strategy was to punch through Belgium and France and capture Paris before the French had time to react. This was the so-called Schlieffen Plan, named after the German general who conceived it. With France conquered, they would turn their attention to Russia.
That Germany thought it would actually work comes down to one man, Germany’s leader, Kaiser Wilhelm II. The Emperor of Germany from 1888 until his forced abdication in 1918, Wilhelm was a profoundly unpleasant, unstable and vicious personality, who suggested that Jews could be dealt with by gas. By 1914, he believed that Germany should not only dominate Europe, but the entire world.
Had the Schlieffen Plan worked, Germany most certainly would have. But it didn’t work. The British and the French put up stiff resistance in the west. Russia did the same in the east. The losses incurred by all sides were immediate—and appalling.
For the complete script, visit https://www.prageru.com/videos/wwi-war-changed-everything
source
Germany or “Prussia” was a victim to Austria-Hungary stupidity
Wow, that's some Grade-A pro-Allies Propaganda right there.
Just more idiotic Kaiser slander.
Everyone blames Germany. It was Serbia and Austria who started it all.
Your intro doesn't even talk about the middle east.
Why start in June 1914. This vid is an unnecessarily shallow analysis. Start with the Berlin to Baghdad railway of 1903….As usual, its all economics.
if he was a real historian then he would know Kaiser Wilhelm was not evil
I would argue that World Wars were crucial in dismantling the European empires and therefore they are the most essential events in recent history from Asian and African perspectives
The consequnse of change can be 100 times more deadly than the problem your try to fix. How know what monsters that would come later in time?. Maybe nucleare war of worse would civil war ect be glad of the out come i say
Read the Book "figth against time" and know that it cant be stopped. What do you think happen if you stop one power in history? It pops up other time and place!.
This video is spot on. Kaiser Wilhlem the second genuinely WAS a madman, Hell-Bent on WORLD conquest! He would have stopped at nothing to acheive that end. Good thing the allies, especialy France stood firm to stop him.
Here is another example of PragerU making myths about history. They attempt the victimize the Kaiser making him look like the bad guy. In real terms the kaiser was just as bad if not slightly better than the Western Powers and Russia. Also even if Paris was captured, What does that mean? France would likely just move there capital to Bordeaux and keep fighting. And Also the Russian performance in the war was terrible. Russian troops fought poorly, had low moral, and had terrible supplies and equipment and where poorly led under the horrible system of serfdom. The truth is that Germany was at that time on of the best nations to live in.
After hearing about this and someone got mad at me I would say, "In the words of Gavrilo Princip, Sorry, I didn't expect everyone to get this upset."
No WW II, no Vietnam war.
getmany had tje potensial to dominate the world but they have failed
true but back up a bit … what if Theodore Roosevelt had won reelection in 1912 … doubtful he would have stood by so long watching a war rage or even get started without putting forth his own "big stick"
World War 1 was the war that destroyed civilization and plunged the world into the chaotic mess that was the 20th century
truly the prager univerasty
Would we still have been drawn into a war in the Pacific ?
I hate If’s 😂
What about all the Easter European nations, who got their independence because of world war?
Just forget about them?
But it gave us powerful weapons to destroy the enemy, or a destructive aliens, cause that's how we think most of the time,but there's a reason for everything
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It didn’t just end at Cold War. 9/11 was an effect from the cold war
México también tuvo participación en la Primera Guerra Mundial.
This is such a dumb explanation for the reasons of the war.
Is it really that, what you English-speakers call the Blankovollmacht – a "blessing"?
What was the effects of the french revolution and he rise of napoleon ?
Basically, Britain and France were worried about the threat of the Second Reich(Second German Empire). Kaiser Wilhelm II didn't resign the reinsurance treaty with Russia promising to attack each other. So Russia started being wary of Germany. Russia, British Empire and France all had colonial disputes but they dropped them to fight the commmon enemy – Germany. Thus, the Triple Entente was formed. Germany had an alliance with Austria and Russia had one with Serbia. So Ferdinand gets shot and Austria declare war on Serbia and then Russia and Germany enter to protect their allies. Germany know that Britain and France are waiting for a chance to attack Germany so invade Belgium to set up an offensive against France. That triggers the British alliance with Belgium and France has alliances with Russia and Britain so joins on the side of the allies. Basically, Europe was a lobby waiting for the battle to start.
The cold war sorta led to the events of the wars of today, no?
And ww1 has been influenced by Napoleon in a different way
"…there would have been no Russian Revolution…" Uh, that's a bit of a reach. Agitators had been active in Tsarist Russia for decades by 1914.
Finally a good prageru video
LOVE WAR.
Brilliant Andrew. Great teacher 👍