Who Started World War I: Crash Course World History 210
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- In which John Green teaches you WHY World War I started. Or tries to anyway. With this kind of thing, it's kind of hard to assign blame to any one of the nations involved. Did the fault lie with Austria-Hungary? Germany? Russia? Julius Caesar? One thing we can say for sure is that you can't blame the United States of America for this one. Woohoo! Well, you can hardly blame the US.
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"And just as a general rule, it's hard to play the blameless victim when you're moving all of your troops to the border. Hey, why are you here again, Putin?" That line aged well.
My whole WHAP class had a huge debate and came to the conclusion that whoever made the sandwich that Gavrilo Princip was eating was to blame. While he was eating the sandwich, he looked out the window and saw Franz Ferdinand after MANY failed assasination attempts. If the sandwich had been better, he wouldn't have looked up.
penguiatiator except sandwich story is fake
--from Serbian (me)
*gasp
ApceHistory You lied to me :(
www.history.com/news/the-assassination-of-archduke-franz-ferdinand-100-years-ago
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria#Shot_dead
www.history.com/this-day-in-history/archduke-franz-ferdinand-assassinated
penguiatiator actually he came to the conclusion to assassinate Franz while smoking Persian Tobacco
stop with pseudohistory
LOL - blaming Caesar for WW-1 still has me laughing. Great presentation!
If the Romans had conquered Germania, France and Germany or maybe all of continental Europe may have become a unified entity. Especially if Latin and Catholicism had replaced the tribal languages and religions.
Have you ever considered doing an “Advanced Course?” It seems like you could’ve easily gone more in-depth but didn’t because high school students are your intended audience.
Love the channel and your work!
Agreed!
If you want an extremely in depth look you should check out Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History. It’s like 15 hours long and was probably the best and most researched thing about WW1.
@@marquisdelafayette1929 I was about to recommend that myself. But yeah the first episode of "Blue Print for Armageddon" goes highly in depth on the causes and context of the beginning of WW1
I agree i wanna get a A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ on my exam
Why don`t you guys try reading a book..Maybe?
"The Swiss didn't start wars!"
Meanwhile, in Europa Universalis 4...
+Mallock Did they win?
+Jay Rohwer Or Victoria 2 :b
+Jay Rohwer How about that Swiss lakes achievement? No coastal provinces?
Never gave it a shot, lol.
Mallock Wait wait wait... They beat _France_? Man, that must be embarrassing for France.
In fact, that should be a thing in EU4, if a small power beats a larger power the effects of prestige are a larger, while if a larger power defeats a smaller power the effects are smaller
My great-grandfather died in WW1, my grandfather died in WW2, hope my country will be smart enough so that I don't have to die in WW3.
Yeah, my Grandfather died in Auschwitz. He fell from a guard tower.
My great-grandfather was a WWI pilot. Believe it or not, but he survived the "Flying Coffin"!
My Great-Great-Grandfathers both fought in WW1. One of them was killed in a gas attack, and another completely wiped out a German gunning position single handedly and was awarded a medal, and then died of old age.
My great-grandfather died in WW1, too. He either died in France, or in Italy.
My great-grandfather survived first,second Balkan wars and WW1, my grandfather survived WW2 he is still alive, he has 92 years now, hope my country will be smart enough and enters the WW3 so i could survive.
Swiss reel = best 5 seconds of this Crash Course channel.
word 😅
i'm swiss😊😊
+iluvaustralia me too lol 😅
yum swiss rolls>idk why i say this... alot..
Can't believe this is 8 years old. The 'why are you here again, Putin?' joke is proving timeless.
Fun fact: parts of Switzerland stayed neutral during the swiss civil war.
lel
You can't say they aren't commited
this year on 11 of nov at 11:00 am will mark the centennial anniversary of WW I sooo be ready
So they are neutral even when they are at war
Yodel-Ay-Hee-Hoo
lul
World War 3 needs a better script and director. I wonder who are they going to cast this time?
Probably Michael Bay!
Trump
Maxwell Destito Lmao
Maxwell Destito well fyck your right
Maxwell Destito Oh my God, you might be right.
am i the only one who replayed the swiss montage a million times
+Rajeera Geleta nope me too
no
You are certainly not alone
I am Swiss...
we're the mongols of europe. Except that we're not that belligerent.
“-the alliance system was certainly important and I’m sure you’ll be discussing it in your classes”.....imagine having no classroom or school because of the Caronavirus
I wish I could write conclusions for my essays that are as satisfying as how John Green summarizes his videos.
I really love the way that Crash Course teaches history. It is as impartial as possible, it always has some revelation about humanity, and it is always very well argued. I learnt so much from here!
@ 0:26
I love the way John says "and I can't wait for you to defend it" to his younger self. You can feel the spite.
5:53 aged spectacularly.
Having studied subject this in depth, I can tell you that all parties bear culpability for the war: Serbia, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Germany, France and Great Britain.
Each country believed that it would be to their advantage to go to war:
Austria-Hungary felt it was necessary to punish Servia. ( Back then Serbia was called Servia in English-language.)
Russia had to save face in the Balkans as protector of Slavs everywhere, as mentioned by John Green.
Germany believed that they had to eventually go to war with Russia or face annihilation of the Teutonic people by the Slavs. And rather sooner than later when Russia would be stronger.
France wanted back Alsace Lorraine territory that they lost in the Franco-Prussian War.
Great Britain wanted to knock down Germany, which was becoming the big industrial power of Europe. Germany industry was out producing everyone. (like today)
In each country, during July 1914, perhaps a dozen or so politicians, diplomats and generals debated whether to go to war. There was usually one or two who were big proponents of war, and in the end they manage to convince most of the others that going to war would benefit the country.
Have you read Lord Milners Second War by John P Cafferky? I think you'll find it illuminating if you've not yet read it
Germany also wanted colonies. Germany at that time was economically and militarily the strongest nation of Europe, however, it was France and the UK who owned the world.
I believe Austro-Hungary has to responsability of strating the war, but the russian mobilisation leads me to think that Russia would probably have found a way to go to war anyways. The great blame, for me, is on these two. Germany was dragged into the war by their aliance and a misunderstanding, and had to attack France because of the strong franco-russian alliance against Germany. Germans are however entirely responsible for invading Belgium and for getting Great Britain into the war, by that act.
Can't say if Great Britain would have found another reason to join though.
Most likely not. The british even promised to stay neutral some days before the outbreak of the war and even offered the germans to serve as an intercessor between germany and the french to prevent a world war. That was what lead the germans to march through belgium, they thought the british would not join. Of course everything went the other way because of Grey and his support from the conservatives, but it was still not unlikely that the british would stay neutral.
***** You're probably right. However, the british saw the germans as a threat, and if the germans created great troubles in trade by sinking ships, like they did in America, I would have expected GB to eventually join, basically the same way the USA joined. My opinion, however.
Of course we can't be sure about that. But we know that the british government was mostly pro german, there was just a small group aroung Grey (leader of the foreign office) which really advocated for war against germany. Thus i think it wasn't that likely that the UK joined in.
***** Ok. My History class diverge on those relations, saying that GB was peaceful against Germany before that war, but saw them as a major threat to their naval power. Knowing that, all I say is that this war would have been an opportunity for GB.
The British liberal government at the time did not want war (the PM cried when he had to declare war). Britain was actually close to a civil war in Ireland over the Home Rule crisis, as conservatives such as Bonar Law had promised to support Ulster Unionists in armed rebellion,(I suppose its ironic that entering ww1 ended the threat of civil war, because unionists wanted to show how loyal and brave they were, and nationalists wanted to show that unionists and nationalists could get along). I've gone off topic. Tbh I doubt ww1 would have lasted half as long as it did without the British, the Russian war effort was, to be frank, pathetic, and I don't think France would have been able to withstand Germany on its own. Maybe the threat of a German super state running across Europe would have been enough to make Britain join.
5:50 aged a little bit too well
I'd say paranoia is to blame for the start of WW1
Yeah pretty much. Everybody wanted a reason to attack someone else.
Including allied.cause after the war germany have to give 8 trillion, cannot have tanks,cannot have airforce, and manny german were killed in ruhr,germany by france army or bullies by brits citizen that visit germany. The brits can literally pick any german they want to bullies in germany and no one can really do anything
high tensions lead to paranoia which leads to rash decisions
Nonsense. By then, it'd been British policy for over 200 years to spark off such global wars periodically in order to kill their competition. They've always done that.
WW1 was the natural conclusion to the inevitable rise of Germany as the supreme European power as successor to the Western Roman Empire.
@@lokelong1292 oversimplified
Say what you will about the Germans, but they definitely had the best uniforms ;)
No Canada did. Sorry
+Gabe Grothaus You want badass uniforms? Look no further than the Knights Templar from the Crusades.
+Communistbaconeater Canada didn't even exist back then LOL
+Ninja Turtle Hmmm Canada didn't exist during WW1...I'm sure Canada has existed since 1867...
It was a british colony
Go look up Canada's independance
In which John Green teaches you WHY World War I started. Or tries to anyway. With this kind of thing, it's kind of hard to assign blame to any one of the nations involved. Did the fault lie with Austria-Hungary? Germany? Russia? Julius Caesar? One thing we can say for sure is that you can't blame the United States of America for this one. Woohoo! Well, you can hardly blame the US.
John, I dont know if you'll read this but I'll give it a shot anyway. I believe that Serbia had a defensive alliance with Russia, which is why Russia mobilized when Serbia was attacked. That point about harvest season and mobilizing later doesnt really make any sense, because why WOULDN'T Russia mobilize asap to gain an advantage over the Austrians?
adugan22 Mustering takes time?
Dan Carlin does a podcast called Hardcore History and his most recent series is about WWI called "Blueprint for Armageddon." Did you know that Gavrilo Princip's assassination of Franz Ferdinand was kind of by freak chance? Princip was in a radical organization that tried to assassinate Ferdinand during a parade by throwing a grenade into his car, which Ferdinand grabbed and threw back out. A while afterwards, Ferdinand's driver took a wrong road on their way to the magistrate's office, put his car in reverse to turn around, and the car stalled directly outside of a sandwich shop Princip was in. Seeing his opportunity, jerk shot Franz and his wife and caused World War 1. >=|
The Comedian (i get all my news and history from comedians--I'm a much happier person as a result) named Robert Newman did a show called "history of oil" that describes WW1 as a push for Britain to prevent Germany from getting access to Oil in Iraq, as both of their navies had just switched from Coal to Oil, and resource access was going to become important. It is an interesting alternative narrative.
This has nothing to do with this topic which is very interesting but I love that swiss clip. You should use it more often.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but as Germany agreed to *protect* Austria-Hungary when Russia struck a war (which they would definitely do if Serbia did, because Russia was Serbia's ally), THEN Austria-Hungary wrote that bullying ultimatum to Serbia and Serbia refused, that led to Russia's declaration of war; which was why Germany was then involved. So I don't know why people say the fault's on Germany, because it was Austria-Hungary who forced Serbia to say yes to the letter when Serbia shouldn't be blamed to say no.
The Rench couldn't take Alsace-Lorraine from us if they didn't blame Germany.
Exactly. I believe that people should go deeper into Balkan/Central European politics from the early 20th century to see what actually happened. Basically, Austria-Hungary tried to colonise Balkan countries after it helped them break free from the Turks. This happened because Austria was left out when other European countries divided overseas colonies. Croatia was already part of Austria-Hungary, then the Austrians annexed Bosnia and Serbia was to be next. They just waited for an excuse to attack. It was the matter of time at that point.
You've toataly right
but didnt serbia kill some austrian leader or something like that?
Luna Jahovic
Like the terrorists.
I started wwI. My bad, didn't know it would turn out like that.
Don't worry I caused ww2 20 years later so it's ok pal
Don't be sad because I started the entire Cold War,Most event were held by me,but I swear to god,I am not the one who assassinate Mr.JKF.
Its okay, I started the roman empire, which started a lot more wars. I also am about to start WW3 because i'm going to give some american with anger issues a really bad sandwich and he'll take out his anger on Kim Jong Un when his driver makes a wrong turn to a sushi shop...
Its ok, who has not started a war or two in their lifetime.
Dude wtf. I mean, I might be the one who actually sank the USS Maine in Cuba, but come on.
mongols: were the exception!
Swiss: hold my hot chocolate
The Putin jokes aged like fine wine
Anyone else here during the Coronavirus, and not History Class?
Just me? huh...
ENVYLESS yes! Corona time!
@@ememem2952YEAH! Corona time! How's the online learning?
@Asura Khæñ tbh i got an assignment due at in like 40mins on this so thats why im here
envy: Nope. No longer a student, and been watching this stuff for years.
yes
"We'll just behave really recklessly." *Shows a picture of George Bush*
Interesting... sort of like how the US has given Israel a "blank check" huh? /le sigh/
Yup.
Both countries are doing despicable things, I'm not on either side. I just want the US to stop clapping and cheering the bully on (and supplying them with tanks and attack helicopters).
You can point to numerous relationships between nations throughout history where a "blank check" type relationship did not condone reckless behavior. The fact that you have a bone to pick with Israel doesn't give you the right to paint them in the most negative light possible. Paint them in the most realistic light, or don't paint at all.
MrLgmhandler You can't claim there's an objectively true realistic light. We all view countries from our own perspectives. I'd be willing to bet a Joe Nobody in Palestine would have a very realistic very negative view of Israel. As a person from an outside perspective I think it is important to know the many different perspectives on an issue before I take a stance, if I feel it is my place to take a stance at all. Telling people "don't paint at all" is suppressing a perspective and doing the entire discussion an injustice.
Mary Harner You missed the point of what I was saying if you think I support not painting at all. I respect multiple perspectives and incomplete perspectives as long as they recognize that they are. Selling an obviously one-sided point of view as the whole truth without question like the OP was doing is destructive and shouldn't be done.
In 1881, Serbian prince Milan signed a Secret Convention with Austria-Hungary. Serbia basically became Austria-Hungary's bitch, so Milan could crown himself a King. Serbia couldn't sign agreements with anyone without Austria-Hungary's permission. In 1903 Milan's son was overthrown and killed, and Petar Karađorđević became King. He started trading with other European countries without Austria-Hungary's permission. Austria-Hungary imposed sanctions and started a trade war called Pig War. Pig War just strengthened Serbia's trade relations with the rest of Europe, and confirmed its economic independence. Since then Austria-Hungary wanted to start a war with Serbia and bring it back under its control. That is why Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina (which had a Serb majority at that time). That's why Serbia was forced to retreat from Albania. That is why the ultimatum was so harsh. So even if the Archduke wasn't assassinated war would eventually happen.
+A random person On the Internet en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1910_population_census_in_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina
+Александар Марић Yeah and the Serbs only account for 43% which is not an overall majority.
It says orthodox christians, not Serbs, considering that a lot of muslims considered themselves as Serbs.
Александар Марић
And many Greek Orthodox considered themselves Croats. But in any event your source doesn't support your claim it actually contradicts it.
Orthodox Croats? I don't think so.
Thanks for another thoughtful explanation of the difficulties surrounding historical analysis guys. I teach History and Historiography to high school students here in Sydney, Australia, and whilst so much of our curriculum is crowded with "what happened", the contestability of history is something finally being brought into almost every topic. Cheers!
*these videos remind me high school, but in the absolute best way possible. I love these videos, they mask the pain of sobbing over late homework, because I genuinely enjoyed watching these before writing my essays* thanks John and Co :)
Have you heard of The Standard Oil Company? Pretty sure the US was partly to blame for WWI, and pretty sure Russia had valid reasons for preparing for war, but other than that it's GREAT to hear a moderate rational discussion of WWI that doesn't just place blame on Germany. Beyond that though the Treaty of Versailles guaranteed WWII.
The Putin jokes aged like wine.
😿
7:00 Oh gosh, those borders on that map are so horrible...
Actually is no THAT bad, its just a representative image, not too far away
Rafael Tavarez It could be worse, yes, but it's inaccurate. Especially the border between Russia, Germany, and Austria in Poland.
It's actually pretty accurate.
***** at that time there was no Poland. It was partitioned between the kingdoms of Russia, Prussia and Austria. The map depicted is an approximation.
LOL it hurts my eyes! :D
The Swiss montage made my day
Am I the only one who had to raise the volume to max to get normal sound for John's voice? And then the music at the end seemed to drown out his voice so I couldn't hear what he was saying. (Not that I cared, because it was only the credits.)
No you're not. Looks like they messed up with the sound mixing in this one :/
agreed, especially the music in the end was way too loud. It almost seemed comical
Jump scaring Swiss.
The world needs a good war. World has been at peace too long and humanity is growing weak.
Doc
I hope that's just a bad taste joke and not your actual opinion
Unless...you're the Swiss. That part made me laugh :D
start the Swiss reel!
seriously, they should that more often, its awesome =]
Haha I liked that too...mostly because I'm Swiss, probably :))
In the beginning of the year I wrote an essay for my Year 11 History class about how 'The Alliance System' was to blame for the starting of WWI - my girlfriend wrote about how the Austrians were to blame and my friend wrote how Germany was the main cause.
It's an interesting topic with a lot of points to it! I love that you guys talked about it on Crash Course ;) thankyou
I'm writing an essay on WW1 and this video helped me a lot!
Amazing job. Incredibly thorough, and done so quickly!!
"Im more in the bold proclamations business" this describes the internet so well
what makes germany different from any other colonizing country? everyone waged wars for their own benefits.
Scapegoat... And the Versailles-treaty assigned all blame for the war to Germany. And as he said, they did start WW2, making it easy for people to get on board with the idea of them being the soul reason the first one started as well.
+Stratega Except Germany and the UK weren't enemies up until WW1.
Ottifant UK did, however, ally up with their ancient rival France because of Germany's increadible effectiveness both economically and militarily. The rapid development of the German navy deteriorated their relations even further. That is not to say they were enemies, just that they weren't the best of friends.
+TheVeryBest Technically incorrect. The Brits had a non-aggression pact with France and Russia. The British at the beginning of the 20th Century had one ally, and one ally only, and that was to protect its more far flung possession: Japan.
However, there was an arms and naval race between Germany and Britain from 1912 on wards as I recall, which was due to the Germans stated intentions to create a navy either as strong, or more powerful than that of Britain - which obviously the British did not like - along with the fact the Germans did catch up with the British remarkably quickly, even if they did in the end only fight one naval battle before being holed up after Jutland.
Grort The reason Great Britain joined the war was because Germany invaded Belgium, but if you want to be technical you can't forget that Great Britain and Portugal have been allies since 1386. So the whole "one ally only" is simply not true. They also maintained relations with the US because they knew they had no hope of keeping a supreme naval influence in the new world without their help.
They were also part of the triple entante, which weren't technically an alliance. So you're correct in that sense. However, as they were a member of the triple entante they would probably have gone to war to defend the other two members if they should come under severe threat. And we both know that that was the case.
You mentioned a great TOPIC at the end of the video. may have done it already and i just dont see it, but the ALLIANCE SYSTEM seems like a great philosophical and analytical video. Love everything about these
what about the assassination of ferdinand
Watch The Great War channel they do a better job explaining World War I.
putin
Kevin Aluka previous upload
+Ghost how do you mean?
Kevin Aluka someone hasn't watched the first part.
WAIT... DID THIS PERSON WRITE THE FAULT IN OUR STARTS.?!?!?
You should do a video about who started the Vietnam War! oh wait...
You say that as if everyone in the U.S. didn't already know the U.S. escalated the Vietnam War into an unjustified proxy war. Even H.W. Bush had to say about the First Gulf War that "This will not be another Vietnam."
Yea, next time let people slay other people just because they are intelegent..
i am sorry so you think a aggressive communist Vietnam invading a democratic free Vietnam is okay and the USA is wrong for trying to stop a aggressive USSR supported Vietnam from invading a free nation? If so you fucking disgust me and would have millions of people live under the authoritarian leadership of communism, where they will starve be killed and oppressed for many years. Go fuck your self, All 4 of my grand parents where put into camps and killed in Vietnam after the USA pulled out, you fucking sicken me.
***** You clearly don't know Vietnam if you think all we did was bomb a rainforest filled with innocent people. You can rightly argue that the US was overly paranoid over communism during the Cold War (just like the Soviets to capitalism) but that doesn't change the facts of what happened there. We saw communism, at least geo-politically, as the greater evil and it was in many ways.
We have a pretty good idea of how Vietnam started so you aren't being particularly edgy or nuanced here. You can earn your stripes if you can rationally discuss the why and the outcome.
crash course has biggest impact on the world in recent decade. it changes the way we see CZcams technology and education. thanks to green brothers.
Discuss in the comments section?! Yeah, that's always constructive - nasty posts in the comments section is what led to Cuba's involvement in WWI!
Captain Bud Sturguess loooool XD
I'd say that the assassination of Franz Ferdinand was the spark that lit the fuse
+Roxanna RZ
Very true, but the powder kegs were already in place.
"(USA) spends more on defense" when we have troops in 180+ countries, that's not defense, that's offense.
The only person to blame for WW1 is Gavrillo Princip who shot the archduke of Austro-Hungary. Cause of the assassination Austria declared war on Serbia.Russia helped Serbia.Germany helped Austria.France helped Russia.And then Germany invaded Belgium that got UK into the war.When the UK joined the war half of the world did so the fault is of Gavrillo Princip,Germany and of course Serbian Nationalists.
actually the black hand organization are to blame
R3D1 really, when Serbs i bosnia defend their rights they are murderers. Gavrilo Princip was member of organisation Bosnian youth, and they were against annexations of Bosnia from Austro-hungarian empire. Germany and Austria were planing war and this assassination came as perfect excuse to start war. Only problem it was to early, they were not ready. Russia as Serbian and Montenegro allied had obligation to protect them in case of any foreign attack. So when Austria attack Serbia Russia declared war.
you are so stupid. Do you realy think that one event was the cause of ww1?? hahaha idiot .... Serbia has never attacked some other nation. Serbia was alsways just deffending from invasion. WW1, WW2, Balkans Was in 90s, 99 Nato bombing...will be continued..
BobTheBob They were more like patriots dude, what he thought he was doing was killing a tyrant, the goal was to start a revolutionary war to liberate an opressed people from an imperialistic realm. Say whatever you want but, to this day, Gavrilo Printzip is a national hero.
My friend: who's your favorite CZcamsr?
Me: Stan From CrashCourse.
You missed the opportunity for a "It's almost harvesting season" reference
a shame
Hey, a polandball fan ! :)
learns nothing in class...comes here 😅 thanks Jhon👏
Let me guess, spelling class also worthless?
what a wonderful message at the end about questioning both primary and secondary sources.
Except the Swiss? John... need I remind you?
Battle of Morgarten (1315), Battle of Sempach (1386), Old Zurich War (1440-1446), Burgundian Wars (1474-1477), Swabian War (1511-1516), the Hundred Days (1815), Sonderbund War (1847)... all of these included the Swiss as aggressors...
Did they start those wars?
Morgatern, Sempach, Old Zurich, the Burgundian Wars, and Swabian War, yes, they *started* them with very little doubt.
Hundred Days and Sonderbund Wars... sort of... they were part of an alliance that started those wars, so whether they *specifically* started them is (as usual with history) a complicated question.
there are also europian countries who have literally never started wars because they are very new like baltic countries
linda a
They were part of the USSR.
catalinaga well yes, but they didn't start anything. techinically it was USSR
Germany had a huge dilemma. Almost all conflict scenarios lead sooner or later to a two front war. France being allied to Russia and the triple entente basically check mated Germany's security interests and not only shifted but destroyed the balance of power in Europe again. When Bismarck said "Whatever you do, stay friends with Russia." he basically forecasted all the future conflicts Germany would have in the next decades. Sadly in 1914 there was no statesman in Germany who could even close match the capacity of Bismarck. Germany had only Wilhelm II who was a moron.
Wimbledon too, wasn't expecting that
Check out the stand at the home ground Kingsmeadow. He is a fan, and has got them hooked up with many sponsorship deals. He also plays Fifa and posts the videos here giving all the proceeds to the Dons. He is currently working on a movie about them.
Wow! I qualified from St Georges Medical School in 1998. I used to live around the corner from Plough Lane. Which was an overgrown weed patch while I lived nearby. Ironically I now live closest to the unholy MK Dons
The Guns of August by Barbara Tuckman is probably still the best book about the first days of World War I. I read it years ago but recently bought a new copy to read it again.
Great show, John and team. Thoughtful, well paced and engaging. Thankyou!
1:15 Indeed this is a photo of a man called Fritz Fischer, but not the one who postulated the "Fischer Thesis," you are obviously referring to. Therefore it can be kind of deceptive. I did not want to raise an unnecessary complaint, but it was something that attracted my attention.
WW1 STARTS:
SWEDEN: AIGHT IM OUT
They heard Russia was involved. They got their fill of Russia in the Great Northern War
There is also the fact that France wanted revenge for the Franco-Prussian war in which Alsace-Moselle was stolen, the fact that Germany was building a strong navy to compete with the Royal Navy, the fact that Germany was jealous of the French Colonial Empire and also the assassination of Jean Jaurès, who worked hard to mobilize French and German labourers against the war to come
The Ottaman empire, Germany and Austra Hungary where the central powers
And Bulgaria
*The Ottopeople Empire. Gosh, it's 2019!
you guys should sell figurines inspired by Crash Course Thought Bubble because i really want that Imperial Russian Warbot
Two big problems I have with this video concern Russia;
First of all it's stated as unreasonable for Russia to have mobilised in response to Austria-Hungary's moves against Serbia.. this kind of ignores the whole concept of the Panslavic movement wherein the Russians viewed themselves as natural protectors of the Slavic peoples in Europe. Austria would have destroyed Serbia's independence, so Russia viewed itself as obliged to protect her. Not only that but Russia had also been humiliated in 1905 and therefore needed to respond militarily to this lest she be viewed as totally inept and no longer worthy of great power status.
In addition, John bashes Russia for mobilising before Serbia responded to Austria's ultimatum; an ultimatum that was so harsh it was *designed* to be rejected; I doubt that any sane man honestly expected Serbia to acquiesce.
+Bumbling Brit I think these are very good points
+Bumbling Brit Great point.
I am speaking now like a Serb, and yes, we have strong connection with Russia, and Russia need to protect Slavic people in Europe, bcs she is the main orthodox country. Big sister, and I agree with you about power status.
The same situation is happening now in Ukraine and soon is gonna be the same thing in Serbia for Kosovo and Metohija.
One more thing, I am glad that you see ultimatum, and that see your opinion, only fool could agree with that.
All the best
You've also left out the fact that Russia had to mobilise earlier than any other nation because it would take them so long to do so. If all powers had mobilised at the same time then Russia would have been at a major disadvantage because German would have been ready for war 2 weeks (I can't remember the exact length of time) before Russia
John Green is the coolest person ever
Thanks for doing a video on this complicated subject! I've just got a few comments below:
German -- more precisely Prussian -- militarism, while it might not have been the cause of WWI, was definitely "a thing." It affected German development tremendously that Germany was unified through war under the ultra-militaristic and autocratic Prussian state rather than via peaceful means (say, via the 1848 Frankfurt Assembly).
It's also terribly important to remember how our hindsight affects our view of history. To understand the choices of 1914, we need to understand them as those who made them understood them at the time -- this means understanding their choices without the knowledge of what happened afterwards. Those who made decisions to go to war didn't know they were starting the event that we know as the first world war. They didn't know they were signing up for four years of grueling trench warfare, etc. They knew they were starting a war, but they probably viewed that as something far less terrible than what actually happened.
It's likely Germany decided to take advantage of the Balkan circumstances of 1914 to go to war with Russia because they were afraid that Russia would eventually complete an extensive military modernization programme. This included a lot of railway construction which they thought would render Germany helpless in the event of a two-front war with Russia and France. See the 1912 conference where this was discussed:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Imperial_War_Council_of_8_December_1912
One of my professors always said: "wars don't happen by accident. They happened because people want them." I think that's a valid point here. The alliance system didn't automatically lead to war. There were plenty of Balkan crises before this one, and they didn't cause world war. What we know as WWI probably happened because Germany gambled on war in 1914. However, it is worth noting that the war Germany wanted to fight in 1914 was one in which Britain stayed out, Germany won a quick victory over France, and then turned around and beat Russia. It bears remembering that had Britain stayed out, or had Germany defeated France in the summer of 1914 (both of which could easily have happened), the horrifying trench war we know as "World War One" would never have occurred. We mock the generals of 1914 for thinking war could be over in a few months, but we have to realize that, actually, a short war in 1914 was very possible. If that had occurred, history would have given another name to this 1914 war.
You mention the importance of the diplomats, which is a valid point. However, it's also important to realize that after mobilization began, they lost control of events to their military leaders. In both Germany and Russia, the military kept a lot of information from the politicians, and it's clear that many politicians didn't understand that once mobilization began, there was really no going back (one Russian general told his aide to "smash my telephone" after the mobilization order came, in order to prevent the waffling Czar from calling him to cancel mobilization). In Germany, Bethmann and the Kaiser wanted to back away from war once they realized Britain would be in for sure, but the military (Moltke) told them that this was impossible, because mobilization had begun.
One conclusion that we can perhaps safely make is that the autocracies are to blame for the war. Perhaps this lends some credence to the "democratic peace" theory. Austria, Russia, and Germany all had the opportunity to make decisions that could have prevented general war, but chose not to. On the other hand, the democratic regimes of France, Italy, and Britain had no role in starting the war. Indeed, Italy reneged on it's treaty obligations to stay out of the war (at least initially). The case of Italy is instructive against the notion that the Alliance system led inevitably to the war. Many leaders had more choices in 1914 than we give them credit for. The most succinct summary of the cause of the war I can think of runs something as follows:
"German political leaders decided to seize the opportunity to fight a preventive war agains Russia in 1914 by making Russia's reaction to the Balkan crisis of that year a casus belli. The aim of the war against Russia (and by extension, France) was to defeat Russia before she could complete a military modernization programme that the Germans thought would doom them to defeat in any future conflict. However, once German political leaders realized that there was no chance of Britain staying out of the developing war, they attempted to back down from it, but at this point German military leaders intervened and explained that to stop mobilization would be either impossible or suicidal. The German political leaders thereafter resigned themselves to the war they had started.
speaking of starting wars.... I would love to see john green play civilization 6 and argue with the AIs. :D
You can blame pretty much anyone for WWI... Except for the microbes.
zogg pls
*evil microbe laugh*
Damn Canadians...
Well, I suppose if the Bubonic Plague bacteria had just wiped out Europe like it was supposed too, then there would be no WWI
But without the Black Death, Mongols would have probably retained control of Russia, thus possibly no WWI.
This one of the Most Entertaining history lessons I've ever seen. Edu-tainment for sure. Where was John when I was in high school and college history classes?
I hate the "holier than thou" attitude Green has
hate or envy? =P
Yeah I sometimes get that vibe too - I don't think he means to do it, he's just one of those people with that tone of voice, etc.
This "holier than thou" attitude, is actually sheepish contempt for his oft jingoistic and pompous nationality. He's apologizing for the history of American foreign policy with every hedge. You don't recognize this because your average American education has failed to teach you high level critical theory. This is also why you're feeling misplaced rage as you read this.
irreverend Well.. That finished that argument. Not complaining, I hate arguments. A Brit
This idea of a "holier than thou" attitude is unfortunate; once you assign someone that attitude, you've kind of created a vicious circle, in that any form of humbleness or break with previous behaviour can automatically also be assigned as "holier than thou" attitude. For example, you could evaluate this comment, although I strongly recommend that you don't, because it is quickly turning into a vicious circle on very many levels.
Damm early humans moving out of africa and starting world war 1 >.>
Honestly, I myself look at the assassin of the austro-hungarian prince and the politics in the region he died in if I'm asked who I blame for the war.
It was that god damn cataclysmic event that killed the dinosaurs! Dinosaurs are known for their obstinate isolationism. A Europe run by dinosaurs never would have had that tangled a web of alliances!
Damn those pieces of rock for coming together to form the Earth and starting WW1! It never would've happened if they would have just left each other alone.
***** damn those early microbes, if only they hadn't learned to detect light levels, discerning night from day, then none of this would have happened!
dam that bang that created all of this, nobody would have to die if that dam bang didnt happen!
Mark Zunnberg It's the multiverse's fault really. If there weren't an infinite amount of possible universes odds are ww1 never would have happened.
I love the inserts of “me from the past” 😂
What is it with the numeration within the thought bubble? Is it leading to further explanations or sources? LOVE you channel btw!!!
I love that AFC Wimbledon jersey
I love that Russian War-Mech.
"Roll the swiss reel Stan!" *Swiss Reel Plays*
Me: WTF WAS THAT?
Aged like fine wine
It's kinda like this:
Austria-Hungary Ferdinand visits Serbia to make peace, but extremists of the Black Hand assassinate him. Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.
Serbia, being smaller than Austria-Hungary, asks Russia to help. Russia agrees to help.
Austria-Hungary sees it as 2 vs. 1, and ask Germany, who offers, to help. Germany Fights Russia.
Seeing how Russia and France were allies, Germany counter attacks France before France could even assist the Russians. Germany was at war with France and Russia, while Austria-Hungary and Serbia were still fighting 1 vs. 1.
Germany enters Belgium, where UK fights back and now it's Germany against 3 countries.
Germany occupies waters around the UK and thinks a cruise ships is a war ship and sinks it. UK and US citizens are killed, making US get involved. Germany now against 4 countries.
Ottoman Empire assists Germany against British forces occupying in the middle east.
Austria-Hungary and Serbia are eventually forgotten due to the fact that Germany was against more than one country.
Crazy how this all happens because citizens of one country DID NOT want peace with another one and extremists step it to take unnecessary action. Sad world we live in.
He didn't visit Serbia, he visited Sarajevo, a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was part of Austria-Hungary because of Berlin Congress. Also, Ferdinand didn't come to Sarajevo to ask for peace. If he wanted peace with Serbs and other minorities, he would give them some kind of autonomy.
I'm going to post something rather controversial. I'm going to say that since I'm only 25 years old, I'm totally blameless in causing World War I.
Until 10 years from now when you send a Terminator back to kill John Connor
A counterpoint, you may be a promoter of the same patterns that caused that conflict, and if you were part of a repeat situation, that's still sub-optimal. That was said without detailed knowledge of WW1 or you, but it doesn't help to distance yourself and say you don't matter, because you do matter, and what you do large or small will always be a part of history, so make it a good one and rock on, sir!
greg miller
Such has been the lot of the poor since civilization began.
1:52 SWITZEREEL!!!!!!
"The greatest story never told" it's long but very good.
At 6:56 hes making the joke on Putin because he had 2 large military "exercises" near the Ukraine border and is adding more troops on the Crimea boarder with Ukraine now. The more you know
Really? I guess you mean 5:51?
Well and I though he was referring to him because he complained about the West sending their troops to the Russian border and doing military exercises XD
The more you know, right? ;)
Jürgen Lehmann that joke would have been more easily understood than the one about Putin
Pro-EU rebels launched a coup-detat against the democratically elected government (not a great gov't but hey that's democracy for ya), America and Europeans station troop divisions in Ukraine, NATO sends aid to the Ukrainian military which has a large contingent of Neo-Nazis like Svoboda, and recently Ukraine allowed foreign politicians to be able to legislate in Ukrainian gov't. But ya know, Russia's invading.
And the weird thing about Germans is that up to now, there are quite a few who think Jews are to be blamed for losing both wars. Like seriously leave the poor guys alone.
in fact, many of the best pilots that fought for the Germans in WW1 were actually Jewish...Oh treaty of Versailles how I hate you so much.
anti-semitic conspiracy theories have existed for as long as the jews have been minorities in Europe, and they have never been even remotely true
For me, it was Serbia who started the war (and the Austrians but less so). There is pretty substantial evidence that the Serbian government supported the Black Hand, the group responsible for assassinating Franz Ferdinand. The government was also looking to annex Bosnia.
Blac hand was on their own, governmend was supporting them at first but they did not have power over them. Do you really think that Serbia wanted a war with AU? Russia was not Serbian allay on paper, we did not know that they will support us. Russia said they will support Serbia when ultimatum was allready hire.
nope black hand was secret organisation that supported Young bosnia secret organisation
Putting Cherno Alpha in the animation when talking about Russian weapons... that Pacific Rim reference was gold !
Bosnia= the country that WWI started in and yet nobody knows where it is :/
Shame on you world!
Ugh..well i learned it started in bosnia, i know it was yougoslavia back then but...ye u know
Don't worry, Bosnia. We still love you.
Mahir Sadad Actually, it was in Bosnia. Bosnia=/= Serbia or province of Serbia. Get your facts straight. Didn't you also hear when John Green said: "Austria annexed Bosnia". Idiot. He didn't say Austria annexed Serbia or part of Serbia.
emirhasa Mahir Sadad wow i didnt even notice u said that XD i think id know where the city i was born in is (bosnia)
Mahir Sadad maybe i dont know a lot :/ idk....and ik ^-^ thx uve been there before or u just know?
The correct answer is Obama started WW1.
Thanks Obama!
War = business. Follow the money and you'll know who started.
Rothschild family and other powerful people such as the Rockefellers
Ahh this was just around the time that the military industrial complex was just becoming solidified as a concept
+Quoc Bao I KNOW RIGHT! I'm so glad there are other people, like you, out there who look for truth and don't just take the same old propaganda. Cheers to peace, justice and sanity!
Here's a link to some top class scholarship on the subject for those who are interested: www.amazon.co.uk/Hidden-History-Secret-Origins-First/dp/1780576307
+Jacob Kuba Out of interest, do you remember where you first learnt about the Rothschild family?
Isis Barrett-Lally from my father back in Africa
These talks are so good that I just wanna cry.
Why are the Brits always move into the wars? They could stay on their island and drink tea.
they're allies to the other countries so they can't just let it happen
It is Britain's prerogative to make certain that no single country controls all of europe, for our own safety, hence we are the Arbiter of Europe, whether we like or not.
how about Brexit though
Aditya Srinivasulu You understand that it was a referendum, I personally voted to stay but alas 52% voted the other way.
Well, the whole "island" thing is kind of the issue there. You know, "Brittania rules the waves" and all that? Britain relied on trade as its lifeblood. It was in their interest to act on behalf of their most important trade partners -- or against the competition, in the case of the Anglo-Dutch Wars.
A history of starting war defines all nations, not just "western europe" China for example, has been at war for almost all of its history.
Not to talk about America not even like 10 years without conflict, and theyre big because of conflict
China wasn't known for conquering other nations though, and for that isn't as documented and known to the outside world. The wars were many fought inside the borders as a civil war to over throw the Dynasty. Which started from shortages of food, leading to famine. It was mainly to China's high population and infertile land.
4:57 Putin!
Currently obsessed with you videos in 2017.
Video title: What started WW1
first 4 minutes: It wasn't Germany
I find this quite odd and enlightening. Whenever WW1 came up in my own history classes in the UK the blame was mostly assigned to ourselves and Germany have a military and political rivalry, a arms race if you will and the spark that set off the war was the aforementioned assassination. Russia, the Ottomans and others were hardly mentioned.
Makes the education system feel a bit inadequate when a ten minuet video can give you a wider view of a topic then a handful of hour long classes.
The crisis in july 1914 was maybe the most complex in all of human history, so i wouldn't blame your school for not mentioning everything (in germany, we also don't really analyse the russian incentives to mobilise or the british diplomacy under Grey, it is just too complicated and takes to much time)
Even at GCSE, there is no real point going in to full detail about who started the war, it only serves to confuse you. Germany can be blamed entirely, however, for British involvement, by invading Belgium, so that could be why it was never mentioned. Also don't treat Green as an authority, knowledgable though he is, I would still trust most professors of history over him.
Alex Zarandi
I certainly don't make a point of using these videos as more then a general guide line and food for thought, but it still is a little disconcerting when such can give a vastly wider perspective then official lessons. It was some time ago but I certainly don't remember them warning me that there was a lot more going on then they could cover, which I think is at least reasonable to ask for.
Of course, but they are still just teachers, not professional historians. Don't expect too much from history class in school, it is just supposed to give you a quick summary of what happened.
Alex Zarandi no. they put out british discussion of entering the war, and belgium seemed more like an excuse than a reason for entering the war.
Mr Green, I'll bet Putin loves your laptop. XD
Why would he love a laptop that says that it will kill him?!
"I'm not really in the defending business more the bold proclamation business" hahahaha gold x'D