How World War I Started: Crash Course World History 209

6,501,048 views Sep 12, 2014 World History 2

In which John Green teaches you about World War I and how it got started. Crash Course doesn’t usually talk much about dates, but the way that things unfolded in July and August of 1914 is kind of important to understanding the Great War. You’ll learn about Franz Ferdinand, Gavrilo Princip, the Black Hand, and why the Serbian nationalists wanted to kill the poor Archduke. You’ll also learn who mobilized first and who exactly started the war. Sort of. Actually, there’s no good answer to who started the war, but we give it a shot anyway.

America in World War I: Crash Course US History #30

4,450,852 views Sep 19, 2013 US History

In which John Green teaches you about American involvement in World War I, which at the time was called the Great War. They didn’t know there was going to be a second one, though they probably should have guessed, ’cause this one didn’t wrap up very neatly. So, the United States stayed out of World War I at first, because Americans were in an isolationist mood in the early 20th century. That didn’t last though, as the affronts piled up and drew the US into the war. Spoiler alert: the Lusitania was sunk two years before we joined the war, so that wasn’t the sole cause for our jumping in. It was part of it though, as was the Zimmerman telegram, unrestricted submarine warfare, and our affinity for the Brits.

You’ll learn the war’s effects on the home front, some of Woodrow Wilson’s XIV Points, and just how the war ended up expanding the power of the government in Americans’ lives. Hey teachers and students – Check out CommonLit’s free collection of reading passages and curriculum resources to learn more about the events of this episode. The complex secret alliances of Europe led to World War I: https://www.commonlit.org/texts/a-mad… It took several years before Americans joined the war: https://www.commonlit.org/texts/to-th… After the war, President Woodrow Wilson wanted to prevent a future World War, and promoted creating a League of Nations, established following the Treaty of Versailles: https://www.commonlit.org/texts/the-t…