The First World War provided a prototype and a reference for a new, horrific kind of war. It catalyzed the emergence of modern means of warfare and the social mechanisms necessary to sustain the industrialized war machine. Killing millions, it became the blueprint for the total war that succeeded it. It also brought about new social and political orders, transforming the societies which it mobilized at unprecedented levels. This course will examine the military, political, economic, social and cultural aspects of the conflict. We will discuss the origins and outbreak of the war, the land, sea and air campaigns, the war's economic and social consequences, the home fronts, the war's final stages in eastern and western Europe as well as non-European fronts, and finally, the war's impact on the international system and on its belligerents' and participants' perceptions of the new reality it had created.
5 units · Letter (ABCD/NP) · GER: WAY-SI
The First World War provided a prototype and a reference for a new, horrific kind of war. It catalyzed the emergence of modern means of warfare and the social mechanisms necessary to sustain the industrialized war machine. Killing millions, it became the blueprint for the total war that succeeded it. It also brought about new social and political orders, transforming the societies which it mobilized at unprecedented levels. This course will examine the military, political, economic, social and cultural aspects of the conflict. We will discuss the origins and outbreak of the war, the land, sea and air campaigns, the war's economic and social consequences, the home fronts, the war's final stages in eastern and western Europe as well as non-European fronts, and finally, the war's impact on the international system and on its belligerents' and participants' perceptions of the new reality it had created.
Offered in Autumn 2026 at Stanford University.