World War I: The "Great War"

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Rated 5 out of 5 by the professor from The Great War - World War I - A Total War Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius (VGL) delivers a most eye opening educational experience. World War I: The Great War was extraordinary. 36, 30 minute videos brought vividly to life, a complex and devastating chapter of history which in many aspects was numbing for this reviewer. There was no teleprompter, no script, just a master teacher sharing a lifetime of research and insights with clarity and conviction. The course covered far more than just the battlefield. It explored the causes of the war, rapid escalation into a total war, and the unimaginable suffering endured by soldiers on the Western Front. I was especially struck by the harrowing descriptions of trench warfare, trench foot, the terror of going "over the top", and the devastating impact of new technologies like the machine gun and poison gas. These were not just facts; they were human stories, and were told with compassion and depth. As a Vietnam Veteran, this course revived the painful agony of the soldiers, innocent villagers, especially the children, and both the physical and psychological injuries which will never be erased. The lectures also delved into the broader scope of the war, from submarine and air warfare, and the sinking of the Lusitania, stimulating The Unites States entry into the war under Woodrow Wilson, and a favorite topic of this reviewer the Russian revolution with its seismic global consequences. The Professor's discussion of the Treaty of Versailles was particularly compelling, showing how its harsh terms sowed the seed for World War II. VGL concluded the course with a sobering reflection on the legacy of the war, the staggering millions who died and were maimed, and the generations of families wipeout. A key final aspect presented was the rise of totalitarian regimes. This is an outstanding course presented by an exemplar professor, I highly recommend this course and all the others by this brilliant professor.

Date published: 2025-06-30

Rated 5 out of 5 by Helena C from Excellent, Well-Rounded Course This is easily one of the top three TGC courses I've watched so far due to its breadth of information. Although this is an older course, I thought the content was excellent and very well rounded. Wars - especially on this scale - are about so much more than just military strategies and battles. Dr. Liulevicius provides background information and analysis about a great diversity of topics related to the war, which gives an excellent context for learning more details in the future. Having this comprehensive overview of the war is eerily relevant to modern times, as various aspects of history seem to repeat themselves. The more we understand about past wars' interrelationships with all aspects of societies, the more we may be able to make different choices in the future.

Date published: 2025-03-19

Rated 1 out of 5 by Bummer from Closed caption The DVD description states CC. I used two different players. There is no menu option or setup to turn CC on. What the .....?

Date published: 2025-02-20

Rated 5 out of 5 by buddyb07 from An Incredible Educational Achievement Just brilliant. After 40 years of university teaching, I have the strongest appreciation for what this professor has done here. Covering so broad a topic as World War I, from the perspectives of politics, sociology, psychology, demography, ground combat, naval warfare, nascent air combat operations, etc.: I am just in awe at the breadth and depth of these 36 lessons. I'm also so totally impressed by the pedagogical techniques on display. The organization of the 36 lessons, the smoothness with which each lesson was delivered, the utter absence of annoyingly obvious teleprompter reading, and the smooth and conjunctive way in which Professor Jurevicius spoke--no 'umms' and 'ahhs' intruded into his speech, as they inevitably would for most of us. I am finishing this class a full 18 years after it was produced, and the Professor at that time was a very young man. So I found two teacher-related thoughts kept arising for me throughout the class: 1., How did he get SO good so young?, and 2., Whatever recompense he earned for this production, he deserved every penny. Many, many thanks. bb

Date published: 2024-04-07

Rated 5 out of 5 by Thanuja from Excellent course! This is obviously one of the best researched, impecably delivered course in Wondrium. As a history buff, I have seen many World War I docs, TV series and good films. But taking a course in an academic setting is new and it does bring different perspective and appreciation for the course work. Professor is great teacher and obviously one of the sought-after professors here in Wondrium. I can't wait to try his other courses as well.

Date published: 2024-03-05

Rated 5 out of 5 by KennyL from Wonderful Totally interesting lectures on WWI. The professor presented the lectures methodically and with both specific and general discussion. I often could not wait to hear the next lecture and I now have a much greater understanding and appreciation of the actors, states and events that precipitated the war and a clearer picture of the war itself and its repercussions. I highly recommend this course.

Date published: 2024-01-25

Rated 4 out of 5 by Scr1be from A Good Course But.. It is a bit bizarre that the professor teaches at the University of Tennessee and didn't mention that the 30th Division was attached to the British when he lectured about AEF cohesion. He speaks of the 369th Division being attached to the French, which is very noteworthy because the African American troops were treated well by the French, but the 30th Division was made up of Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina National Guardsmen, and they fought under the British command, even carried the SMLE rifles. The 30th Division soldiers were the first to breach the Hindenburg Line.

Date published: 2024-01-17

Rated 5 out of 5 by Gerard 105 from Amazing Course This is another excellent course. The lecturer gives a riveting account of World War 1 and its aftermath. This is the second course that I have taken from this lecturer, both excellent.

Date published: 2024-01-06

01: The Century's Initial Catastrophe

The opening lecture presents the main themes of the course, beginning with the concept of total war. Other themes include the role of ideology, the meanings ascribed to the war by different sides, and the war's legacy.

33 min

02: Europe in 1914

This lecture examines the state of Europe and the world before the onset of the war in 1914. The emergence of the German Empire created strains in the international balance of power, as divided among Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia.

32 min

03: Towards Crisis in Politics and Culture

Even among those who expected war, there were widespread misconceptions about the nature of the conflict to come. In this lecture you explore the prevailing ideas and attitudes in Europe and then turn to the premonitions noted by contemporaries of coming disaster.

34 min

04: Causes of the War and the July Crisis, 1914

This lecture analyzes the immediate events that led to war, from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary at Sarajevo in June 1914 to the diplomatic chain reactions that followed in the July Crisis.

29 min

05: The August Madness

Hysterical celebration known as the August Madness greeted the outbreak of war between the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary) and the Allies (France, Great Britain, and Russia). You analyze new research that questions how widespread this emotional outburst really was.

30 min

06: The Failed Gambles - War Plans Break Down

This lecture follows the unfolding of the German Schlieffen Plan, which envisioned quick victory on two fronts, and the French Plan XVII, which aimed to recover lost French territories. Both were thwarted.

31 min

07: The Western Front Experience

The Western Front soon froze into static trench warfare and horrific slaughter from attempts to break this deadlock. Generals on both sides sought a breakthrough that would allow sweeping offensives and glorious cavalry charges. These never came.

29 min

08: Life and Death in the Trenches

This lecture gives a detailed overview of the trench landscape from the perspective of ordinary soldiers: the elaborate fortifications, the omnipresence of death, and the codes of behavior such as the Christmas fraternizations between the trenches in 1914.

31 min

09: The Great Battles of Attrition

Once the new dynamics of industrial war had been recognized, there followed a series of months-long battles of attrition. You examine the battles of Verdun and Somme in 1916, and in 1917 the French Champagne Offensive and the Third Battle of Ypres, also called Passchendaele.

31 min

10: The Eastern Front Experience

This lecture illuminates the unfamiliar clash of empires in the East, beginning with the Russian invasion of German East Prussia and the ominous disasters of the Austro-Hungarian war effort. The Germans achieved victory against the Russians at Tannenberg in 1914 and followed up with the "Great Advance" of 1915 into Russian territory.

32 min

11: The Southern Fronts

Turkish entry into the war expanded its scope. Allied landings in Gallipoli in 1915 were repulsed by Turkish defenders. Italy entered the war on the Allied side but met disaster against Austria-Hungary at the battle of Caporetto.

31 min

12: War Aims and Occupations

What goals did the Allies and the Central Powers pursue from the outset of the war? How did these goals change? After examining these questions, you turn to the experience of military occupation and how it affected civilian populations.

31 min

13: Soldiers as Victims

Historians estimate that half of the soldiers mobilized in the war were killed or wounded, and some suggest that nearly half of surviving soldiers experienced psychological traumas. This lecture seeks to convey the immense scale of this carnage.

31 min

14: Storm Troopers and Future Dictators

Attempts to break the immobility of trench warfare produced storm troopers, fearless warriors habituated to the trench landscape to a disturbing degree. Two ordinary soldiers seemed to enjoy the war too much: Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler.

30 min

15: The Total War of Technology

An important element of World War I was the expanding destructive potential of technology. This lecture covers such developments as the machine gun, poison gas, and the submarine, as well as the economic weapon of ersatz materials.

31 min

16: Air War

While the war in the air was not yet decisive in World War I, it was a frightening portent of what future conflict would hold. This lecture surveys the rapid improvement in early airplanes and the growth of the myth of the fighter ace.

30 min

17: War at Sea

Like the land forces, the opposing navies also reached a stalemate. The Battle of Jutland in May 1916 was the only large-scale British-German naval clash, and it ended indecisively. The naval blockade imposed by the British on Germany was of far greater effect.

31 min

18: The Global Reach of the War

This lecture surveys fighting in the European colonies in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The diplomatic sparring for the sympathies of neutral states is also examined, along with the economic dimension of the global war.

31 min

19: The War State

Total war put new demands on the state to mobilize populations and economies for victory. For example, Britain broke with earlier liberal traditions to give the government increased power over the economy and political speech.

31 min

20: Propaganda War

This lecture examines the increasing sophistication of official propaganda. You also study the phenomenon of spontaneous propaganda produced by citizens, which could take the form of rumors, myths, and stereotypes of the enemy.

32 min

21: Endurance and Stress on the Home Front

The home fronts in all the warring countries met privation, shortages, and surveillance with both endurance and signs of growing stress. The British blockade led to severe hunger in Germany, and the employment of women in war industries disrupted social traditions.

31 min

22: Dissent and Its Limits

A range of voices spoke out against the conflict as it deepened, including workers, pacifists, and even a decorated British officer, Siegfried Sassoon. At the same time, radical socialists saw in the war an opening for world revolution.

31 min

23: Remobilization in 1916 - 1917

Increasing war-weariness led all the combatant powers to attempt to reinvigorate the war effort. In France and Britain new civilian governments took the lead in this effort, while in Germany the de facto military dictatorship inaugurated a new propaganda campaign.

29 min

24: Armenian Massacres - Tipping into Genocide

World War I saw the launching of what is considered the first full-scale modern genocide: the 1915 Armenian massacres in Ottoman Turkey, in which between 500,000 and one million men, women, and children of the Armenian minority were killed or died from abuse.

33 min

25: Strains of War - Socialists and Nationalists

This lecture explores the growing divisions in wartime societies, which produced revolts such as the 1915 Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland, the French army's mutinies in 1917, and the growing alienation of subject nationalities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

31 min

26: Russian Revolutions

The Russian Empire was the first to break under the pressure of war. In March 1917, the tsarist regime abruptly collapsed. Months later the liberal-led provisional government itself collapsed when Lenin's Bolsheviks seized power and inaugurated a new Communist state.

32 min

27: America’s Entry into the War

In this lecture you follow the path that led the United States to join the Allied cause against Germany in April 1917. America's entry gave the war a larger ideological character, articulated by President Woodrow Wilson in his Fourteen Points.

31 min

28: America at War - Over There and Over Here

World War I had a profound impact on American society. You explore the sophisticated propaganda campaign launched to rouse the nation to arms, the massive economic mobilization, and the encounter of American doughboys overseas with the "old continent."

30 min

29: 1918 - The German Empire’s Last Gamble

Hoping to win the war before the massed arrival of American troops, the Germans marshaled their reserves for a final offensive in March 1918. They advanced to within artillery range of Paris before being stopped by an Allied counteroffensive.

30 min

30: The War's End - Emotions of the Armistice

When the guns fell silent on November 11, 1918, many Germans found it difficult to accept that they had lost the war. As a crowning horror, a worldwide pandemic swept the globe: the Spanish Influenza killed an estimated 50 million people.

31 min

31: Toppled Thrones - The Collapse of Empires

The defeated Central Powers saw their empires and political structures come crashing down. This lecture outlines the startling internal collapse of the Central Powers and the question of what new order would replace the extinct regimes.

30 min

32: The Versailles Treaty and Paris Settlement

The peace settlements ending World War I were beset with contradictions. Should the treaties reconcile enemies or punish the defeated? Were they meant to repair the prewar balance of power or abolish it? This lecture considers the resulting treaties in depth.

32 min

33: Aftershocks - Reds, Whites, and Nationalists

In the turmoil after the war, intense ideological conflict arose. Partisans of international Communism heralded by Soviet Russia (labeled Reds) battled counterrevolutionary forces (called Whites). New nation-states also collided repeatedly.

32 min

34: Monuments, Memory, and Myths

Vigorous debates surrounded the question of memorials to the fallen. This lecture analyzes such monuments as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Also investigated are myths that arose in the wake of the war, including the "Stab in the Back" legend in Germany.

32 min

35: The Rise of the Mass Dictatorships

World War I showed the power that could be mobilized by states organized for war. This experience provided the model for postwar totalitarian movements, including Fascism in Italy, Nazism in Germany, and Communism in the Soviet Union.

31 min

36: Legacies of the Great War

This concluding lecture confronts the largest and most difficult question: What were the true meaning, legacy, and significance of World War I? You examine the economic, social, and political impact, as well as the individual human consequences of this disaster.

31 min

Overview Course No. 8210

Touched off by a terrorist act in Bosnia and spreading all too quickly beyond the expectations of those who were involved, World War I was an unprecedented catastrophe with a ghastly cost. After this first "total war" - the first conflict involving entire societies mobilized to wage unrestrained war, devoting all their wealth, industries, institutions, and the lives of their citizens to win victory at any price - the world itself would never be the same.

These 36 riveting half-hour lectures cut through the tangle of historical data to uncover the patterns that make sense of complex events. Whereas most World War I narratives focus on the Western Front in France and Flanders, with its mazelike trenches, gas attacks, constant shelling, assaults "over the top" into withering machine gun fire, and duels of dog-fighting aviators in the sky, Professor Liulevicius also devotes great attention to other important arenas, including the Eastern Front, the Southern Fronts, the War at Sea, the Arab Revolt, the Communist Revolution, the Armenian Massacre, the Spanish Influenza, and more.

Professor Liulevicius combines chronological and thematic approaches for a sweeping survey of World War I's many dimensions. He explores themes such as the surprising eagerness of all parties to plunge into mutual slaughter, the unexpected endurance of societies undergoing total war, the radically different hopes and hatreds that the war evoked, with remarkable contrasts between western and eastern Europe, the meanings that the different sides ascribed to the war, and the role of various ideologies in the war's course and conduct.

About

Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius

To study the deepest impulses in human nature, we see the lure of wealth and conquest, the deep-seated urge for fame and glory, the quest for higher ends, a basic human determination.

ALMA MATER

University of Pennsylvania

INSTITUTION

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius is a Professor of History at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He received his PhD in European History, specializing in modern German history, from the University of Pennsylvania. He has published numerous articles and two books: The German Myth of the East: 1800 to the Present and War Land on the Eastern Front: Culture, National Identity, and German Occupation in World War I. He won the top two teaching awards at the University of Tennessee and was awarded a prestigious research fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities.