HIST 202: European Civilization, 1648-1945
Lecture 16 - The Coming of the Great War. If the early years of the twentieth century were marked by a general consensus that a major war was impending, no similar consensus existed concerning the likely form that war would take. Not only the carnage of World War I, but also the nature of its alliances would have been difficult to imagine. Indeed, in 1900 many people would have predicted conflict, rather than collaboration, between France and Britain. The reasons for the eventual entente between France and Britain and France and Russia consist principally in economic and geopolitical motivations. Cultural identity also played a role, particularly in relations between France and Germany. The territory of Alsace-Lorraine formed a crucible for the questions of nationalism and imaginary identity that would be contested in the Great War. (from oyc.yale.edu)
| Lecture 16 - The Coming of the Great War |
| Time | Lecture Chapters |
| [00:00:00] | 1. Origins of the First World War: The Tangled Web of Alliances and Rivalries |
| [00:22:27] | 2. Britain's Loyalties: Involvement in the Continental Competition |
| [00:29:27] | 3. The Formation of the Triple Entente |
| [00:35:56] | 4. The Saverne Incident |
| [00:43:08] | 5. The Schlieffen Plan: The Timetable of Mobilization |
| References |
| Lecture 16 - The Coming of the Great War Instructor: Professor John Merriman. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov]. |
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