Summary
On June 28, 1914, Serbian terrorists assassinated the heir to the Austrian throne. Within weeks, the Central Powers engaged the Triple Entente and their allies to begin the bloodiest, most far-reaching conflict the world had ever known.
SUMMARY
For four long years on the western front, the Central and Allied Powers pummeled each other across hundreds of miles of trenches. The stalemate introduced a horrific new phrase into the war’s lexicon: “going over the top.”
Summary
Fighter planes, bombers, and primitive aircraft carriers opened the skies as a theatre of warfare for the first time in history. Aviation also created a new breed of lonely, romantic, and daring war hero: the ace.
Summary
Instead of the anticipated bouts between heavyweight dreadnoughts, naval warfare settled into fighting by stealth. German U-boats preyed upon military and civilian targets, and smugglers attempted to run blockades by night.
SUMMARY
Rapid advances, retreats, and counterattacks characterized the war on the eastern front. But when the Russian troops became dispirited and their country succumbed to revolution, Germany threatened to break the stalemate in the west.
Summary
American troops arrived to help the Allies repulse the German offensive and push deep into the Rhineland. But victory came at a high cost, and peace brought social, political, and economic upheaval all over Europe.
