The First World War

The First World War was one of the largest and most devastating conflicts the world has ever seen. It was also one of the first wars that was waged across the entire earth—from Europe to Africa, China, and the Middle East. This course examines the First World War not only as a European conflict, but as a truly global one. Students explore the origins, course, and legacies of the war and the impact it had on politics and societies around the world. As such, this course focuses not only on the military and economic aspects of the war in its principal European and Middle Eastern theaters but also on how the war transformed conceptions of democracy, the state, race, art, and technology around the world. This course concludes by looking at how the war's outcome permanently reshaped international relations and sowed the seeds for many future conflicts.