World War 1 Part 1 the causes

This is the first episode in a multipart series on the First World War.

Over the next few episodes, we’ll be following the war from its origins, through the fighting itself, and finally to its world-changing consequences.

But before the trenches, before the battles, and before the millions of casualties, we need to ask a simple question:

Why did World War One happen at all?

In this episode, we’re looking at the long-term causes that pushed Europe towards war — rising nationalism, imperial rivalries, an arms race that no one could stop, and a web of alliances that turned a regional crisis into a global conflict.

We’ll also look at the spark that finally lit the fuse in 1914, and why a single assassination was enough to send the great powers of Europe marching towards war.