The Origins of World War I (Yale lecture)

A basic but fascinating introduction to the decades leading up to WWI. The professor explains that most Europeans had "expected" a war for the preceding two or three decades, but predicted a war between Britain and France. This fear was so endemic it spawned a genre of horror/sci-fi type novels predicting a fantastical invasion of Britain by France. Brits feared they were underprepared for a war they felt was inevitable. Throughout this period tensions rose as Germany rattled its sabers, and unlikely alliances formed, first between France and Russia, then between France and Britain. Russia was anxious about Austria-Hungary. Ethnic and nationalistic tensions, economic competition and also old resentments, figured into the toxic mix. As for Germany, Germany believed they had two weeks to conquer France before Russia would leap in (something they wanted to avoid), foreshadowing the same bizarre and unrealistic calculations that Hitler would later demonstrate in WW2.