to quote a recent sift "Dulce Et Decorum Est"

Great vid but a little hazy on what started the war. There were the official reasons, and then the actual reasons. At this point history shows that the lead up and start of WWI was largely about geopolitics: 3rd world empires with their cheap resources and the rise of oil and technology. Even in that day and age, nations were quick to understand the importance and advantages of access to energy, especially oil, and other resources and raw materials. The only question was how the world and it's resources were to be divided.

it's pretty important to get this aspect right, because nothing has really changed, and geopolitical considerations dictate the foreign policy of most major countries, especially the US.

>> ^criticalthud:

Great vid but a little hazy on what started the war. There were the official reasons, and then the actual reasons. At this point history shows that the lead up and start of WWI was largely about geopolitics: 3rd world empires with their cheap resources and the rise of oil and technology. Even in that day and age, nations were quick to understand the importance and advantages of access to energy, especially oil, and other resources and raw materials. The only question was how the world and it's resources were to be divided.
it's pretty important to get this aspect right, because nothing has really changed, and geopolitical considerations dictate the foreign policy of most major countries, especially the US.

Good points, but then again the name of the show is "Crash Course". I am extremely impressed with how well this web series can hit the broad strokes and even touch on a surprising amount of nuance considering each video/subject is roughly 10 minutes long... Almost all are easy upvotes from my point of view!

Tags for this video have been changed from 'john green, crash course, wwi, cynicism' to 'john green, crash course, wwi, first world war, great war, 1914, 1918, cynicism' - edited by calvados

>> ^criticalthud:

Great vid but a little hazy on what started the war. There were the official reasons, and then the actual reasons. At this point history shows that the lead up and start of WWI was largely about geopolitics: 3rd world empires with their cheap resources and the rise of oil and technology. Even in that day and age, nations were quick to understand the importance and advantages of access to energy, especially oil, and other resources and raw materials. The only question was how the world and it's resources were to be divided.
it's pretty important to get this aspect right, because nothing has really changed, and geopolitical considerations dictate the foreign policy of most major countries, especially the US.


Yup, my favourite presentation of this information is:
http://videosift.com/video/Robert-Newmans-History-of-Oil

It's 45 minutes long, but an excellent mix of standup comedy and facts.

Want to know what started WWI? (And every war and conflict in human history?)

Ego.

War and Civilization: Crash Course World History 205 has been added as a related post - related requested by PlayhousePals on that post.