I wanted to make a WWI series, but I've been tangled up with a science project, homework, etc. The war is very important, but it is often overshadowed by it's much more profitable successor, WWII. In WWII, the bad guys and good guys are much more easily defined, and it overall makes a better story. You can tell a story about how the Allies, faced with impossible odds, overcame the Nazis anyway, but in WWI, both sides can be seen as aggressor.
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia because they thought Serbia was involved with the assassination of it's archduke. You could immediately argue that Serbia was the aggressor, because they were in on the plan to assassinate the archduke, or you could say Austria-Hungary was bound to have these problems because of it's diverse empire, and the monarchs before did nothing to give the Slavic minorities more autonomy.
Germany joins in on Austria-Hungary's side. Russia, Protecting Serbia, declares war on Austria-Hungary, which causes France, Russia's ally to declare war as well. Others join in over time.
(Central Powers [Austria-Hungary, Germany] in red, Allied Powers [France, UK] in blue. Countries not involved in the war are in white.)
The war destroyed every last shred of our medieval past. The way war was looked at was changed forever. The end of WWI, on November 11, 1918 is about to have it's centennial (100th aniversary). On June 28, 1919, the treaty of Versailles was signed.
The treaty was harsh. One called it a "Carthaginian peace," refering to the terms Carthage had to agree to at the end of the second Punic war. Carthage had to give up all it's colonies, demilitarize, and pay tribute to Rome. Germany had similar treatment. It gave up huge amounts of territory, disarmed, and had to pay the crushing war reparations of 442 billion U.S. dollars. Germany was humiliated.
One charismatic politician would rise, promising vengeance for the harsh peace given to them at the end of the first World War. His name would be:
Adolf Hitler.
