The Lowdown: A Short History of the Origins of World War I
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Narrated by:
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Steve Devereaux
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By:
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John Lee
About this listen
A concise history of the origins of the “war to end all wars”.
Many of us know that the First World War began when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo in June of 1914. But have you ever wondered exactly what chain of events led up to the incident that caused the whole world to erupt into one of the bloodiest conflicts in our history?
Why, amidst all the tensions in early 20th century Europe, did this particular incident in Sarajevo lead to Austria delivering an unacceptable ultimatum to Serbia, which would lead to Russia mobilising in support of Serbia, Germany in support of Austria, and then France and Britain in support of Russia?
Expert military historian and lecturer John Lee explains the causes behind the origins of the war and gives us a unique insight into the unfolding drama that defined and shaped a generation – and generations to come.
This book gives an insight into:
- The struggle to maintain the ‘balance of power’ in a Europe convulsed with change-
- The crippling cost of the arms race to preserve ‘peace through strength’
- The constant stream of crises as two ancient empires were about to unravel
- The brash ‘new kid on the block’ who decided that the old order had to go, and was just waiting for the right ‘excuse’.
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-
Story
The narrative of the Korean War in the West, and particularly in the United States, tells the tale of a conflict between two global superpowers and competing ideologies in a far-flung corner of the globe. The reality is that the wheels of motion that drove the country to war in 1950 began turning long before American boots set foot on Korean soil. The heart of the conflict was a civil war between a population arbitrarily divided by colonization and the global geopolitics at the end of the Second World War.
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Awful
- By Kyle on 05-14-18
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A Peace to End All Peace
- The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East
- By: David Fromkin
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 23 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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The Middle East has long been a region of rival religions, ideologies, nationalisms, and ambitions. All of these conflicts are rooted in the region's political inheritance: the arrangements, unities, and divisions imposed by the Allies after the First World War. Author David Fromkin reveals how and why the Allies drew lines on an empty map that remade the geography and politics of the Middle East. Focusing on the formative years of 1914 to 1922, when all seemed possible, he delivers in this sweeping and magisterial book the definitive account of this defining time.
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Still A Great Book On The Topic
- By Nostromo on 02-03-19
By: David Fromkin
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The Cold War
- A World History
- By: Odd Arne Westad
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 22 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Cold War, Odd Arne Westad offers a new perspective on a century when a superpower rivalry and an ideological war transformed every corner of our globe. We traditionally think of the Cold War as a post-World War II diplomatic and military conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. But in this major new work, Westad argues that the conflict must be understood as a global ideological confrontation with roots in the industrial revolution and with continuing implications for the world today.
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A lenghy treatise on the Cold War
- By Donald Hill on 11-21-17
By: Odd Arne Westad
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War of Attrition
- Fighting the First World War
- By: William Philpott
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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The Great War of 1914-1918 was the first mass conflict to fully mobilize the resources of industrial powers against one another, resulting in a brutal, bloody, protracted war of attrition between the world's great economies. Now, 100 years after the first guns of August rang out on the Western front, historian William Philpott reexamines the causes and lingering effects of the first truly modern war.
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Confusing and disorganized
- By BMC on 08-05-14
By: William Philpott
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The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789
- By: Robert Middlekauff
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The first book to appear in the illustrious Oxford History of the United States, this critically-acclaimed volume - a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize - offers an unsurpassed history of the Revolutionary War and the birth of the American republic.
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Strong History Rich With Behind The Scenes Details
- By John on 10-06-11
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Napoleon's Wars
- An International History, 1803-1815
- By: Charles Esdaile
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 24 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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In the most definitive account to date, respected historian Charles Esdaile argues that the chief motivating factor for Napoleon was his insatiable desire for fame. More than a myth-busting portrait of Napoleon, however, this volume offers a panoramic view of the armed conflicts that spread so quickly out of revolutionary France to countries as remote as Sweden and Egypt.
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Not bad, nor what I was expecting
- By Judd Bagley on 07-18-09
By: Charles Esdaile
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Forgotten Ally
- China's World War II, 1937 - 1945
- By: Rana Mitter
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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For decades, a major piece of World War II history has gone virtually unwritten. The war began in China two full years before Hitler invaded Poland, and China eventually became the fourth great ally, partner to the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain. Yet its drama of invasion, resistance, slaughter, and political intrigue remains little known in the West.
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Bland
- By Rodney on 01-23-14
By: Rana Mitter
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Nazi Germany: History in an Hour
- By: Rupert Colley
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 1 hr and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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History for busy people. Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party. Hitler was intent on the supremacy of the Aryan race and persecution of the Jews, which affected every citizen living in Germany at the time. Learn just how and why the Nazi’s rose to power in just one hour.
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Nazi for beginners
- By Jon W Burris on 08-07-12
By: Rupert Colley
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The Vietnam War
- A Concise International History
- By: Mark Atwood Lawrence
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Hailed as a "pithy and compelling account of an intensely relevant topic" ( Kirkus Reviews), this wide-ranging volume offers a superb account of a key moment in modern U.S. and world history. Drawing upon the latest research in archives in China, Russia, and Vietnam, Mark Lawrence creates an extraordinary, panoramic view of all sides of the war.
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Politically Slanting But Enjoyable Narrative
- By Jonathan Hoyle on 04-11-14