Failed to head off a war they find of stumbled in to, and their people assured each other it would be over quickly. Home by christmas, they said. What followed was bloodletting on a scale that stunned societies. At the the battle of the sum, on one day of that battle British Forces lost an estimated 27,000 men dead. In eight and a half years in iraq some 40 americans were killed. A war ended with aerial bombardment that ended civilizations, ending the war as monarchs dead. Meeting at the site of one of europes most intense battles french president Francois Hollande looked at how much the continent changed after world war i. It is up to us to recall the ordeal, the ordeal they faced to better understand barbarism and avoid it coming. Okay. In a gesture moving forward, the two leaders of formerly enemy nations ended the ceremony with a time capsule that holds a letter of peace for future generations. France and germany s history proofs that determination can overcome fatality, and two people who were viewed as hereditary enemies can within a few years reconcile. [ explosions ] world war i was one of the deadliest, world war i was fought by 28 countries and cost more than 200 billion at the time. More than 9 million soldiers, sailors, and airmen died in the four years of war. Thats more than the entire population of new york city. Another 6 million in innocents died, and sometimes targeting civilians, the first of their kind. In the First World War, the technology, the killing technology became quite sophisticated, so they were seeing the types of wounding that wasi think it was beyond everybodys comprehension. Modern warfare was revolutionized in those years. The war began with riders on horseback and rifles and ended with soldiers with machine guns and pointous gas, submarines and bombers. Nobody was prepared. The weapons of destruction. Before the conflict empires ruled the world. The British Empire was at its break. Th peak. The modern ideas of nationalism and owning a passport simply didnt exist. By the end of the war the worlds power structures had complaininged. The Ottoman Empire broke up and redrawing treaties with consequences that we deal with today. The soviet union rose at the end of empire. World war i was a keyturning point. It was the point of an end and the point of a beginning. Reporter the fighting essentially annihilated european economies paving the way for the u. S. To become an economic powerhouse. Yet the u. S. Was seen as a political teenager. The idea for the americans to play a decisive role in a global conflict was unheard of. It was important to remember the way these conflicts shaped our world for good and ill. There were appalling things to come out of the world war. But it led to votes for women and improvements in medicine and public health. There were huge changes that came about because of this vast global conflict. The war effort shattered traditions of daily life. For the first time women en masse left the house and went to work. When the women returned to the factory, many did not have husbands to return to. In britain 1. 2 million women from 25 to 34 were still not married by 1921 because so many young men died in battle. From Global Leaders to people on the streets thiessan te these centennial events were a remind er that everyone in the world was in some way touched by the First World War. In war, diplomacy, science, the arts, economics, the First World War years we wrote the rules and cast an enormous shadow over the decades to come. But the next great war has filled up our imaginations in recent decades on the 100th an vary of the first war on the program. Joining us for that conversation, michael nyberg, profession of history at the u. S. History of war college and author of dance of the furies. Richard denard o, and can trina, senior lecturer of history in the united kingdom. Lets talk about how it begun. Did anybody contemplate the possibility of destruction that was emerging in the summer of 1914 . I dont think so. I think if you could have fast forwarded four or five years and shown the leaders of 1914, the war they were creating, i dont think any of them would have made the decision to go to war. The war they had in their minds was shorter conflict that could be resolved in a matter of months, and hopefully put theyer theitheir country in a better situation. The destruction of the monarchs, and the end of the similar that hathatthe end of the system that had been seen for centuries, no one saw that. They started with weapons and ended with 21st century tools. The prussian war was over quickly. The no one had imagined the kind of scale in which it would be fought. And so very quickly everyone realized that they found themselves in the 20th century war. In 1915 the germans had done a study, and they found out that in the first five months of combat in the west in 1914 they had far more artillery shells than they had during the entire francoprussian war. They had different approaches that would have to be taken to essentially do what might be called restoring mobility to the battlefield by that time. Certainly in the west. And also the phoney problem of how do you do what the applications wanpoliticians want you to do, which is to win the war. Professor, the United States entered world war i fairly late in the game, and its casualties as a result were smaller than some of the other great powers that fought, but i think world war ii is sort of flooded out the First World War in the american memory. And it took living in britain for a time to see just what an impact world war i had. Explain to americans just what a big chunk of National Memory that war took up in a place like the united kingdom. Yes, the First World War is extremely prominent in british memory. It hasnt always been the case, i dont think. Certainly, there has been jay winter, our colleague at yale, has turned this memory boom, which i think is really very evident from the post second war generation. Thats very important for american audience to understand. The Second World War framed the memory of the First World War. With the advent of the Second World War people were able to reflect on the first, the socalled war to end all wars. Well, it simply hasnt. Thus the Second World War became more easily understood as a good war. There was a clear enemy. Nazi germany should be defeated. But when i reflect on the First World War it becomes difficult what the First World War was about. Who was the clear enemy and what was the clear objective in the First World War. But it is very prominent in british memory, and the commemorations that are unfol unfolding are tempt testaments to that. Its the fabric of society thats going on here. Michael was there ambiguity that kept the United States out for as long as it remained out of that war . The United States had a lot of reasons to try to stay out of the war. The country was unprepared. The army and navy were not engaged in a war of that scale. Too Many Americans were making money off the war. The United States was growing wealthy, why put that at risk. But in 1915 to 1917 the threat to american shores grew greater with germany reintroducing submarine warfare. The Zimmerman Telegram which tried to design a Japanese Alliance ended in the United States. And a threat that was a few thousand miles away all of a sudden was left on the American Door step. That left the americans very few options than to get involved with the war, other than the fact that the ensuing months before the war the United States did literally nothing to get involved in the war. When we come back well talk about the tactics and the battlefield. Al Jazeera America presents i dont want to work at the farm for my entire life. 15 stories one incredible journey edge of eighteen premiers september 7th only on al Jazeera America on al Jazeera America when science intersects with hope. Im hoping to give someone a prosthetic arm for under 1000 inovation finds oppurtunity a large earthquake would be an inconvenience rather than a disaster. And hardware meets humanity this is some of the best driving ive ever done eventhough i cant see. Techknow our experts take you beyond the lab were here in the vortex. And explore the Technology Changing our world. Only on al Jazeera America welcome back to inside story on al Jazeera America. Im ray suarez. Were looking back at the First World War this time on the program because its more recent and involved the u. S. So much more heavily world war ii is dominated american ideas about the 20th century. But the death, destruction, Economic Impacts lands a heavy blow on the empire in ways echoed through the decades to come. From london to moscow, from baghdad to istanbul to dublin. Professor, one of the memories that have stayed with us through the 20th further was of tremendous casualty figures and trench warfare. Once the war began to take the toll it did, why didnt anybody step back from it . This seems to be just death for very little in the way of tangible objectives for a long time. Once youve committed to fighting the war and youve already made an investment also let me say this. The irony is for all the associations we place with casualty in trench warfare, trenches saved lives. The war from 1914 to 1918 was far blood ier. This is more mikes bailey which can, but stages of the war were staggering. Some estimates say as many as a million men killed in four months. Once you make an investment, you have to fight the war to a, quote, successful conclusion. But how do you keep a civilian population on side, as the british might say, when the losses are so staggering. Entire villages, entire graduating classes from preparatory academies and schools, when you look today at the tolls the warren graved in chapels and the walls of schools, its astounding. It is astounding, and this is really where the sort of interest in almost the on investigation, if you like, in british memory stems from. Its almost trying to understand the incomprehensible means we keep returning and returning and returning to the question of what was the First World War about . How is it experienced . Most importantly, how did civilian and soldier population sustain themselves . How did they survive this . Lets not forget the war continued for four and a half years, and the war continued on the whole with the consent of the british population. This was as close to a democracy as can be found at this stage in the 20th century, and the government was a liberal government was the outbreak. Although there was serious interventions mainly through the defense of the roll marks passed in 1919 they had to keep the balance of not encrouching too far into civilian life. There was a clear understanding that public poral in britain and ireland as you mentioned, the rising in able 18,916 was a clear indication of how far people were willing or not willing to get involved. And so prop dan d propaganda, and people on the whole consented to this war. Thats what we find difficult to understand. Did we postpone the instability and the nervous break down from world war i effects until after the war was over . Well, i think world war i. 1914, it was a stable system. One of the problems was from 1914 through 1918 you see a progressive breaking down of that system. Although inequitable and people didnt like it, it was essentially stable. What you were left with in 1919 was the attempt to try to put those pieces back together. And the problem in the inner warrior, the problem with the rest of the 20th century was the document they signed in versailles in 1919 does not come close to putting those pieces back together. Much of the 20th century into the 21st is trying to figure out what system is going to give the world the kind of stability it had in 1914. In eastern europe, middle east, one could argue that we havent found it yet. But that was a heard of our history that was ushering in by the First World War, wasnt it . The fact that were bombing sarajevo in the 90s, that hopes with the shot taken in in 1914. I think basically thats correct. 1914 begins the process of destabilizing europe and creating different dynamics and creating a situation where the leaders of europe and people of europe were trying to get back to something. What you see at the end of the First World War, people were saying if we could get to 1914 we would be okay. But in 1945 no one is saying boy, wouldnt it be nice it we could get back to 1939. In world war i you had the ability to build a society. In 1945 that had to be recreated. Im increasingly of the mind that we need to think of these two world wars as one conflict. The problems of 2014 were the problems they were dealing with in 1945. America mobile app, available for your apple and android mobile device. Download it now youre watching inside story on al Jazeera America. Im ray suarez. On the 100th anniversary of its start were looking back at the First World War at this time in the program. For some historians the two great wars of the 20th century are not really separate conflicts but two calamitous blood lettings with a pause in between. We go to our guests. Professor, i wonder what you make of that idea. Really, one conflict was continued with the other as the century progressed, and unresolved business of the first one got resolved after the second. Yes, i think thats a very compelling argument, and i can certainly see mikes point when he makes that , in particular, the aftermath of the treaty of versailles has a lot to answer for giving hitler and the nazi party a platform of which really to exacerbate and play on tensions in german societies in the aftermath of the First World War, particularly this idea of the stab in the back myth that the german army was let down by socialists and bolsheviks at home and pacifists at home. The article 231 in the treaty of versailles is particularly important. Not only was germany being labeled but morally responsible for the war. So the victorious powers were able to impart all this guilt on to germany. I think its worth bearing in mind that there are almost two decades between the end of the First World War and the beginning of the Second World War. And a lot happens in that time. Its dangerous if we approach the topic or we try to connect the two wars in this linear way that we ignore some very genuine and worthwhile attempts at peacekeeping and in particular im referring to attempts from the treaties in the mid 1920s, 1925, and to bring together antagonistic france and germany to a point where they were speaking and bringing in programs. The league of nations much aligned, not particularly effective but laid the foundation for the united nations. Harry truman was an artillery officer in the First World War. Charles de gaulle was badly wounded twice on the battlefie battlefield. Douglas macarthur was an officer in the First World War. There was very strong memory of that war that was carried later into the century, wasnt it . Yes, certainly one of the things that truman carried was a distrust of regular army officers. He was a National Guards man and bore against regular military and did not think that they were trustworthy. Mussolini was a world war i veteran. Adolf history letter. He actually won the iron cross of first and second class, an unusual distinction for an enlisted man in the german army. What a lot of these people carry especially on the german side was the fact that they were on the losing side and hitler was much more interested in reversing that, as well as his own expansionist ideas and so on and so forth. Certainly wanted to reverse the versailles dictat as it was called in germany, and that sentiment appealed to other places as well. A lot of successor states that arose out of the autrohungarian empire. Germany is the only country thats powerful enough in europe by the time they make the jump in 38 to enable them to achieve that goal. All these people carry with them, you know, the memory of what happened in world war i. To one degree or another. Michael, what about the politics . We talked about the international scene. We talked about the military tactics. We talked about how the world war ii generation was shaped by the first. But was there an aversion to war that comes out of the first that just couldnt carry us into avoiding the second . I think its interesting. The phrase that keeps coming up over and over again never again. But what they mean by never agai again, they can never agree in. To some people never again trust in neighboring countries, prepare for war. There is a big debate at the end of the First World War. And what theyve been hinting at from 1914 to 1918 there is a need to continue to fight this war but at the end of the war there is a reckoning. How did this happen . What does it mean . What does it do for us . What do we get in return for the millions of dead and all the money that was sacrificed, for all the families that were broken. At the end of the First World War there is no agreement on that. In the french case the one that i know best there is a famous saying that says 1914 was the last thing france agreed upon. They did not agree on what the meaning 1919 was. And much of what was happening in the 1920s and the 1930s was deciding on what it meant and what it meant Going Forward and on that they did not grow. Thank you very much, and i hope your conversation sends people back to terrific literature that comes out of that war to help us understand it better. That brings us back to this edition of inside story. From washington, im ray suarez. On america tonight, new clashes in the streets. The National Guard called in to take control. But an autopsy report threatens to explode tensions anew. What do investigators now know about the shooting that took Michael Brown said life . The new fears that forced the community to call off the first day of school. And what another hot august night might bring