World War 1 Propaganda Analysis

Dan Carlin’s podcast on World War One is one podcast everyone should listen to. It reveals minute details, but also explains the big picture in such a straightforward way that it is easy to listen to and learn from. It explains everything from the assassination of Franz Ferdinand to how propaganda played a key role in the war and would in all future wars. Dan Carlin made a plethora of major points, including: the role of geography in Europe, the change in fighting styles, and the role of propaganda.

Before it is possible to go diving into the big picture of World War 1, it is imperative to go over the background. It all started on June 28th, 1914, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria got assassinated by Gavrilo Princip. Otto Van Bismarck

Bismarck makes a great point with that statement, the assassination set of a rolling stone which could not be stopped which would result in the world war. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for the attack and on July 28th Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and through all the alliances, all of Europe was dragged into the war. But why would Franz Ferdinand be assassinated? The Serbian nationalists were infuriated when Ferdinand arrived in Serbia. Serbs wanted to be independent and when the Archduke traveled to Sarajevo on June 28th, 1914, the Serbian nationalist were infuriated cause that was the anniversary of the First Battle of Kosovo in 1389, in which Serbia lost the battle to the Turks in which they lost most of their independence. Therefore, this was an important day for Serbia. And by having the Archduke there it just rubbed it in that they don’t have their independence therefore the Serbian nationalist took it in their own hands to get their independence. This is the reason why archduke Ferdinand was assassinated on that day (History.com). The assassination was a strange one though, the archduke did not get killed on the first attempt because the assassin tried to throw a grenade into