The twentieth century was an age of extremes. Global conflicts swept the world, killing tens of millions of people in wars that targeted civilians and deployed terrifying new weapons.

World War I began after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. But his death was not the only cause. Explore how the ideas of the long nineteenth century pushed the world toward war.

The world was unprepared for the horrors of industrial warfare. The First World War was also the first “total” war, in which all resources of the state are mobilized—and civilians become targets.

The survivors of the Great War looked upon a world that had been fundamentally shattered. How would they approach peacemaking? And what kind of world did they hope to rebuild from the ashes?

The postwar economic boom of the 1920s came to a screeching halt with the Wall Street crash of October 1929. It’s time for a whirlwind tour of why the crash happened, and what 10 years of global poverty meant for everyday people.

Extreme conditions tend to breed extreme ideologies. Fascism, an authoritarian system that promised security through nationalism and demanded total obedience to a single leader, emerged from the chaos of war and economic depression.

Barely 20 years after the end of “the war to end all wars,” the world was plunged into another global conflict. How did this happen (again)?

The human and material costs of the Second World War were horrific. More than 70 million died. Whole cities were reduced to rubble, and a new type of weapon with the potential to end all life on Earth was unleashed.