The WW1 battles you’ve never heard of

Описание: Go beyond the European trenches and Flanders mud to explore the hidden battle fronts of the First World War. Subscribe here: bit.ly/subhistoryextrayoutube

In the fourth episode of our new series on WW1 Myths and Misconceptions, historian Alexandra Churchill explores the massive scale of conflict on the Eastern Front, the heroic stand of Serbia, colonial wars in Africa, Japan’s imperial ambitions, and the disastrous Gallipoli campaign. She turns towards the often-ignored global and imperial dimensions of the war: in Africa, British colonies saw early fighting, including the first British shots fired by a Black soldier in Togo. Elsewhere, South Africans invaded German Namibia, and Britain broke the so-called gentlemen’s agreement not to engage in colonial Africa.

Churchill also shares how Japan, eager to expand its empire, joined the Allies and seized Germany’s strategic port of Tsingtao in China. Australia and New Zealand quickly moved to take German colonies in the Pacific – long before Gallipoli – highlighting the global communication war driven by a need for control of radio masts.

Alexandra Churchill is a historian and presenter who specialises in 20th-century history. Her latest book, co-authored with Nicolai Eberholst, is Ring of Fire: A New Global History of the Outbreak of the First World War (Bloomsbury, 2025).

Find more episodes in this HistoryExtra Academy series at https://www.historyextra.com/academy/...

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00:48 Where were the first shots of WW1?
02:44 What was the Eastern Front?
04:33 Did war reach Africa?
11:39 Did more countries join the conflict?

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