The Battle of Liege 0:00
The Battle of Liège, fought from August 5 to August 16, 1914, was the first major engagement of World War I, occurring as German forces invaded Belgium. Liège was strategically important due to its strong fortifications. the Belgians ultimately fell to the siege. The battle delayed German advancement and allowed the Allies time to prepare, influencing morale and highlighting the challenges the Germans would face in their campaign. Ultimately, it showcased both the brutality of the war and the resilience of smaller nations against larger powers.

The Gallipoli Campaign 4:58
In the latter months of 1914, with the trenches of World War One bringing the war in Europe to a standstill, the Allies needed an alternative way to defeat Germany and the Central Powers.
The Allies decided that capturing Constantinople and defeating the Ottoman Empire, one of the Central Powers, was Their best course of action to gain the upper hand in the war.
They assumed the Ottomans would not offer much resistance, since the empire was in decline and their military was not as technologically advanced as the European armies.
Anyone who wanted to reach Constantinople via the Mediterranean Sea would have to pass through the Dardanelles Strait, which is adjacent to the Gallipoli Peninsula, and this was where the Allies planned to begin their attack.

The Gallipoli Campaign began in the early months of 1915, with the Allies launching a naval attack against the Ottoman fortifications along the Gallipoli Peninsula, however, Ottoman artillery and naval mines were able to sink many of the ships before they could do any significant damage to the coastal defenses.
The Allies now knew that if they were to defeat the Ottomans it would have to be on land, and so in April 1915, the Gallipoli landings commenced.
In the early morning, thousands of Allied soldiers, which included many men from Australia and New Zealand, climbed into small wooden rowboats and were sent ashore at various points along the peninsula.
Ottoman resistance in many areas was fierce and many of the soldiers were killed before they reached the shore, despite this, by the end of the day, all of the beaches where the Allies landed had been captured.
The initial success did not last however, as Ottoman reinforcements arrived and secured the hills above the coast, halting any significant advance by the Allies.
Fighting would continue in the following months, with neither side being able to achieve a decisive victory, until December, with their soldiers not much closer to Constantinople than when they first landed ashore, the Allies made the decision to cease their attacks at Gallipoli and evacuate the peninsula.

In the end, close to 60,000 Allied soldiers and an estimated 60,00090,000 Ottomans soldiers lost their lives in the Gallipoli Campaign.

The Battle of Verdun 8:12
The Battle of Verdun was the longest and one of the bloodiest battles of World War 1.
It was fought between the Germans and the French around the city of Verdun, in eastern France.

The city of Verdun was both strategically and culturally significant to the French.
The German high command knew that it would be a crushing blow to the French morale if they were to capture it.

On February 21st, 1916, the attack began.
The Germans opened fire with hundreds of artillery guns to bombard the enemy line. They then attacked with huge waves of infantry, which easily overran the destroyed French positions.

Within a few days, they had captured Fort Douaumont, one of France's largest fortresses.
The twentyyearold fort was no match for this new type of warfare and was quickly destroyed by the German's massive guns.

Eventually, the French were able to reinforce their positions, halting the German advance.
Both sides constantly pounded each other with massive artillery barrages, which made infantry attacks extremely costly.
This also turned the surrounding landscape to mud, which further impeded infantry advances.

For the next few months, the two armies would attack and counterattack each other, without either side gaining the upper hand.

On July 1st, 1916, the British began the Somme Offensive.
In order to focus on this new threat, the Germans had to revert troops and supplies away from Verdun, relieving the French.

Shortly thereafter the Germans called off their attacks at Verdun.
The French began counterattacking, and by December 18, over 9 months since the battle began, they had retaken most of the ground they had lost.

Some of the worst fighting conditions during World War 1 were seen in this battle, leading to the deaths of around 300,000 men, with many more being wounded or captured.
The Battle of Verdun showed the strength and determination of the French, and revealed to the world the chaos and destructiveness of modern war.