Apocalypse: World War I

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo sparks the outbreak of World War I, leading to Germany's rapid invasion of Belgium and a swift advance toward Paris, raising questions about the war's potential early conclusion.

The French forces halt the German advance at the Battle of the Marne, while on the Eastern Front, Germany stops the Russian push at Tannenberg. As the war on the Western Front descends into trench warfare, soldiers from French and British colonies join their colonial powers, marking the conflict's expansion into a global war.

In 1916, as World War I intensifies across multiple fronts, the focus turns to the devastating battles of Verdun and the Somme, where the war's industrial scale and human toll reach new heights.

1917 is a year of growing disillusionment with the war, marked by revolts in the rear and mutinies on the front, while German submarine warfare in the Atlantic brings the United States into the conflict; in Belgium, the brutal Battle of Passchendaele claims the lives of thousands of British Empire soldiers.

The Allies face a crisis as the Italians suffer a major defeat at Caporetto and Russia exits the war following the rise of the Bolsheviks. American reinforcements turn the tide, leading to an Allied victory, but their failure to secure a fair peace results in the harsh Treaty of Versailles, which sows the seeds for future conflict.