World War One – Part 3: 1915 – Stalemate, Gas, and a Global War

In Part Three of our World War One series, we move into 1915 — the year the war stopped being a war of movement and became a brutal, grinding stalemate.

With trench lines stretching from the North Sea to Switzerland, soldiers on the Western Front faced mud, machine guns, and a terrifying new weapon: poison gas. We break down the Second Battle of Ypres, where chlorine gas was unleashed for the first time on a large scale, and explain why 1915 became the year the war turned industrial and impersonal.

But this wasn’t just a European conflict anymore.

We head to the Ottoman Empire and the disastrous Gallipoli campaign, where Allied forces tried — and failed — to knock the Ottomans out of the war. We also look at the war at sea, including Germany’s submarine campaign and the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, which shocked the world and pushed the United States closer to involvement.

From stalemate in France to catastrophe in the Dardanelles, 1915 shows how quickly optimism disappeared and how the war expanded across continents.

 In Part 2 of our First World War series, we dive into the opening year of the conflict — 1914. After the long-term causes set the stage and an assassination lit the fuse in Part 1, this episode follows how Europe’s great powers mobilised for war, how armies clashed in the first battles, and how the hope for a short conflict quickly faded into a much larger and bloodier reality. From the German invasion of Belgium to the early battles on the Western and Eastern Fronts, we break down the key military developments that defined the first months of the war. 

This is the first episode in a multipart series on the First World War.

Over the next few episodes, we’ll be following the war from its origins, through the fighting itself, and finally to its world-changing consequences.

But before the trenches, before the battles, and before the millions of casualties, we need to ask a simple question:

Why did World War One happen at all?

In this episode, we’re looking at the long-term causes that pushed Europe towards war — rising nationalism, imperial rivalries, an arms race that no one could stop, and a web of alliances that turned a regional crisis into a global conflict.

We’ll also look at the spark that finally lit the fuse in 1914, and why a single assassination was enough to send the great powers of Europe marching towards war.

In August of 1976, a single act of violence in the Korean Demilitarized Zone pushed the Cold War to the brink.

Two American officers were killed—not in battle, but while trimming a tree.

What followed was one of the most extraordinary shows of force in modern military history. No shots fired. No warnings given. Just overwhelming power.

This is the story of how the United States responded with chainsaws, bombers, aircraft carriers—and a message so clear it echoed across the world.

This is Operation Paul Bunyan.

In this episode, we dive into one of the most complex, brutal, and transformative struggles of the 20th century: the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962). What began as a colonial uprising quickly turned into a full-scale war that reshaped France, liberated Algeria, and changed global politics forever.

We break down how the conflict started, the rise of the FLN, France’s fierce military response, the shadowy world of torture and counter-insurgency, and the political chaos that brought Charles de Gaulle back to power. We also explore how ordinary civilians—both Algerian and European—were caught in the middle of a fight that questioned the very meaning of nationhood and empire.

By the end of the episode, you’ll understand why this war still echoes today: in French politics, Algerian identity, and modern debates about decolonisation.

 In 1605 a small group of conspirators tried to blow up the English Parliament and change the course of history. Neil and Callum tell the story — from the plot’s desperate origins and the men behind it, to the plan, the discovery, and the surprising political fallout. 

On the 14th October 1066, England changed for ever. On this episode join us as we look at the Battle of Hastings, 

Like Comment and subscribe and share with others

In this episode, we dive into the dramatic and brutal conflict between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. From the causes of the war and the ambitions of British colonial expansion, to the power and organization of the Zulu nation under King Cetshwayo, we trace the road to one of the most shocking defeats in British military history at the Battle of Isandlwana.

We’ll also look at the heroic – and controversial – defense of Rorke’s Drift, the wider course of the war, and how it reshaped the future of Southern Africa. This is a story of cultural clash, imperial ambition, courage, and tragedy, told in a way that brings the history vividly to life.

Join us for the latest episode of Textbook Dummies, on this episode we take a look at a forgotten global conflict, the 7 years war 

Europe, 1870. An ambitious Prussian chancellor. A weakened French emperor. A telegram that changed history.  It began with a diplomatic insult—and ended with the fall of an empire, the birth of a nation, and a legacy of bitterness that would haunt Europe for decades. Join us on this episode of Textbook Dummies as we discover the Franco Prusian War