Europeans commonly refer to the First World War as the “Great War.” To many Americans it is virtually unknown, yet it was one of the bloodiest conflicts in history and one whose memory is deeply etched into the European, and specifically Belgian, cultural psyches. The Great War was the first truly global conflict and involved 26 countries, but the military theater this course will emphasize – the Ypres Salient – was smaller in area than Oconee and Pickens counties. For four years this part of Belgium’s “Flanders Fields” was a literal corpse factory, accounting for nearly 10 percent of all military deaths. We examine the roots of a conflict that no one wanted but sensed was inevitable; a war that was expected to be over in a month but lasted more than four years; and more importantly, a war that, far from being the “war to end all wars,” set the stage for even greater horrors to come. Nearly every significant world event since WWI and its aftermath – the collapse of czarist Russia and the rise of the Soviet Union, the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, the emergence of the European Union, the Middle East crisis (including the rise of ISIS) –has its roots in the “Great War.”

For 14 years Stephen Wainscott led a month-long study abroad program to Belgium where students learned about the First World War and visited numerous military sites in the West Flanders region and in France. He has also led a senior group on a tour of the area.