The series begins with a review of the rivalries and tensions between the major European powers from 1870 to 1914, which culminated with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in the city of Sarajevo by members of the Serbian Black Hand.
Various episodes examined the German atrocities in Belgium, the war at sea, trench warfare, the Russian Revolution, the Italian Front, air warfare, America's entry into the war, the home fronts of the various participants, the music of that era, the war's final campaigns, and the war's legacy.