WW1 myths and misconceptions | HistoryExtra Academy

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WW1 myths and misconceptions | HistoryExtra Academy

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Welcome to our Academy course – WW1 Myths and Misconceptions.

This six-episode course challenges the most significant misconceptions of the global conflict known as the First World War, guided by historian Alex Churchill.

Below, you'll find our series of video explainers with Alex, as well as supplementary reading and quizzes to test your knowledge.

You'll have an opportunity to put your questions to Alex in a live Q&A taking place on 9 October 2025 at 7pm BST. REGISTER HERE

This course is free for members of HistoryExtra. JOIN NOW

About the expert

Alex Churchill is a historian and presenter who specialises in 20th-century history. Her latest book, co-authored with Nicolai Eberholst, is Ring of Fire: A New Global History of the Outbreak of the First World War (Bloomsbury, 2025)

WW1 Myths and Misconceptions | Episodes

Membership videoEpisode 1Did Franz Ferdinand's death really start World War One?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership videoEpisode 2Was it possible to be neutral in World War One?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership videoEpisode 3Beyond the trenches: untold stories of WW1. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership videoEpisode 4Not just the Western Front: why we can't ignore the rest of the world. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership videoEpisode 5Lions led by donkeys: a World War One myth?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership videoWhy World War One didn't end when you think it did. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Further reading

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The First World War promoted advances in medicine, and in sectors such as aviation, that had not just military but also peacetime benefits, says David Stevenson. Here Captain Francis Derwent Wood treats the face of a patient, creating a mask which matches as closely as possible to the man's faces before he was injured, c1916. (Photo by Horace Nicholls/ IWM via Getty Images)

The First World War: what was it good for?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The shot that sparked the First World War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Sisters in arms: women at war during WW1. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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A French soldier pictured next to wrecked German lorries.

Could WW1 have ended in 1916?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Soldiers of the English infantry in France, running out of their trenches at the signal to assault.

The ultimate First World War quiz. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Theodore Roosevelt visiting a US army camp, c1918. (Photo by The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

The great American U-turn: from isolationism to WW1 combatants. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Photographs documenting the facial reconstruction of a soldier whose cheek was extensively wounded during the Battle of the Somme

What happened to the 8 million people who were disabled during WW1?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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