World War 1 course: How did one assassination in 1914 drag Europe's great powers into war?
Work it out in conversation with your own AI tutor in the Epivo app.
Free · No card · Android app
Start learning freeFree · No card · Opens Google Play (Android)
Get an email when the iPhone app is ready.
- 30 minutes a day with your tutor, on the free plan
- Remembers where you left off and what you've told your tutor about yourself
- Certificate included anyone can check it online
Why Epivo
Learn through engaging dialogue. Not through lectures.
Gain deeper understanding and stay capable in a changing world.
Free · No card · Android app
Start learning freeHow it works
- Your tutor tells the story, from the alliances to the armistice, a piece at a time, then hands you one small puzzle about why it happened.
- You think it through, out loud or by typing. You don't need to know the answer: your tutor helps you along and tells you when you're close.
- Step by step, it adds up. Your tutor remembers your past sessions and picks up where you left off.
What you'll understand
- 1914How one killing in Sarajevo pulled the great powers of Europe into war within weeks
- 1914–1916Why the front stopped moving, and what life in the trenches was like, through Verdun and the Somme
- At homeHow the war reached everyone at home: women in the munitions factories, rationing and conscription
- 1917Why 1917 changed the war: revolution took Russia out, and America came in
- 1918–1919How the war ended, and how the peace treaties of 1919 redrew the map of Europe
You don't need to know anything first. See the full course →
Hear a sample of how a lesson starts
Let's start before the shooting. By 1914, Europe's great powers had split into two camps, each leaning on promises from its friends. So here's my first question for you. If one country in a camp was attacked, what do you think happened next? Tell me your guess, and we'll see where it leads.
What it costs
Free
- 30 minutes a day with your tutor
- No card needed.
- Your first hour uses the Premium voice (once, not every day). After that your tutor speaks with the free voice, which runs on your phone. The lessons, the questions and your progress stay exactly the same.
- Certificates included.
- Want more time? Paid plans add more tutoring time and more Premium voice time. See plans and prices →
Finish with a certificate
Finish all the World War 1 courses and earn a certificate anyone can check online. See a sample →
Questions
Is it really free?
Yes. Thirty minutes a day with your tutor, and no card. Paid plans add more time if you ever want it.
Is my tutor a real person?
No. Your tutor is an AI that talks with you, follows a planned course and remembers your past sessions.
How do I know the lessons are accurate?
Before written lesson material reaches you, an AI checks its key facts against independent published sources, and a second AI re-checks anything flagged. Your tutor is instructed to teach from that material and to tell you when unsure: an instruction, not a guarantee. And you can check for yourself: tap Sources in the lesson menu and pick a session to see what it drew on, including links to the original sources.
How is this different from asking ChatGPT?
ChatGPT answers what you ask. Your tutor leads the way: a planned route through the whole war, one question at a time, picking up where you left off.
Does it cover the war beyond the Western Front?
Yes. Gallipoli, the Arab Revolt, East Africa and the war at sea each have their place, beside the trenches in France and Belgium.
What was life like at home during the war?
That is a whole part of the course: factories turned over to the war, women in munitions work and nursing, conscription and the people who refused it, and rationing under the blockade.
Is it on iPhone?
Not yet. Epivo runs on Android today. Open this page on an iPhone and you can leave your email; we'll tell you when the iPhone app is ready.
Step into 1914. Uncover the rest together.
Your first lesson starts with the alliances that split Europe in two.
Free · No card · Android app
Start learning freeFree · No card
Photo credits (all via Wikimedia Commons). Cheshire Regiment trench at La Boisselle, the Somme, 1916: John Warwick Brooke (public domain, cropped). Archduke Franz Ferdinand leaving Sarajevo town hall, 28 June 1914: unknown photographer, Imperial War Museums (IWM Q 91848) (public domain). British troops leaving their trench, 1916: Geoffrey Malins, from the film The Battle of the Somme, Imperial War Museums (public domain). Signing of the peace in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles, 28 June 1919: Helen Johns Kirtland and Lucian Swift Kirtland (public domain). British and German soldiers in No Man's Land, Christmas truce, 1914: Harold Burge Robson, Imperial War Museums (Q 50719) (public domain), cropped.
