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"We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields." - Lt-Col John McRae

1915 was meant to be a brief detour on the road to victory. Instead, it became the year the war showed its teeth.

On this episode, The Hungry Historian takes listeners deep into the second full year of the First World War. It was the year when early optimism rotted away in the trenches and the conflict hardened into something far more brutal, far more modern, and far more unforgiving.

What began as a war of movement stalled into a grinding contest of endurance, where nations learned just how much blood and steel industrial society could produce. 1915 was the year trenches became permanent, civilians became targets, and new weapons reshaped the battlefield in terrifying ways.

It was a year of catastrophic offensives, desperate gambles, and political decisions made far from the front lines. Across Europe and beyond, the war widened, dragging empires, colonies, and entire populations deeper into the abyss.

Join The Hungry Historian as the war becomes a machine, and the world learns the cost of feeding it.

As for feeding you, Chef Money is cooking up a Featured Recipe based on one of the larger talking points of 1915, the Shell Shortage. Hope you're ready to make some Shells of your own!

Cheers!

Shells

Ingredients

•18 to 20 jumbo pasta shells
•2 cups of your favourite Marinara Sauce
•5 to 6 fresh spinach
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
•(At least) ¼ cup grated parmesan, plus for garnish
•(At least) 2 garlic cloves, grated
•1 teaspoon dried oregano
•1 teaspoon lemon zest
•1 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
•Sea salt
•Fresh ground black pepper
•Chopped fresh parsley, for serving

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"We are about to engage in a battle on which the fate of our country depends...the moment has passed for looking at the rear...Troops that can advance no farther must, at any price, hold the ground they have conquered and die on the spot rather than give way." - General Joseph Joffre, Order of the Day - September 5th, 1914.

In the summer of 1914, Europe stood at the height of its confidence. Empires were wealthy, technology was advancing at a breathtaking pace, and many believed that war, if it came at all, would be brief, controlled, and cleansing.

When a gunshot rang out in Sarajevo, few imagined it would ignite a global conflict. Yet within weeks, diplomatic miscalculations, rigid alliances, and decades of simmering tension dragged the continent into war. What followed was not the heroic struggle so many expected, but the opening act of a catastrophe that would reshape the modern world.

On this episode, the Hungry Historian examines the opening months and battles of the First World War. Follow along as we go over the rush to mobilization, the confidence of generals and politicians, the grand strategies meant to deliver swift victory, and the belief that speed and offensive spirit would decide the conflict.

Instead, these first battles revealed a grim new reality.

On the Western Front, mass armies collided with machine guns and heavy artillery, producing casualties on an unprecedented scale. On the Eastern Front, sweeping movements and unexpected defeats shattered assumptions about both Russian weakness and German invincibility.

As 1914 unfolded, the war exposed the brutal power of industrialized violence. Soldiers marched off amid cheering crowds, only to find themselves trapped in landscapes of fire, mud, and fear.

By the end of the year, the world had changed. The war that began with optimism and illusion ended 1914 in stalemate and shock, with millions dead or wounded and no clear path forward. This episode explores how those early months set the tone for the rest of the First World War, and why 1914 stands as the moment when the old world finally broke apart.

Never one to disappoint, Chef Money has traded in his jacket for a bartender apron and is bringing you a featured recipe inspired by today's episode and one of the premier weapons of the First World War - The French 75.

Cheers!

The French 75

• Champagne or Sparkling Wine
• Gin
• Lemon Juice
• Simple Syrup

** Featured Recipe directions are available within the show or on the exclusive Instagram account of The Hungry Historian - @hungry_historian.

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“The coming of the wireless era will make war impossible, because it will make war ridiculous.” - Guglielmo Marconi, 1912

Long before the first shots were fired in August 1914, Europe had been quietly preparing for disaster. In this episode, join the Hungry Historian as he traces the tangled web of events, ambitions, and anxieties that pushed the continent towards the brink of total war.

From the rise of nationalist movements to colonial rivalries, from shifting alliances to the dangerous confidence of military planning, we examine how a seemingly stable world was actually balancing on a fault line.

We’ll explore the diplomatic crises that nearly sparked conflict years earlier, the growing public appetite for confrontation, and why leaders repeatedly chose escalation over compromise. The assassination at Sarajevo may have lit the fuse, but this episode reveals just how long that fuse truly was.

Follow along as we unravel the political pressures, human miscalculations, and cultural forces that transformed a regional crisis into a global catastrophe, setting the stage for the most devastating war the world had ever seen.

As for a featured recipe, Chef Money is stopping by with the perfect addition to your next sandwich making adventure, and one that is inspired by the leaders of the First World War. You won't want to miss out on this recipe for "Kaiser Rolls"!

Cheers!

Kaiser Rolls

Ingredients:

• White bread flour
• Yeast
• Egg
• Softened Butter
• Sugar
• Salt
• Cold Milk
• Poppy Seeds
• Sesame Seeds

** Featured Recipe amounts and directions are available within the show or on the official Instagram page of The Hungry Historian.**