I am looking for a magnificent history questions about the First World War. The question will be the topic of an essay (estimated to be around 3000 words). Sadly, I have never had any interest in the First World War, thus, I am unable to come up with an interesting question which I can write a great deal about.
On the other hand, I have studied the Second World War, and the battle of Stalingrad in particular, interest me greatly. The reasons for it, is that it was a very bloody battle, the turning point of the war, and that the battle ranged from airstrikes to door-door fighting. Is there anything from the First World War, which is similar to Stalingrad? And what can the question be?
Check out the battles of the Somme, and the first battle of the Marne. Those are both turning points, and dramatic enough to hold anyone's interest.
And if you have time pick up Guns of August. Military experts here, I believe, will tell you that it's outdated and sacrifices a little accuracy for good storytelling. But it's a stunningly written narrative that's well worth your time.
The Somme and Verdun were basically the Stalingrad(s) of WWI; for the former, I'd recommend Bloody Victory by William Phillpott and for the latter I'd recommend The Price of Glory by Alistair Horne and Verdun by Paul Jankowski.
Holger Herwig's Battle of the Marne is also a good source for the key battle of the early Western Front.
EDIT: If you're looking for ways that these battles changed war militarily (for Stalingrad you cited the urban combat, and to a lesser extent the use of air power), the Somme and Verdun are key battles for examining the changing methods, tactics and doctrine of the armies involved. The Somme and Verdun helped to accelerate (or in the French case, complete) the solidification of modern small-unit tactics; demonstrated the importance of air power, with the attainment of air superiority over the Somme and Verdun be Franco-British and French, respectively, air forces being key to their successes; the emergence of the Methodical Battle, aka set-piece attack, as the means through which the Franco-British armies would conduct operations against the Germans, emphasizing the firepower of the artillery; and the combination of aircraft, infantry and artillery (and to a lesser extent, Tanks) on the modern battlefield, as part of modern 'all-arms'/combined arms operations. Also look at the German response, such as the development of elastic defense-in-depth as a means of defending against the Methodical Battle, which led to a shift away from trenches to a more semi-positional/semi-open form of warfare in 1917; the institution of the Hindenburg Programme, and its effect on the German Army, Industry, and economy; and the development of better aircraft by the German air force, notably the Albtros D. I/II/III series.
I agree with the two other answers here that for blood and guts the Marne, the Somme, and Verdun are probably your best bets.
But on the off chance that it's more that the endless slog of the western front is what doesn't interest you (and for a very long time that was certainly the case for me) then l would say look to the Middle East.
The Arab Revolt, Lawrence of Arabia, and the Middle East campaign were dashing, covered huge swathes of territory and resulted in some of the most controversial and longest lasting decisions of the war including the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine (eventually Israel), the division of the present borders of the Middle East and militarily involved a mix of Western Front style blood and guts (at Gallipoli and Gaza), tactical and strategic brilliance (the taking of Aqaba), blunders (the siege of Kut), and was a combined effort of sea, land and to a certain extent air power.
I also know that it often gets left off of school curriculums so that at the very least it might be a refreshing break from the mud and blood of Flanders.
magnificent history questions
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