WORLD WAR I
1914 - 1918

Before World War II, World War I was called The Great War.

Over 65 million troops were engaged in the First World War, an unprecedented number in 1914. Consequently, the war also set a sad record in wreaking havoc. For the most part, the war was fought in Europe; however, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia saw action as well.


Only the following countries managed to remain neutral:
In Europe: Denmark, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Spain.
In the Americas: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela.
In Asia: Afghanistan and Persia.
In Africa: Abyssinia.


THE MAIN COMBATANTS
The Central Powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria. They fought against the Allies, France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, United States, Romania, Serbia, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, and Montenegro.

BACKGROUND
Imperialistic expansion was backed by a widespread net of military alliances. This extensive alliance system was vulnerable, since nothing could happen without everyone's being affected.

In other words and simpler terms, everybody made a promise to everybody to help them out in case they got attacked. There was a great many deals like that. Now, all that needed to happen was someone had to sneeze and everybody would be forced to take sides and fight no matter what.

In fact, someone did sneeze June 28, 1914.


WHAT EVENT STARTED THE WAR?
On June 28, 1914, Serbian radical Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz-Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo. A month later, Austria declared war against Serbia and ignited World War I.


WHAT EVENT ENDED THE WAR?
Bulgaria surrendered on September 30, 1918; Turkey on October 30; and Austria-Hungary on November 4, 1918. On November 11, 1918, an armistice was signed between the Allies and Germany, World War I was officially ended.

Aerial view of the village of Passchendaele, Belgium (north is
to the right of the photo), before and after the battle in 1917.

MAJOR BATTLES AND RESULTING CASUALTIES
1914 Tannenberg, now Poland – 58,000
1915 Dardanelles, Turkey – 500,000
1916 Verdun, France – 510,000
1916 Somme, France – 1,000,000
1917 Passchendaele, Belgium – 558,000

World War One Timeline


WHO WON THE WAR? WHO LOST THE WAR?
The Allies were the victors of World War I.

During the four years of war, more than 8.5 million soldiers were killed and 20 million wounded. A total of 15,000,000 million deaths are estimated. Roughly 90% of all Austrian mobilized forces became casualties.

TRIVIA
Compared to previous wars, technological advances heavily increased the casualties of World War I. Tank, submarine, and airplane warfare was introduced as well as the machine gun and poison gas.

World War I became infamous for its costly trench warfare at the western front which stretched from the North Sea to the Swiss border.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
During the war, the government of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) instigated the Armenian Genocide. The genocide lasted from 1915 until 1923, caused 1.5 million deaths, and even to this day has gone relatively unnoticed.

In fact, until this day the Armenian Genocide remains a hot topic.

Some Armenians are of the opinion that Turkey can't really become part of Europe until it acknowledges its part played in the Armenian Genocide. Apparently, a certain Mr Hrant Dink was of this opinion as well. He was a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent and was assassinated in front of his office on January 19, 2007. Mr Dink was a newspaper editor. The Turkish government brought 18 people to trial for this assassination.

More from the Washington Post...
 

THE UNITED STATES AND WORLD WAR I
The United States was determined to remain neutral in European affairs. However, Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare soon changed America’s opinion.

Furthermore, the Zimmermann Telegram was intercepted by the United States. This telegram, sent by Arthur Zimmermann, revealed Germany’s proposal of an alliance with Mexico against the United States, and "an understanding on our [the German's] part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.”

The United States rubbed their eyes twice, and on April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I.

IMPACT ON HUMANKIND
The war ended four dynastic empires in the country of
 - Germany (Hohenzollern)
 - Russia (Romanov)
 - Austria-Hungary (Habsburg) and
 - Turkey (Ottoman)

World War One also drastically reshaped the map of Europe, leaving much of it in economic desperation.

All of Germany's overseas colonies in China, in the Pacific, and in Africa were taken over by the Allies.

TREATIES
At the end of WWI, the Allies concluded the Treaty of Versailles with Germany and the Treaty of Saint Germain with Austria.

And this is what everybody lost / gained on the European map:

GERMANY BEFORE AND AFTER THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES
Click to enlarge

 

CONTROVERSY
Which persons or nations were most responsible for the war’s outbreak is debated.
 

Check the costs of major US wars in comparison.