World War I

World War I (WWI or WW1), also known as the First World War or the Great War,
was a global war mostly centered in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and
lasted until 11 November 1918. More than 9 million combatants and 7 million
civilians died as a result of the war, a casualty rate exacerbated by the
belligerents' technological and industrial sophistication, and tactical stalemate. It
was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, paving the way for major political
changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved.[5]

The war drew in all the world's economic great powers,[6] which were assembled
in two opposing alliances: the Allies (based on the Triple Entente of the United
Kingdom, France and the Russian Empire) and the Central Powers of Germany
and Austria-Hungary. Although Italy had also been a member of the Triple
Alliance alongside Germany and Austria-Hungary, it did not join the Central
Powers, as Austria-Hungary had taken the offensive against the terms of the
alliance.[7] These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations
entered the war: Italy, Japan and the United States joined the Allies, and the
Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria the Central Powers. Ultimately, more than 70
million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one
of the largest wars in history.[8][9] The trigger for war was the 28 June 1914
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of
Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo. This set off a
diplomatic crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of
Serbia,[10][11] and entangled international alliances formed over the previous
decades were invoked. Within weeks, the major powers were at war and the
conflict soon spread around the world.

On 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia and subsequently

invaded.[12][13] As Russia mobilised in support of Serbia, Germany invaded
neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, leading Britain
to declare war on Germany. After the German march on Paris was halted, what
became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a
trench line that would change little until 1917. Meanwhile, on the Eastern Front,
the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, but was stopped
in its invasion of East Prussia by the Germans. In November 1914, the Ottoman
Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia
and the Sinai. Italy joined the Allies in 1915 and Bulgaria joined the Central
Powers in the same year, while Romania joined the Allies in 1916, and the United
States joined the Allies in 1917.

The Russian government collapsed in March 1917, and a subsequent revolution

in November brought the Russians to terms with the Central Powers via the

Treaty of Brest Litovsk, which constituted a massive German victory until nullified
by the 1918 victory of the Western allies. After a stunning Spring 1918 German
offensive along the Western Front, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans
in a series of successful offensives. On 4 November 1918, the Austro-Hungarian
empire agreed to an armistice, and Germany, which had its own trouble with
revolutionaries, agreed to an armistice on 11 November 1918, ending the war in
victory for the Allies.

By the end of the war, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian
Empire and the Ottoman Empire had ceased to exist. The maps were redrawn,
with several independent nations restored or created and Germany's colonies
were parceled out among the winners. During the Paris Peace conference of
1919, The Big Four (Britain, France, United States, and Italy) imposed their terms
in a series of treaties. The League of Nations was formed with the aim of
preventing any repetition of such an appalling conflict. This aim, however, failed
with weakened states, economic depression, renewed European nationalism, and
the German feeling of humiliation contributing to the rise of Nazism. These
conditions eventually contributed to World War II.
Political and military alliances

In the 19th century, the major European powers had gone to great lengths to
maintain a balance of power throughout Europe, resulting in the existence of a
complex network of political and military alliances throughout the continent by
1900.[7] These had started in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia,
Russia, and Austria. Then, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von
Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors (German:
Dreikaiserbund) between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany.
This agreement failed because Austria-Hungary and Russia could not agree over
Balkan policy, leaving Germany and Austria-Hungary in an alliance formed in
1879, called the Dual Alliance. This was seen as a method of countering Russian
influence in the Balkans as the Ottoman Empire continued to weaken.[7] In 1882,
this alliance was expanded to include Italy in what became the Triple Alliance.
[18]

Bismarck had especially worked to hold Russia at Germany's side to avoid a twofront war with France and Russia. When Wilhelm II ascended to the throne as
German Emperor (Kaiser), Bismarck was compelled to retire and his system of
alliances was gradually de-emphasised. For example, the Kaiser refused to renew
the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia in 1890. Two years later, the Franco-Russian
Alliance was signed to counteract the force of the Triple Alliance. In 1904, Britain
signed a series of agreements with France, the Entente Cordiale, and in 1907,
Britain and Russia signed the Anglo-Russian Convention. While these agreements
did not formally ally Britain with France or Russia, they made British entry into
any future conflict involving France or Russia a possibility, and the system of
interlocking bilateral agreements became known as the Triple Entente.[7]

Arms race

German industrial and economic power had grown greatly after unification and
the foundation of the Empire in 1871 following the Franco-Prussian War. From the
mid-1890s on, the government of Wilhelm II used this base to devote significant
economic resources for building up the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German
Navy), established by Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, in rivalry with the British Royal
Navy for world naval supremacy.[19] As a result, each nation strove to out-build
the other in capital ships. With the launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906, the
British Empire expanded on its significant advantage over its German rival.[19]
The arms race between Britain and Germany eventually extended to the rest of
Europe, with all the major powers devoting their industrial base to producing the
equipment and weapons necessary for a pan-European conflict.[20] Between
1908 and 1913, the military spending of the European powers increased by 50%.
[21]