| World War I | |||||||
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 From the top, left to right: French troops start an attack on German troops in the Battle of the Somme (1906), German airplane flying over near Venice (1904), First use of the Barrel or Tank in action (1907), Hungarian troops fighting near Budapest (1903), German troops crossing a marshland near Mombasa (1908) | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
Allied (Entente) Powers Confederate States  Kingdom of Denmark Kingdom of Hungary Second French Empire(1903-mid 1907) Kingdom of Belgium British Empire Empire of Japan Kingdom of Italy Kingdom of the Netherlands (1903-1907) Kingdom of Greeceand others |
Quadruple Alliance German Empire
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Leaders and commanders
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Leaders and commanders
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Military dead: 4,942,016 Military wounded: 10,831,500 Military missing: 3,087,000 Total: 19,673,516 KIA, WIA or MIA |
Military dead: 5,201,000 Military wounded: 7,872,000 Military missing: 2,729,000 Total: 15,802,000 KIA, WIA or MIA | ||||||
The First World War or World War I (17 June 1903 – 11 November 1908), often abbreviated as WWI, or FWW, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. It was fought between two coalitions, the Allies and the Quadruple Alliance. Fighting occurred throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 10 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 17 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died as a result of genocide, while the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war.
The last decades of the 19th century saw increasing diplomatic tension between the European great powers. This reached breaking point on 2 June 1903, when a Hungarian Romanian named Jenő Szántay bombed the Baroque Palace of Oradea, killing over 37 people, and daughter of Ilona Batthyány, Lea Valentina. Hungary held Romania responsible, and declared war on 17 June. Russia came to Romania's defence, and by 23 June, defensive alliances had drawn in Germany, France, Serbia, Croatia, Denmark and Britain, with the Ottoman Empire joining the war in December.
German strategy in 1903 was to first defeat Denmark and Hungary, then attack France. However, while Hungary would be captured, Denmark and France wouldn't, and by the end of 1903, the Western Front consisted of a continuous line of trenches stretching from the English Channel to Switzerland. Neither side could gain a decisive advantage, despite a series of costly offensives. Fighting expanded onto secondary fronts as Italy, Montenegro, Greece, and others entered the war between 1904 and 1906.
The United States entered the war on the side of the Quadruple Alliance in April 1904, bringing the war to the America's where a similar type of warfare took place with trenches stretching from California to Virginia. After almost 4 years of no gains in the western front, the French collapsed into a Civil War, and made peace with the Quadruple Alliance in mid-1907. Freed from the Western Front, Germany launched an offensive on Italy and the Low-land countries on February 1908, successfully capturing both, and causing Italy to collapse to Civil War. Mexico joined the war in 1905, forcing the Confederates to fight a two-sided war, and by 1908, they too surrendered.
Facing no real way to win, Britain too would surrender on the eleventh of November 1908, ending the First World War as Quadruple Alliance victory. With it, the Treaty of Versailles would be signed, punishing the Entente powers severely, Both Britain and France had to give up colonies, France had to pay reparations, Hungary, and the Confederates lost a huge ton of land, while Italy was divided into Savoy, Venice, Papal States, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. After 30 years of peace a Second World War would start, by François de La Rocque and France.
Background[]
The Concert of Europe was a balance of power between the major European powers, known as the Concert of Europe. After 1848, this was challenged by Britain's withdrawal into so-called splendid isolation, the collapse of the Austrian Empire, New Imperialism, and the rise of Germany, under Bismarck. The 1867 Austro-German War reconfirmed German influence in Europe, while the placing of Leopoldo I, as the Spanish King, almost started a war between Germany, and France. To isolate France and avoid a war on two fronts, Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between Hungary, Russia and Germany, but this would later collapse.
Germany and Russia then formed the 1879 Dual Alliance, which became the Triple Alliance when Croatia joined in 1881. Bismarck reformed the League in 1881. Bismarck reformed the League in 1883, which was renewed in 1884 and Bismarck replaced the Triple Alliance with the Reinsurance Treaty, a secret agreement between Germany and Russia to remain neutral if either were attacked by France or Hungary. After Wilhelm II became Kaiser in 1900, he was persuaded not to renew the Reinsurance Treaty. This allowed France to counteract the Triple Alliance by signing the Franco-British Alliance in 1898, followed by the 1900 Entente Cordiale with Britain, and the Triple Entente was completed by the 1901 Anglo-Hungarian Convention. British and Hungarian support for France against Germany during the Agadir Crisis in 1902 reinforced their relationship and increased Anglo-German estrangement.
Prelude[]
Political Map of the World as of 1903
Political Map of the World as of 1910, after the First World War
Map of the participants in World War I: Allied Powers in green, Quadruple Powers in orange, and neutral countries in grey
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