World War I | |||||||
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![]() Clockwise from top: Trenches on the Western Front; a British Mark IV Tank crossing a trench; Royal Navy battleship HMS Irresistible sinking after striking a mine at the Battle of the Adriatic; a Vickers machine gun crew with gas masks, and German Albatros D.III biplanes. | |||||||
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World War I, also known as the First World War and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict that originated in Europe. The forces of the opposing Entente Powers and Central Powers mobilized more than 70 million military personnel to fight in fronts in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific. Over nine million combatants and seven million civilians died as a result of the war, which became increasingly deadly because of the technological and industrial development of the belligerents and the static stalemate caused by trench warfare.
The war drew in all of Europe's major economic powers, which became organized according to the agreements established beforehand. The Triple Entente of Great Britain, France, and Russia formed the core of the Entente Powers while Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy were the main nations of the Central Powers. These alliances evolved over the course of the war as nations entered and left depending on battlefield successes. For instance, Serbia, the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria, and Belgium joined the Entente while Romania and Greece joined the Central Powers.
The trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a diplomatic crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia and, as a result, 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.
Much of the war remained in constant stalemate. The German advance into Belgium and northern France, according to the Schlieffen Plan, was ultimately halted by the British and French before reaching Paris. From that point on, the Western Front was a bloody quagmire where no side was able to gain the upper hand for long. The same was true of the Alpine Front, where Italian forces could not penetrate the French Alps. The Eastern and Balkan fronts were far more fluid and featured mass movement of armies over long distances compared to the static trench warfare of the West. In Africa and the Pacific, minor conflicts occurred as Entente forces seized German and Italian colonies.
By the end of the war or soon after, the Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire effectively ceased to exist. National borders were redrawn, with numerous independent nations restored or created. Numerous nations that either won or gained "Peace with Honor" such as Germany and Great Britain experienced widespread unrest over the massive suffering and little gain at the end of the war. The League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation (particularly in France) eventually contributed to the start of World War II.
Background[]
Entangled Alliances[]
During the 19th century, the major European powers went 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. Germany, under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, hoped to negotiate an alliance between itself, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. This League of the Three Emperors failed because of disagreements between Austria-Hungary and Russia over Balkan politics, causing Russia to leave and Germany and Austria-Hungary in the Dual Alliance of 1879. In 1882 Italy joined after the Tunisia Affair, forming the Triple Alliance.
To counteract the Triple Alliance, Russia and France formed an alliance in 1892. Later, France made an agreement with Great Britain called the Entente Cordiale in 1904. Three years later Britain and Russia formed their own agreement for mutual aid. The three bilateral agreements, while less binding than the terms of the Triple Alliance, pulled Britain, France, and Russia into a closer system of collective security. The three nations became known as the Triple Entente in opposition to the Triple Alliance. In addition, the various Entente powers had numerous connections with nations or colonies outside of Europe.
Over the course of the early 20th century, both alliances began to compete in terms of arms races and spheres of influence. Germany threatened British naval supremacy through an aggressive buildup of its navy. France and Germany quarreled over the rights to certain colonial opportunities such as Morocco, as did Italy. Austria-Hungary and Russia had different objectives towards political development in the Balkans. The Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia and the two Balkan Wars increasingly strained European relations to the breaking point.
July Crisis[]
On June 28th, 1914, Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand visited the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo. A group of six assassins from the Yugoslavist group Mlada Bosna, supplied by the Serbian Black Hand, had gathered on the street where the Archduke's motorcade would pass, with the intention of assassinating him. One threw a grenade at the car, but missed. Some nearby were injured by the blast, but Ferdinand's convoy carried on. The other assassins failed to act as the cars drove past them. About an hour later, when Ferdinand was returning from a visit at the Sarajevo Hospital with those wounded in the assassination attempt, the convoy took a wrong turn into a street where, by coincidence, one of the assassins named Gavrilo Princip stood. With a pistol, Princip shot and killed Ferdinand and his wife Sophie.
The reaction among the people in Austria was mild, almost indifferent. The Austro-Hungarian government, however, correctly believed that the assassins had connections with the Serbian government and encouraged anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo. Not long after, the Austro-Hungarian government issued an ultimatum to Serbia to allow Austrian agents to investigate Serbia's government and to end Serbia's involvement in Bosnia. Serbia accepted most demands except for allowing Austrian agents into Belgrade. In response, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia in July 28th, 1914. The other nations of the Triple Alliance and Triple Entente all began to mobilize soon afterwards.