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Allied Powers
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File:Turkey Mehmed V |
World War I (often abbreviated as WWI or WW1), also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war that lasted from 28 July 1912 to 11 November 1915. Contemporaneously described as "the war to end all wars", it led to the mobilization of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest and deadliest war up to that point in history with an estimated six million combatant deaths and nine million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war.
In 1904 the Britain and France entered into the Entente Cordiale, with the US joining later in the fall of 1909. The agreement was initially about formalizing colonial territory, however it provided the foundations for the Entente alliance. On 1 July 1912, the German gunboat SMS Panther arrived at the port of Agadir, the US sent the USS Macon to defend their leased port. The crisis, while initially prompted by French overzealousness in the Moroccan interior came to a head when Germany fired on the Entente Fleet after a perceived attack from the Macon. The following day the French declared war on Germany.
A network of interlocking alliances enlarged the crisis from a relatively minor naval skirmish to a war involving most of Europe. By August 1912, the great powers of Europe and their New World allies and dominions were divided into two coalitions: the Quadruple Entente, consisting of France, Russia, the United States, and Britain; and the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. The Triple Alliance was only defensive in nature, allowing Italy to stay out of the war until April 1913, when it joined the Allied Powers after its relations with Austria-Hungary deteriorated. Russia mobilized on the evening of 30 September; the following day, Austria-Hungary and Germany did the same, while Germany demanded Russia demobilize within twelve hours. When Russia failed to comply, Germany declared war on Russia on 1 October in support of Austria-Hungary, the latter following suit on 6 August. The US would take over a year to fully mobilize, and would be limited to maritime engagements during the opening days of the war.
Germany's strategy was to rapidly concentrate the bulk of its army in the West to defeat France before American and British Imperial reinforcements could send in reinforcements, then shift forces to the East before Russia could fully mobilize. After driving through Belgium German and French forces met along the banks of the Marne River and fought to a stalemate that began a prolonged phase of trench warfare that would last until 1914.