World War I

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search
"World War One", "Great War", and "WW1" redirect here. For other uses, see World War One
(disambiguation), Great War (disambiguation), and WW1 (album).

World War I

(Clockwise from the top)

 The aftermath of shelling during the Battle of the Somme

 Mark V tanks cross the Hindenburg Line

 HMS Irresistible sinks after hitting a mine in the Dardanelles

 A British Vickers machine gun crew wears gas masks during the Battle of the Somme
 Albatros D.III fighters of Jagdstaffel 11
Date 28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918
(4 years, 3 months and 2 weeks)

Peace treaties[show]
Location Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands,
China, Indian Ocean, North and South Atlantic Ocean
Result
Allied victory

 Central Powers victory on the Eastern

Front nullified by defeat on the Western Front
 Fall of all continental empires in Europe
(including Germany, Russia, Turkey and Austria-
Hungary)
  Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War – the
collapse of the Russian Empire and the
subsequent formation of the Soviet Union
 Widespread unrest and revolutions throughout
Europe and Asia
 Creation of the League of Nations (more ...)
Territorial  Formation of new countries in Europe and the
changes Middle East
 Transfer of German colonies and territories, regions
of the former Ottoman Empire, regions of the former
Austro-Hungarian Empire and Soviet Union territories
to other countries

Belligerents

Allied Powers: Central Powers:

 France  German Empire

 British Empire  Austria-Hungary

 Russia (1914–17)  Ottoman Empire

 Serbia  Bulgaria (1915–18)

 Belgium  ... and co-belligerents

 Montenegro

 Japan

 Italy (1915–18)

 United States (1917–18)

 Romania (1916–18)

 Portugal (1916–18)

 Hejaz (1916–18)

 China (1917–18)
 Greece (1917–18)

 Siam (1917–18)

 ... and others

Commanders and leaders

 George V  Wilhelm II

 H. H. Asquith  Franz Joseph I †

 David Lloyd George  Karl I

 Raymond Poincaré  Mehmed V †

 Georges Clemenceau  Mehmed VI

 Albert I  Three Pashas
 Nicholas II  Ferdinand I

 Alexander Kerensky
and others ...
 Alexander Kolchak[1]

 Victor Emmanuel III

 Vittorio Orlando

 Woodrow Wilson

 Yoshihito

 Peter I

 Ferdinand I

 Eleftherios Venizelos

and others ...

Strength

Total: 42,959,850[2] Total: 25,248,321[2]

 12,000,000  13,250,000

 8,841,541 [3][4]
 7,800,000

 8,660,000[5]  2,998,321

 5,615,140  1,200,000

 4,743,826

 800,000

 707,343

 658,000

 380,000

 250,000

 80,000

 50,000

Casualties and losses

 Military dead: 5,525,000  Military dead: 4,386,000

 Military wounded: 12,831,500  Military wounded: 8,388,000

 Total: 18,356,500 KIA, WIA and MIA  Total: 12,774,000 KIA, WIA and MIA

 Civilian dead: 4,000,000  Civilian dead: 3,700,000

further details ... further details ...

 Military deaths by country[6][7] Military deaths by country[6]

 1,811,000  2,050,897

 1,397,800  1,200,000

 1,114,914  771,844

 651,000  87,500

 250,000–335,000

 275,000

 116,708

 58,637–87,500

 26,000

 7,222

 3,000

 415

show

 v

 t

 e
Theatres of World War I

Events leading to World War I

Congress of Berlin 1878

Triple Alliance 1882
Mayerling incident 1889
Franco-Russian Alliance 1894
Anglo-German naval arms race 1898–1912
Venezuela Naval Blockade 1902–1903
Entente Cordiale 1904
Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905
First Moroccan Crisis 1905–1906
Anglo-Russian Entente 1907
Bosnian Crisis 1908–1909
Agadir Crisis 1911
Italo-Turkish War 1911–1912
Balkan Wars 1912–1913
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand 1914
July Crisis 1914

 v
 t
  e

World War I: Mobilized forces per total population (in %)[citation needed]

World War I (often abbreviated as WWI or WW1), also known as the First World War or the Great
War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918.
Contemporaneously described as "the war to end all wars",[8] it led to the mobilisation of more than
70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in
history.[9][10] It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history,[11] with an estimated nine
million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting
genocides and the resulting 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths
worldwide.[12]
On 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb Yugoslav nationalist, assassinated the Austro-
Hungarian heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, leading to the July Crisis.[13][14] In response, on
23 July Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia. Serbia's reply failed to satisfy the Austrians,
and the two moved to a war footing.
A network of interlocking alliances enlarged the crisis from a bilateral issue in the Balkans to one
involving most of Europe. By July 1914, the great powers of Europe were divided into two coalitions:
the Triple Entente—consisting of France, Russia, 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 1915, when it joined the Allied Powers after its relations
with Austria-Hungary deteriorated).[15] Russia felt it necessary to back Serbia and, after Austria-
Hungary shelled the Serbian capital of Belgrade on the 28th, approved partial mobilisation.[16] Full
Russian mobilisation was announced on the evening of 30 July; on the 31st, Austria-Hungary and
Germany did the same, while Germany demanded Russia demobilise within twelve hours.[17] When
Russia failed to comply, Germany declared war on Russia on 1 August in support of Austria-
Hungary, with Austria-Hungary following suit on the 6th; France ordered full mobilisation in support
of Russia on 2 August.[18]
German strategy for a war on two fronts against France and Russia was to rapidly concentrate the
bulk of its army in the West to defeat France within six weeks, then shift forces to the East before
Russia could fully mobilise; this was later known as the Schlieffen Plan.[19] On 2 August, Germany
demanded free passage through Belgium, an essential element in achieving a quick victory over
France.[20] When this was refused, German forces invaded Belgium on 3 August and declared war on
France the same day; the Belgian government invoked the 1839 Treaty of London and in
compliance with its obligations under this, Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August.[21][22] On 12
August, Britain and France also declared war on Austria-Hungary; on the 23rd, Japan sided with
Britain, seizing German possessions in China and the Pacific. In November 1914, the Ottoman
Empire entered the war on the side of the Central Powers, opening fronts in
the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, and the Sinai Peninsula. The war was fought in and drew upon each
power's colonial empire as well, spreading the conflict to Africa and across the globe. The Entente
and its allies would eventually become known as the Allied Powers, while the grouping of Austria-
Hungary, Germany and their allies would become known as the Central Powers.
The German advance into France was halted at the Battle of the Marne and by the end of 1914,
the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, marked by a long series of trench lines that
changed little until 1917 (the Eastern Front, by contrast, was marked by much greater exchanges of
territory). In 1915, Italy joined the Allied Powers and opened a front in the Alps. Bulgaria joined the
Central Powers in 1915 and Greece joined the Allies in 1917, expanding the war in the Balkans. The
United States initially remained neutral, though even while neutral it became an important supplier of
war materiel to the Allies. Eventually, after the sinking of American merchant ships by German
submarines, the declaration by Germany that its navy would resume unrestricted attacks on neutral
shipping, and the revelation that Germany was trying to incite Mexico to make war on the United
States, the U.S. declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917. Trained American forces would not begin
arriving at the front in large numbers until mid-1918, but ultimately the American Expeditionary
Force would reach some two million troops.[23]
Though Serbia was defeated in 1915, and Romania joined the Allied Powers in 1916 only to be
defeated in 1917, none of the great powers were knocked out of the war until 1918. The
1917 February Revolution in Russia replaced the Tsarist autocracy with the Provisional Government,
but continuing discontent with the cost of the war led to the October Revolution, the creation of
the Soviet Socialist Republic, and the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk by the new government
in March 1918, ending Russia's involvement in the war. This allowed the transfer of large numbers of
German troops from the East to the Western Front, resulting in the German March 1918 Offensive.
This offensive was initially successful, but failed to score a decisive victory and exhausted the last of
the German reserves. The Allies rallied and drove the Germans back in their Hundred Days
Offensive, a continual series of attacks to which the Germans had no reply.[24] Bulgaria was the first
Central Power to sign an armistice—the Armistice of Salonica on 29 September 1918. On 30
October, the Ottoman Empire capitulated, signing the Armistice of Mudros.[25] On 4 November, the
Austro-Hungarian empire agreed to the Armistice of Villa Giusti. With its allies defeated, revolution at
home, and the military no longer willing to fight, Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated on 9 November and
Germany signed an armistice on 11 November 1918, effectively ending the war.
World War I was a significant turning point in the political, cultural, economic, and social climate of
the world. It is considered to mark the end of the Second Industrial Revolution and the Pax
Britannica. The war and its immediate aftermath sparked numerous revolutions and uprisings.
The Big Four (Britain, France, the United States, and Italy) imposed their terms on the defeated
powers in a series of treaties agreed at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, the most well known
being the German peace treaty—the Treaty of Versailles.[26] Ultimately, as a result of the war the
Austro-Hungarian, German, Ottoman, and Russian Empires ceased to exist, with numerous new
states created from their remains. However, despite the conclusive Allied victory (and the creation of
the League of Nations during the Peace Conference, intended to prevent future wars), a second
world war would follow just over twenty years later.