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 Russian
Empire territories to other countries

Belligerents

Allied Powers: Central Powers:

 France  German Empire

 British Empire  Austria-Hungary

 Russia (1914–17)  Ottoman Empire

 Serbia  Bulgaria (1915–

 Montenegro 18)

 Belgium  ... and co-belligerents

 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

 Raymond Poincaré  Wilhelm II

 Georges Clemenceau  Franz Joseph I †

 H. H. Asquith  Karl I

 David Lloyd George  Mehmed V †

 Nicholas II  Mehmed VI

 Alexander Kerensky  Three Pashas

 Victor Emmanuel III  Ferdinand I

 Vittorio Orlando
and others ...
 Woodrow Wilson

 Yoshihito
 Albert I
 Peter I

 Ferdinand I

 Eleftherios Venizelos

and others ...

Strength

Total: 42,959,850[1] Total: 25,248,321[1]

 12,000,000  13,250,000

 8,841,541[2][3]  7,800,000

 8,660,000[4]  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

 Military wounded: 12,831,500 dead: 4,386,000

 Total: 18,356,500 KIA, WIA and MIA  Military

 Civilian dead: 4,000,000 wounded: 8,388,000

 Total: 12,774,000 KIA,

further details ...
WIA and MIA

 Civilian

Military deaths by country [5][6] dead: 3,700,000

further details ...

 1,811,000

 1,397,800

 1,114,914 Military deaths by

 651,000 country[5]
 250,000–335,000

 275,000  2,050,897
 116,708  1,200,000
 58,637–87,500  771,844

 26,000  87,500

 7,222

 3,000

 415

show

 v

 t

 e
Theatres of World War I
hideEvents 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,
the Great War, the Seminal Catastrophe, and initially in North America as the European
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",[7] 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.[8][9] It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history,[10] 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.[11]
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.[12][13] 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).[14] Russia felt it necessary to back Serbia and, after Austria-Hungary shelled
the Serbian capital of Belgrade on the 28 July, approved partial mobilisation.[15] 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.[16] When Russia failed to comply, Germany declared war on Russia on 1 August in
support of Austria-Hungary, with Austria-Hungary following suit on 6 August; France
ordered full mobilisation in support of Russia on 2 August.[17]
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.[18] On 2 August, Germany demanded free passage through Belgium, an essential
element in achieving a quick victory over France.[19] 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.[20][21] On 12 August, Britain and
France also declared war on Austria-Hungary; on the 23 August, 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.[22]
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.[23] 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.[24] 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.[25] 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