World War I

World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918) was a global conflict fought
between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. Battles took place throughout Europe, the
Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. One of the deadliest wars in history, it ultimately
resulted in an estimated 9 million soldiers dead and 23 million wounded, plus another 5 million civilian
deaths from numerous causes. Millions more died as a result of genocide, and the war was a major factor
in the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.

Increasing diplomatic tensions between the European great powers reached a breaking point on 28 June
1914, when a Bosnian Serb named Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the
Austro-Hungarian throne. Austria-Hungary held Serbia responsible, and declared war on 28 July. Russia
came to Serbia's defence, and by 4 August, Germany, France, and Britain were drawn into the war, with
the Ottoman Empire joining in November of the same year. Germany's strategy in 1914 was to first defeat
France, then transfer forces to the Russian front. However, this failed, and by the end of 1914, the
Western Front consisted of a continuous line of trenches stretching from the English Channel to
Switzerland. The Eastern Front was more dynamic, but neither side could gain a decisive advantage,
despite costly offensives. As the war expanded to more fronts, Bulgaria, Italy, Romania, Greece and
others joined in from 1915 onward.

In early 1917, the United States entered the war on the Allies' side, and later the same year, the
Bolsheviks seized power in the Russian October Revolution, making peace with the Central Powers in
early 1918. Germany launched an offensive in the west in March 1918, and despite initial successes, it
left the German Army exhausted and demoralised. A successful Allied counter-offensive later that year
caused a collapse of the German frontline. By the end of 1918, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire and
Austria-Hungary agreed to armistices with the Allies, leaving Germany isolated. Facing revolution at
home and with his army on the verge of mutiny, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated on 9 November.
Fighting ended with the Armistice of 11 November 1918, while the subsequent Paris Peace Conference
imposed various settlements on the defeated powers, notably the Treaty of Versailles. The dissolution of
the Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman Empires resulted in the creation of new
independent states, including Poland, Finland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. The inability to manage
post-war instability contributed to the outbreak of World War II in September 1939.

World War I
Date 28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918
(4 years, 3 months and 2 weeks)
show
Peace treaties
Location Europe
Middle East
Africa
Pacific
Atlantic
Mediterranean and Adriatic
Result Allied Powers victory
See Aftermath of World War I
Territorial changes  Formation of new countries in Europe
and the Middle East, such
as Yugoslavia, Weimar Germany,
the Soviet
Union, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Austri
a, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Turkey, Hej
az, and Yemen
 Restoration of Polish independence and
establishment of the Second Polish
Republic
 Transfer of German colonies and
territories to other countries, partition of
the Ottoman Empire, dissolution of
Austria-Hungary

Belligerents
Allied Powers: Central Powers:

France Germany
United Kingdom Austria-Hungary
show Ottoman Empire
and its territories: Bulgaria (from 1915)
 and others ...
Russia[a]
Japan
Italy (from 1915)
United States
(from 1917)
and others ...
Commanders and leaders
Main Allied leaders: Main Central leaders:

Raymond Poincaré Wilhelm II

H. H. Asquith Paul von Hindenburg
David Lloyd George Franz Joseph I
Nicholas II Mehmed V
Vittorio Emanuele Orlando Ferdinand I
Woodrow Wilson
Yoshihito
Casualties and losses
Military dead: Military dead:
Over 5,525,000 Over 4,386,000
Civilian dead: Civilian dead:
Over 4,000,000 Over 3,700,000
Total dead: Total dead:
Over 9,000,000 Over 8,000,000
...further details ...further details

Background
Political and military alliances
For much of the 19th century, the major European powers maintained a tenuous balance of power, known
as the Concert of Europe.[9] After 1848, this was challenged by Britain's withdrawal into so-called
splendid isolation, the decline of the Ottoman Empire, New Imperialism, and the rise of Prussia under
Otto von Bismarck. The 1866 Austro-Prussian War established Prussian hegemony in German states,
while victory in the 1870–1871 Franco-Prussian War allowed Bismarck to consolidate a German Empire
under Prussian leadership. Avenging the defeat of 1871, or revanchism, and recovering the provinces of
Alsace-Lorraine became an obsession of French policy and public opinion for the following few years,
[10] yet since the 1880s this concern was eclipsed by the conquest of a vast colonial empire, and had
disappeared from the programs of all French political parties as utterly unrealistic.[11]

World empires and colonies around 1914

To isolate France and avoid a war on two fronts, Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors
between Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany. After Russian victory in 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War,
the League was dissolved due to Austrian concerns over Russian influence in the Balkans, an area they
considered to be of vital strategic interest. Germany and Austria-Hungary then formed the 1879 Dual
Alliance, which became the Triple Alliance when Italy joined in 1882. [12] For Bismarck, the purpose of
these agreements was to isolate France by ensuring the three Empires resolve any disputes between
themselves; when this was threatened in 1880 by British and French attempts to negotiate directly with
Russia, he reformed the League in 1881, which was renewed in 1883 and 1885. After the agreement
lapsed in 1887, he replaced it with the Reinsurance Treaty, a secret agreement between Germany and
Russia to remain neutral if either were attacked by France or Austria-Hungary.[13]

Bismarck viewed peace with Russia as the foundation of German foreign policy but after becoming
Kaiser in 1890, Wilhelm II forced him to retire and was persuaded not to renew the Reinsurance Treaty
by his new Chancellor, Leo von Caprivi.[14] This provided France an opportunity to counteract the Triple
Alliance by signing the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1894, followed by the 1904 Entente Cordiale with
Britain. The Triple Entente was completed by the 1907 Anglo-Russian Convention. While these were not
formal alliances, by settling long-standing colonial disputes in Asia and Africa, the notion of British entry
into any future conflict involving France or Russia became a possibility.[15] British and Russian support
for France against Germany during the Agadir Crisis in 1911 reinforced their relationship, increasing
Anglo-German estrangement.[16]

Arms race

German industrial strength and production had significantly increased after 1871, driven by the creation
of a unified Reich, French indemnity payments, and the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine. Backed by
Wilhelm II, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz sought to use this growth in economic power to build a
Kaiserliche Marine, or Imperial German Navy, which could compete with the British Royal Navy for
naval supremacy.[17] His thinking was influenced by US naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan, who had
argued that possession of a blue-water navy was vital for global power projection; Tirpitz had his books
translated into German, while Wilhelm made them required reading for his advisors and senior military
personnel.[18]

However, it was also an emotional decision, driven by Wilhelm's simultaneous admiration for the Royal
Navy and desire to surpass it. Bismarck thought that the British would not interfere in Europe, as long as
its maritime supremacy remained secure, but his dismissal in 1890 led to a change in policy and an
Anglo-German naval arms race began.[19] Despite the vast sums spent by Tirpitz, the launch of HMS
Dreadnought in 1906 gave the British a technological advantage over their German rivals.[17] Ultimately,
the race diverted huge resources into creating a German navy large enough to antagonise Britain, but not
defeat it; in 1911, Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg acknowledged defeat, leading to the
Rüstungswende or 'armaments turning point', when he switched expenditure from the navy to the army.
[20]

This decision was not driven by a reduction in political tensions but by German concern over Russia's
quick recovery from its defeat in the Russo-Japanese War and subsequent 1905 Russian Revolution that
same year. Economic reforms, backed by French funding, led to a significant post-1908 expansion of
railways and transportation infrastructure, particularly in its western border regions.[21] Since Germany
and Austria-Hungary relied on faster mobilisation to compensate for their numerical inferiority compared
to Russia, the threat posed by the closing of this gap was more important than competing with the Royal
Navy. After Germany expanded its standing army by 170,000 troops in 1913, France extended
compulsory military service from two to three years; similar measures were taken by the Balkan powers
and Italy, which led to increased expenditure by the Ottomans and Austria-Hungary. Absolute figures are
difficult to calculate due to differences in categorising expenditure since they often omit civilian
infrastructure projects like railways which also had logistical importance and military use. It is known,
however, that from 1908 to 1913, military spending by the six major European powers increased by over
50% in real terms.