ww1intro

WORLD WAR I: A War to End All Wars Introduction | Triple Alliance | Triple Entente | Advancement | US Involvement

**INTRODUCTION** media type="youtube" key="-Tv5gBa9DQs" height="364" width="445" align="center"

World War I was a major conflict fought around the world between July 28, 1914 and November 11, 1918. The war was fought by two main powers: the Entente, comprised of France, Britain, Russia, and later US, and the Alliance, comprised of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Turkey. After rising tensions from an arms and alliance race, the war began after the assassination of Frans Ferdinand, the Austria-Hungarian Archduke, by a Serbian activist. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, an ally of Russia, then Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary, then Germany declared war on Russia, France on Germany, etc. As these countries fell into war, so did their colonies, creating a war that spanned the Earth.

War on land mainly stagnated around the 400 miles of trenches on the Western Front. Little progress was ever made, and a war of attrition emerged. There were battles on the Eastern Front, but there was nearly nothing decisive. Smaller struggles also happened in colonies bordering opposing powers. The war at sea had only one major engagement, the Battle of Jutland, where both sides claimed victory. The defining struggle was the German unrestricted submarine warfare, where they fired on any target, including civilians and neutral nations.

The war ended with the Treaty of Versailles, which was blamed for causing further disruption and eventually led to WWII. During the war, eight million had died and 29 million were injured out of over 59 million troops. The war introduced much new technologies and weapons, such as machine guns, poison gas, and tanks. World War I was viewed by many historians and poets as a pointless tragedy and waste of life.