World War I
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"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.IIIfighters 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, Turkeyand Aus
tria-Hungary)
Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War –
the collapse of the Russian Empire and the
subsequent formation of the Soviet Union
Beginning of Turkish War of Independence
Widespread unrest
and revolutionsthroughout Europe and Asia
Rise of Fascism in Europe
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 Unionterritories to other
countries
Belligerents
Allied Powers: Central Powers:
British Empire German Empire
France 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
H. H. Asquith Wilhelm II
David Lloyd George Franz Joseph I †
Raymond Poincaré Karl I
Georges Clemenceau Mehmed V †
Albert I Mehmed VI
Nicholas II Three Pashas
Alexander Kerensky Ferdinand I
Victor Emmanuel III
and others...
Vittorio Orlando
Woodrow Wilson
Yoshihito
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
1,234,000
800,000
707,343
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
Total: 18,356,500 KIA, WIA and MIA wounded:8,388,000
Civilian dead: 4,000,000 Total: 12,774,000 KIA,
WIA and MIA
further details...
Civilian dead: 3,700,000
further details...
Military deaths by country[5][6]
1,811,000 Military deaths by
1,397,800 country[5]
1,114,914
651,000 2,050,897
250,000–335,000 1,200,000
275,000 771,844
116,708 87,500
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
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",[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 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 primarily defensive in
nature, allowing Italy to stay out of the war in 1914).[14] Russia felt it necessary to back Serbia and,
after Austria-Hungary shelled the Serbian capital of Belgrade on the 28th, 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 6th; 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 four 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
23rd, Japan sided with the Entente, seizing German possessions in China and the Pacific. In
November 1914, the Ottoman Empire entered the war on the side of the Alliance, 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 Frontsettled 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 material to the Allies. Eventually, after the sinking of American merchant
ships by German submarines, and the revelation that the Germans were 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 at 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 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.
