The Great War (also known as the First World War, WWI, World War One and WW1) was a war between the Central European Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and allies on one side and the Triple Entente of Britain and the British Empire, France, and Russia and their allies (including the USA which entered in 1917), on the other side between 1914 and 1918. An estimated 10 million lives were lost and twice that number were wounded. It was fought on the eastern and western fronts, in the Middle East, in Africa, and at sea. The underlying causes of the war were nationalism and trade barriers. By the early 20th century, the countries of Western Europe had reached a high level of material prosperity. However, competition for trade markets and imperial possessions world-wide had led to a growth of nationalistic sentiment. This nationalism created great political tension between the single-nation states such as France and Germany, and threatened the stability of multi-nation states such as Austria-Hungary. These tensions were reflected in jingoistic propaganda, an arms race between the major powers, and trade barriers and tariffs which exacerbated tensions further.
The outbreak of war occurred following the assassination in Sarajevo of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on the 28th of June 1914 by a Bosnian student, Gavrilo Prinzip, backed by the Serbian nationalist Black Hand organisation. The Austro-Hungarian government sought to punish Serbia for the crime and Germany promised support, despite the danger of involving Russia, ultimate patron of the Balkan nationalist movements. Austria-Hungary presented Serbia with an ultimatum on the 23rd of July, requesting a reply within 48 hours. Serbia, on Russian advice, agreed to all the demands except two which conflicted with its authority as a sovereign state. Austro-Hungarian armies near the Serbian border were mobilised and Russia mobilised its forces against Austria- Hungary on the 29th of July. On the same day Austrian artillery bombarded the Serbian capital, Belgrade, while the German High Seas Fleet was transferred from the Baltic to the North Sea. News of the Russian mobilisation reached Berlin on the 31st of July and Germany demanded that the Russian mobilisation should cease, and asked France for a notification by 1 p.m. the following day that it would remain neutral in the event of a Russo-German war, despite treaty obligations to Russia. Long-established German war plans envisaged a crushing blow against France as a precursor to concentration against a Russian invasion.
The Great War was infamous for its apparent stagnation. By 1915 the front in the west extended 500 miles from the sea to Switzerland, so that it could not be turned at either extremity. This condition led to indecisive battles until one side or other could obtain marked numerical superiority and the means of attacking machine-gun positions. The tactics of a break-through had to be worked out by experiment, and generally involved marching thousands of troops at the opposing enemy positions with obvious slaughter of the attackers. The tank was invented, cavalry was proven obsolete, and mobile artillery developed during the Great War which marked the end of an era of old style warfare and the start of a new era of fast, mobile warfare.
Eventually, the allies made a break through and Germany's war efforts collapsed with troops deserting, supply roads choked, and supplies exhausted. Research Great War
Abbreviations
Warfare
Research Great War