WORLD WAR 1 - ESSENTIAL FACTS

WORLD WAR 1   🗡 

The Great War, World War I was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and set the stage for another world war just 20 years later.

 It was known as “The Great War”—a land, air, and sea conflict so terrible, it left over 8 million military personnel and 6.6 million civilians dead.

 The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand (June 28, 1914) was the main catalyst for the start of the Great War (World War I). After the assassination, the following series of events took place.

 Over 30 nations declared war between 1914 and 1918. The majority joined on the side of the Allies, including Serbia, Russia, France, Britain, Italy, and the United States. They were opposed by Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire, who together formed the Central Powers.

 Some 1.5 million Indians served in the Indian Army during World War I and, of those, slightly more than one million deployed to battlefronts spanning Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. At the war's end, India had suffered more than 120,000 total casualties – men killed, wounded, or missing.

Facts about world war one 

For many years rival groups of European nations had been making treaties and alliances. By 1914 Europe had been divided into two camps. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy were members of the Triple Alliance.

Later, after the withdrawal of Italy and the addition of Turkey, the Triple Alliance took a new name, the Central Powers. Russia, France, and Great Britain had formed the rival Triple Entente. Later they were called the Allies. Except for Bulgaria, the Balkan states sided with Serbia and the Allies. 

These alliances were brought into action by Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war. Within a week most of Europe was at war. Using the Schlieffen Plan, Germany planned to conquer France first and then quickly move troops east to defeat Russia. The strategy failed when the British army joined France and blocked the Germans’ advance before they reached Paris.

 Trench warfare reached its height during the war. Troops fighting for the Allies and Central Powers dug complex networks of trenches into the ground for use in making attacks or defending themselves.

The November 11 Armistice between Germany and the Allies ended the fighting, and negotiations for peace began. The Paris Peace Conference began in January 1919 in Paris. The conference inaugurated the international settlement after World War I.

 A major product of the Paris Peace Conference was the Treaty of Versailles, signed in June 1919 at the Palace of Versailles in France. Under the agreement, Germany was forced to accept blame for Allied losses and to pay major reparations. Also formulated at the Paris Peace Conference was the League of Nations, an organization for international cooperation established by the Allies.