World War I (jul 28, 1914 – nov 11, 1918)

Description:

World War I was a great power war in the early 1900s that cost the lives of millions of people and is often considered the first total war, meaning governments devoted as many resources as possible to winning. The two sides of the war were the allies (Britain, France, Russia, and later the US) and central powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire). Each power introduced new military technology into their toolbox, including aircraft, submarines and improved artillery technology, and trench warfare also existed for the first time, contributing to larger amounts of casualties.

The causes of World War I are complicated and debated often, but most agree that imperialist expansion, flawed alliance systems, and nationalism contributed to its beginning. Its immediate cause was the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, by Serbian nationalists. This caused a domino effect to occur as Austria-Hungary began threatening the Serbian government, Russia leapt to Serbia's side and Germany leapt to Austria's side, and Germany also began provoking France and Belgium (which then brought Britain into the conflict).

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