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World War One was an international, brutal conflict between 1914 and 1918. Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire, also called the Central Powers, fought against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan, and the United States, which are the Allied Powers.
Thanks to new military technologies and the horrors of trench warfare, World War One saw unprecedented levels of carnage and destruction. It ended with the defeat of the Central Powers and the death of more than 16 million people throughout Europe and the world.
Tensions had been growing throughout Europe following Germany's unification and annexation of French territories after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Germany's rise upset the European balance of powers and led to a game of alliances. The spark was struck in Bosnia, where the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire was killed by a Serbian nationalist struggling to end Austro-Hungarian rule over Bosnia. Austria-Hungary, supported by Germany, blamed the Serbian government for the attack and declared war on Serbia, which was backed by Russia, allied to France. Within a week, World War One unfolded.
Germany's strategy, known as the Schlieffen Plan, was for a war on two fronts against France and Russia. The plan was to rapidly concentrate the bulk of its army in the west to defeat France first, then shift forces to the east before Russia could fully mobilize.
In Asia, Japan sided with Britain, seizing German colonies in China and the Pacific. The Ottoman Empire, historic enemy of the Russian Empire, entered the war on the side of Austria-Hungary and Germany, opening fronts in the Middle East for controlling access to oil and the Suez Canal.
The German advance penetrated deep into France, closing in on Paris, but was halted at the Battle of the Marne by Franco-British forces. The defeat meant the end of German plans for a quick victory in France. Both sides dug into trenches, and the Western Front was the setting for a three-year-long war of attrition that saw the first use of chemical weapons and gases. Important World War One battles include Verdun and the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front, and the huge naval battle of Jutland between the German and British fleets in 1916.
The recent invention of aviation was first used for observations, then planes were gradually used for bombing and air combat. Around the world, European colonies and British dominions, such as India, engaged in war from 1914 to 1916. Russia's army mounted several offensives on the Eastern Front but was unable to break through the German lines. To support geographically isolated Russia, Allied forces tried to open a sea supply route via the Dardanelles Strait and then later launched a land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula. Both campaigns failed against Ottoman resistance.
Italy, which was initially part of the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, had stayed neutral until 1915, when it turned against Austria-Hungary to annex new territories. The 12 Italian offensives along the Isonzo River yielded little result. Aspiring to recover Balkan territories, Bulgaria joined the Central Powers in invading Serbia.
The Royal Navy imposed a naval blockade on Germany, while German submarines were used to sink military and commercial ships supplying the Allies, including those coming from the U.S. In addition, Britain intercepted and transmitted the Zimmermann Telegram to Mexico, offering an alliance against the United States, which decided to go to war in 1917.
Russia's lack of advances on the battlefield and economic instability exploded in the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, which ended Russian involvement in World War One and later led to the creation of the Soviet Union. Although Russia was out of the game and Germany was able to focus on the Western Front, it was unable to achieve a quick victory against the Allies before the arrival of U.S. troops.
Despite the Ottoman victory at Gallipoli, later defeats and then the Arab Revolt, backed by the British, forced the Ottoman Empire to sign a treaty with the Allies in October 1918. Moreover, Austria-Hungary, dissolving from within due to growing nationalist movements among its diverse population, reached an armistice. Facing dwindling resources on the battlefield and the surrender of its allies, Germany was finally forced to seek an armistice in November 1918, ending World War One.
World War One helped spread a severe pandemic called the Spanish Flu, strengthened America's economic status, and led to the fall of four large empires. The German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and Ottoman Empires were dismantled, as nations were created, including Poland, Finland, Turkey, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. Germany was forced to cut down its army and pay heavy war reparations, as it was considered solely responsible for war damages by the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty was considered a humiliation by the German people and laid the groundwork for World War II, despite the creation of the League of Nations that aimed at promoting peace.