Understanding World War I: A Concise Summary

Causes of World War I

• The competition led to an arms race.
• Nationalism was strong in Europe. Germany and Italy were unified, powerful nations.
• Nationalism caused trouble in the Balkans.
• Serbia became a free country in the Balkans.
• Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.
• Triple Entente: France, Great Britain, and Russia.
• On June 14, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were killed by a Serbian shooter.
• Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28. Germany supported Austria-Hungary, and Russia supported Serbia.
• On August 1, Germany declared war on Russia.

Four Years of War

• Belgium was a neutral country, but on August 4, 1914, Germany invaded Belgium. Because of this, Great Britain declared war on Germany.
• Germany had enemies on both sides: Russia in the east and France, Belgium, and Great Britain in the west (two-front war).
• The French stopped the Germans at the Marne River.
• On the Western Front, both sides built a series of trenches.
• Germany and Austria-Hungary were called the Central Powers.
• Great Britain, Russia, France, and Serbia became known as the Allies.
• The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers.
• Bulgaria and Italy were part of the Triple Alliance, but in 1915, Italy joined the Allies because they didn't like Austria-Hungary.
• 31 nations took part in WW1.
• There was a stalemate on the Western Front.
• In 1915, British forces landed at Gallipoli, aiming to defeat the Ottomans and take control of the Black Sea.
• Gallipoli was one of the worst defeats in British history.
• In 1917, the British took control of Jerusalem.
• WW1 introduced the tank and machine gun. Germans used a "Big Bertha."
• Women made weapons and shells.
• New weapons included the submarine, which Germans used to sink ships sailing toward Great Britain.
• In early 1917, German submarines attacked American supply ships, and on April 6, the USA declared war on Germany.
• By the end of 1917, Russia was out of the war.
• In the spring of 1918, Germans launched a massive attack against the Allies but were weak.
• On November 11, 1918, Germany agreed to an armistice.

Casualties

• Russians: 2 million
• France: 1.4 million
• British: 1 million
• American: 115,000 soldiers