Tech Developments of World War I

Life Inside a WWI Mk.V Tank

FT-17 Light Tank

Dogfights: Germany vs. England in Massive WWI Air Battle

Aviation in World War I

Trench Warfare Explained

Why the U-boats were more important than the dreadnoughts

Who Financed the Great War?

World War I or the First World War, often abbreviated as WWI or WW1, began on 28 July 1914 and ended on 11 November 1918. Referred to by contemporaries as the "Great War", its belligerents included much of Europe, the <a href="https://history-maps.com/story/History-of-Russia-Russian-Empire" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Russian Empire</a>, the <a href="https://history-maps.com/story/History-of-the-United-States" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">United States</a>, and the <a href="https://history-maps.com/story/History-of-the-Ottoman-Empire" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ottoman Empire</a>, with fighting also expanding into the Middle East, Africa, and parts of Asia. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, an estimated 9 million people were killed in combat, while over 5 million civilians died from military occupation, bombardment, hunger, and disease. Millions of additional deaths resulted from genocides within the Ottoman Empire and the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war. By 1914, the European great powers were divided into the Triple Entente of <a href="https://history-maps.com/story/History-of-France" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">France</a>, Russia, and Britain; and the Triple Alliance of <a href="https://history-maps.com/story/History-of-Germany" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Germany</a>, Austria-Hungary, and <a href="https://history-maps.com/story/History-of-Italy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Italy</a>. Tensions in the Balkans came to a head on 28 June 1914 following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Austro-<a href="https://history-maps.com/story/History-of-Hungary" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hungarian</a> heir, by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia, which led to the July Crisis, an unsuccessful attempt to avoid conflict through diplomacy. Russia came to Serbia's defense following Austria-Hungary's declaration of war on the latter on 28 July, and by 4 August, the system of alliances drew in Germany, France, and <a href="https://history-maps.com/story/History-of-England" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Britain</a>, along with their respective colonies. In November, the Ottoman Empire, Germany, and Austria-Hungary formed the Central Powers, while in April 1915, Italy switched sides to join Britain, France, Russia, and Serbia in forming the Allies of World War I. Towards the end of 1918, the Central Powers began to collapse; <a href="https://history-maps.com/story/History-of-Bulgaria" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bulgaria</a> signed an armistice on 29 September, followed by the Ottomans on 31 October, then Austria-Hungary on 3 November. Isolated, facing the German Revolution at home and a military on the verge of mutiny, Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated on 9 November, and the new German government signed the Armistice of 11 November 1918, bringing the conflict to a close. The Paris Peace Conference of 1919–1920 imposed various settlements on the defeated powers, with the best-known of these being the Treaty of Versailles. The dissolution of the Russian, German, Ottoman, and Austro-Hungarian empires led to numerous uprisings and the creation of independent states, including <a href="https://history-maps.com/story/History-of-Poland" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Poland</a>, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. For reasons that are still debated, failure to manage the instability that resulted from this upheaval during the interwar period ended with the outbreak of <a href="https://history-maps.com/story/World-War-II" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">World War II</a> in September 1939.

Visual Timelines

World War I Timeline

World War I Timeline

Escalation and Outbreak of War

Prologue

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Initial Offensives

German invasion of Belgium

Togoland campaign

Battle of the Frontiers

Atlantic U-boat campaign

Battle of Tannenberg

Siege of Tsingtao

First Battle of the Marne

Race to the Sea

First Battle of Ypres

Trench Warfare and Global Expansion

Christmas truce

Sinai and Palestine campaign

Gallipoli Campaign

Sinking of the Lusitania

Great Retreat

Battle of Verdun

Battle of Jutland

Arab Revolt

Battle of the Somme

Zimmermann Telegram

Shifts in Global Dynamics

American entry into World War I

French Army mutinies

Battle of Passchendaele

Battle of Caporetto

October Revolution

Battle of Cambrai

Russia quits war

German spring offensive

Hundred Days Offensive

Battle of Megiddo

World War I ends

Epilogue

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Art of War of the Byzantine Empire

Naval Warfare during the American Revolution

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