World War I
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{{Infobox Military Conflict
|conflict = World War I
|partof =
|image = [[Image:WW1 TitlePicture For Wikipedia Article.jpg|300px]]
|caption = Clockwise from top: [[Trench warfare|Trenches]] on the [[Western Front]]; a [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] [[Mark IV tank]] crossing a trench; [[Royal Navy]] [[battleship]] [[HMS Irresistible (1898)|HMS ''Irresistible'']] sinking after striking a [[Naval mine|mine]] at the [[Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign|Battle of the Dardanelles]]; a [[Vickers machine gun]] crew with [[gas mask]]s, and German [[Albatros D.III]] [[biplane]]s
|date = [[July 28]] [[1914]] – [[November 11]] [[1918]] (cease-fire)
[[Treaty of Versailles|Peace treaty]] signed [[June 28]] [[1919]]
|place = [[Europe]], [[Africa]] and the [[Middle East]] (briefly in [[China]] and the [[Pacific Islands]])
|casus = [[Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand]] ([[28 June]]) followed by Austrian declaration of war on [[Kingdom of Serbia]] ([[28 July]]) and Russian mobilisation against [[Austria-Hungary]] ([[29 July]]).
|result = Allied victory; end of the [[German Empire|German]], [[Russian Empire|Russian]], [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]], and [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian Empires]]; foundation of new countries in [[Europe]] and the [[Middle East]]; transfer of German [[colonies]] to other powers; establishment of the [[League of Nations]].
|combatant1 = [[Allies of World War I|'''Allied (Entente) Powers''']]
|combatant2 = [[Central Powers|'''Central Powers''']]
|commander1 = [[Allies_of_World_War_I#Leaders|'''Leaders and commanders''']]
|commander2 = [[Central Powers#Leaders|'''Leaders and commanders''']]
|casualties1 = '''Military dead:''' <br /> 5,525,000 <br />'''Military wounded:''' 12,831,500 <br />'''Military missing:''' 4,121,000<ref name=Evans>Evans, David. Teach yourself, the First World War, Hodder Arnold, 2004.p.188</ref><br /><small>[[World War I casualties|...''further details''.]]</small>
|casualties2 = '''Military dead: ''' <br /> 4,386,000 <br />'''Military wounded''': 8,388,000 <br />'''Military missing:''' 3,629,000<ref name=Evans/><br /><small>[[World War I casualties|...''further details''.]]</small>
}}{{Campaignbox World War I}}
'''World War I''', also known as the '''First World War''', the '''Great War''', and '''The War to End All Wars''', was a [[World war|global]] [[war]] which took place primarily in [[Europe]] from 1914 to 1918.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/F/firstworldwar/index.html|title=The First World War}}</ref> Over 40 million [[World War I casualties|casualties]] resulted, including approximately 20 million military and civilian deaths.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/casualties.htm|title=Military Casualties of World War One}}</ref> Over 60 million European soldiers were mobilized from 1914 to 1918.<ref>[http://www.jimmyatkinson.com/papers/versaillestreaty.html The Treaty of Versailles and its Consequences]</ref>
The immediate cause of the war was the [[June 28]], [[1914]] [[assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand]], heir to the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] throne, by [[Gavrilo Princip]], a [[Bosnian Serbs|Bosnian Serb]] [[citizen]] of [[Austria-Hungary]] and member of the [[Young Bosnia]]. The retaliation by Austria-Hungary against the [[Kingdom of Serbia]] activated a series of alliances that set off a [[Causality|chain reaction]] of war declarations. Within a month, much of Europe was in a state of open warfare.
The war was propagated by two major alliances. The [[Allies of World War I|Entente Powers]] initially consisted of [[French Third Republic|France]], the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]], [[Russian Empire|Russia]], and their associated empires and dependencies. Numerous other states joined these allies, most notably [[Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)|Italy]] in April 1915, and the [[United States]] in April 1917. The [[Central Powers]], so named because of their central location on the European continent, initially consisted of [[German Empire|Germany]] and [[Austria-Hungary]] and their associated empires. The [[Ottoman Empire]] joined the Central Powers in October 1914, followed a year later by [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]]. By the conclusion of the war, only The [[Netherlands]], [[Switzerland]], [[Spain]] and the [[Scandinavia|Scandinavian nations]] remained officially neutral among the European countries, though many of those provided financial and material support to one side or the other.
The fighting of the war mostly took place along several fronts that broadly encircled the European continent. The [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] was marked by a system of trenches, breastworks, and fortifications separated by an area known as [[no man's land]].<ref name="Ashworth">Ashworth, Tony. ''Trench warfare 1914–1918'', pp3–4. 2000: Macmillan Press, London.</ref> These fortifications stretched 475 miles (more than 600 kilometres)<ref name="Ashworth"/> and precipitated a style of fighting known as [[trench warfare]]. On the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern Front]], the vastness of the eastern plains and the limited railroad network prevented the stalemate of the Western Front, though the scale of the conflict was just as large. The [[Balkans Campaign (World War I)|Balkan Front]], the [[Middle Eastern theatre of World War I|Middle Eastern Front]] and the [[Italian Campaign (World War I)|Italian Front]] also saw heavy fighting, while hostilities also occurred at sea, and for the first time, in the air.
The war was ended by several treaties, most notably the [[Treaty of Versailles]], signed on [[28 June]] [[1919]], though the Allied powers had an [[armistice with Germany (Compiègne)|armistice with Germany]] in place since [[11 November]] [[1918]]. One of the most striking [[Aftermath of World War I|results of the war]] was a large redrawing of the map of Europe. All of the Central Powers lost territory, and many new nations were created. The German Empire lost its [[German colonial empire|colonial possessions]] and was saddled with accepting blame for the war, as well as paying punitive [[World War I reparations|reparations]] for it. The Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires were completely dissolved. Austria-Hungary was carved up into several successor states including [[Austria]], [[Hungary]], [[Czechoslovakia]], and [[Yugoslavia]]. The Ottoman Empire disintegrated, and much of its non-[[Anatolia]]n territory was awarded as protectorates of various Allied powers, while the remaining Turkish core was reorganized as the [[Turkey|Republic of Turkey]]. The Russian Empire, which had withdrawn from the war in 1917 after [[October Revolution]], lost much of its western frontier as the newly independent nations of [[Estonia]], [[Finland]], [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]], and [[Poland]] were carved from it. After the war, the [[League of Nations]] was created as an international organization designed to avoid future wars by giving nations a means of solving their differences diplomatically. World War I marked the end of the world order which had existed after the [[Napoleonic Wars]], and was an important [[Causes of World War 2|factor]] in the outbreak of [[World War II]].
==Causes==
{{main|Causes of World War I}}
[[Image:WWIchartX.svg|thumb|A graphic depiction of the state of international relations in pre-WWI Europe. Italy joined the Triple Entente in April 1915]]
On [[28 June]] [[1914]], [[Gavrilo Princip]], a [[Bosnian Serb]] student, shot and killed [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand]], heir to the [[Emperors of Austria|Austro-Hungarian throne]] in [[Sarajevo]]. Princip was a member of [[Young Bosnia]], a group whose aims included the unification of the [[South Slavs]] and independence from Austria-Hungary. The [[assassination in Sarajevo]] set into motion a series of [[World War I#July crisis and declarations of war|fast-moving events]] that eventually escalated into full-scale war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/harrachmemoir.htm|title=''First World War.com'' Primary Documents: Archduke Franz Ferdinand's Assassination, 28 June 1914|date=2002-11-03|accessdate=2008-02-17}}</ref> Austria-Hungary demanded action by [[Serbia]] to punish those responsible and, when Austria-Hungary deemed Serbia had not complied, declared war. Major European powers were at war within weeks because of overlapping agreements for [[collective defense]] and the complex nature of international alliances.
{{seealso|Black Hand}}
===Arms race===
{{See also|Dreadnought}}
[[Image:HMS Dreadnought 1906 H61017.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Royal Navy]]'s [[HMS Dreadnought]].]]
The naval race between Britain and Germany was intensified by the 1906 launch of [[HMS Dreadnought (1906)|HMS ''Dreadnought'']] — a revolutionary craft whose size and power rendered previous battleships obsolete. Britain also maintained a large naval lead in other areas particularly over Germany and Italy. [[Paul Kennedy]] pointed out both nations believed [[Alfred Thayer Mahan]]'s thesis of [[command of the sea]] as vital to great nation status; experience with ''[[guerre de course]]'' would prove Mahan wrong.
[[David Stevenson (WW1 historian)|David Stevenson]] described the arms race as "a self-reinforcing cycle of heightened military preparedness."<ref>Stevenson, D., Armaments and the Coming of War: Europe, 1904-1914, 1996 (Oxford University Press)</ref> David Herrmann viewed the shipbuilding rivalry as part of a general movement in the direction of war.<ref>Herrmann, David G. The Arming of Europe and the Making of the First World War(1996)</ref> The revisionist [[Niall Ferguson]], however, argued Britain's ability to maintain an overall lead signified this was not a factor in the oncoming conflict.<ref>
{{cite book
|last=Ferguson
|first=Niall
|title=The Pity of War
|year=1999
|publisher=Basic Books
|location=
|id=ISBN 046505711X
|chapter=
|pages=563
}}</ref>
The cost of the arms race was felt in both Britain and Germany. The total arms spending by the six Great Powers (Britain, Germany, France, Russia, Austria-Hungary and Italy) increased by 50% between 1908 and 1913.<ref>
{{cite book
|last=Fromkin
|first=David
|title=Europe's Last Summer: Who Started the Great War in 1914?
|year=2004 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf
|location=New York |id=ISBN 0-375-72575-X
|chapter=Chapter 15: Europe Goes to the Brink
|pages=94
}}</ref>
===Plans, distrust, and mobilization===
Closely related is the thesis adopted by many [[List of political scientists|political scientists]] that the mobilization plans of Germany, France and Russia automatically escalated the conflict. [[Fritz Fischer]] emphasized the inherently aggressive nature of the [[Schlieffen Plan]], which outlined a two-front strategy. Fighting on two fronts meant Germany had to eliminate one opponent quickly before taking on the other. It called for a strong right [[Flanking maneuver|flank attack]], to seize Belgium and cripple the [[French Army|French army]] by pre-empting its mobilization. After the attack, the [[German Army|German army]] would rush east by railroad and quickly destroy the slowly mobilizing Russian forces.<ref>Fischer, Fritz. ''Griff nach der Weltmacht: Die Kriegzielpolitik des kaiserlichen Deutschland 1914-1918'' (published in English as ''Germany's Aims in the First World War'')</ref>
France's [[Plan XVII]] envisioned a quick thrust into the [[Ruhr Valley]], Germany’s industrial heartland, which would in theory cripple Germany's ability to wage a modern war.
Russia's [[Plan XIX]] foresaw a mobilization of its armies against both Austria-Hungary and Germany.
All three plans created an atmosphere in which speed was thought to be one of the determining factors for victory. Elaborate timetables were prepared; once mobilization had begun, there was little possibility of turning back. Diplomatic delays and poor communications exacerbated the problems.
Also, the plans of France, Germany and Russia were all biased toward the offensive, in clear conflict with the improvements of defensive firepower and entrenchment.<ref>Snyder, Jack. ''Ideology of the Offensive''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1984; Dupuy, Trevor N., Colonel, USA (rtd). ''Numbers Predictions, and War''. Philadelphia: Bobbs-Merrill, 1979.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/maps/warplans.htm|title=''First World War.com'' A map of the French and German war plans}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/plans.htm|title=''First World War.com'' French and German war plans}}</ref>
===Militarism and autocracy===
[[President of the United States|President]] [[Woodrow Wilson]] of the United States and others blamed the war on [[militarism]].<ref> [[30 October]] [[1918]] in [[Herbert Hoover]], ''Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson'' p. 47 </ref> Some argued{{Fact|date=June 2008}} that [[aristocrat]]s and military élites had too much power in countries such as Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary. War was thus a consequence of their desire for [[Armed forces|military power]] and disdain for [[democracy]]. This theme figured prominently{{Fact|date=June 2008}} in [[anti-German sentiment|anti-German]] propaganda. Consequently, supporters of this theory called{{Fact|date=June 2008}} for the abdication of rulers such as [[Kaiser Wilhelm II]], as well as an end to aristocracy and militarism in general. This platform provided{{Fact|date=June 2008}} some justification for the American entry into the war when the Russian Empire surrendered in 1917.
The Allies consisted of Great Britain and France, both democracies, fighting the Central Powers, which included Germany, Austro-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. Russia, one of the Allied Powers, was an empire until 1917, but it was opposed to the subjugation of [[Slavs|Slavic peoples]] by Austro-Hungary. Against this backdrop, the view of the war as one of democracy versus dictatorship initially had some validity, but lost credibility as the conflict dragged on.
Wilson hoped the [[League of Nations]] and [[disarmament]] would secure a lasting peace. Borrowing a thesis from [[H. G. Wells]], he described the war as a "war to end all war". He was willing to side with France and the Britain to this end, despite their own militarism.
[[Fritz Fischer]] famously<ref>Southgate Troy, [http://www.rosenoire.org/articles/hist9.php "The Fischer Controversy"]</ref> put most of the blame on Germany's aristocratic leaders. He argued that the German leader thought that they were losing power and time was running out. The German social democratic party had won several elections, increasing their voting share and had by 1912 become the most represented party in Germany. While the elected institutions had little power compared with the Kaiser it was feared that some form of political revolution was imminent. Russia was in midst of a large scale military build-up and reform which was to be completed in 1916-17. A war would unite Germany and defeat Russia before this. In his later works Fischer went further and argued<ref>{{cite book |author=Fritz Fischer |title=War of Illusions: German Policies From 1911 to 1914 |publisher=Chatto & Windus |year=1975 |page=470 |isbn=0701119721 |quote=There is no doubt that the war which the German politicians started in July 1914 was not a preventive war fought out of fear and despair. It was an attempt to defeat the enemy powers before they became too strong, and to realise Germany’s political ambitions which may be summed up as German hegemony over Europe.}}</ref> that Germany had planned the war in 1912.
Samuel R. Williamson has emphasized{{where}} the role of Austria-Hungary. Convinced Serbian nationalism and Russian Balkan ambitions were disintegrating a monarchy comprising 11 different nationalities, Austria-Hungary hoped for a limited war against Serbia and that the strong German support would force Russia to keep out of the war and weaken its Balkan prestige.
===Balance of power===
[[Image:World war one web alliance.jpg|thumb|right|Political cartoon depicting the tangled web of European alliances]]
One of the goals of the foreign policies of the Great Powers in the pre-war years was to maintain the 'Balance of Power' in Europe. This evolved into an elaborate network of secret and public alliances and agreements. For example, after the [[Franco-Prussian War]] (1870–71), Britain seemed to favor a strong Germany, as it helped to balance its traditional enemy, France. After Germany began its naval construction plans to rival that of Britain, this stance shifted. France, looking for an ally to balance the threat created by Germany, found it in Russia. Austria-Hungary, facing a threat from Russia, sought support from Germany.
When World War I broke out, these treaties only partially determined who entered the war on which side. Britain had no treaties with France or Russia, but entered the war on their side. Italy had a treaty with both Austria-Hungary and Germany, yet did not enter the war with them; Italy later sided with the Allies. Perhaps the most significant treaty of all was the initially ''defensive'' pact between Germany and Austria-Hungary, which Germany in 1909 extended by declaring that Germany was bound to stand with Austria-Hungary even if it had started the war.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fromkin |first=David | title=Europe's Last Summer: Who Started the Great War in 1914? |year=2004 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |location=New York |id=ISBN 0-375-72575-X |chapter=Chapter 45: What Did Not Happen |pages=266–267 }}</ref>
===Economic imperialism===
[[Vladimir Lenin]] asserted that [[imperialism]] was responsible for the war. He drew upon the [[Economics|economic theories]] of [[Karl Marx]] and English economist [[John A. Hobson]], who predicted that unlimited competition for expanding markets would lead to a global conflict.<ref>“Imperialism" (1902) [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1902hobson.html fordham.edu website]</ref> This argument was popular in the wake of the war and assisted in the rise of [[Communism]]. Lenin argued that the banking interests of various capitalist-imperialist powers orchestrated the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp-hsc/|title=1917 pamphlet "Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism"}}</ref>
===Trade barriers===
[[Cordell Hull]], American Secretary of State under [[Franklin Roosevelt]], believed that [[trade barrier]]s were the root cause of both World War I and World War II. In 1944, he helped design the [[Bretton Woods system|Bretton Woods Agreements]] to reduce trade barriers and eliminate what he saw as the cause of the conflicts.<ref>{{cite book|first=Cordell|last=Hull|title=The Memoirs of Cordell Hull: vol. 1|location=New York|publisher=Macmillan|year=1948|pages=81}}</ref>
===Ethnic and political rivalries===
A [[Balkan]] war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia was considered inevitable, as Austria-Hungary’s influence waned and the [[Pan-Slavism|Pan-Slavic]] movement grew. The rise of ethnic nationalism coincided with the growth of Serbia, where anti-Austrian sentiment was perhaps most fervent. Austria-Hungary had occupied the former Ottoman province of [[Bosnia-Herzegovina]], which had a large Serb population, in 1878. It was [[Bosnian crisis|formally annexed]] by Austria-Hungary in 1908. Increasing nationalist sentiment also coincided with the decline of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Russia supported the Pan-Slavic movement, motivated by ethnic and religious loyalties and a rivalry with Austria dating back to the [[Crimean War]]. Recent events such as the [[Bosnian crisis#The secret negotiations|failed Russian-Austrian treaty]] and a century-old dream of a [[warm water port]] also motivated St. Petersburg.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/mun/bosmun/RussianUpdate.pdf|title=Web reference|format=PDF}}</ref>
Myriad other geopolitical motivations existed elsewhere as well, for example France's loss of [[Alsace]] and [[Moselle|Lorraine]] in the [[Franco-Prussian War]] helped create a sentiment of irredentist ''[[revanchist|revanchism]]'' in that country. France eventually allied itself with Russia, creating the likelihood of a [[two-front war]] for Germany.
{{see also|Powder keg of Europe}}
==July crisis and declarations of war==
[[Image:Kriegserklärung Erster Weltkrieg.jpg|thumb|Wilhelm's declaration of war from the German Empire in 1914 - [http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Erkl%C3%A4rung_des_Kriegszustandes_des_Deutschen_Kaiserreiches (text)]]]
The Austro-Hungarian government used the assassination of [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand]] as a pretext to deal with the Serbian question, supported by Germany. On [[23 July]] [[1914]], an [[July Ultimatum|ultimatum]] was sent to Serbia with ten demands, some so extreme that the Serbian reply included reservations and rejected the sixth demand. The Serbians, relying on support from Russia, removed acceptance of the sixth key demand (the draft reply had accepted it), and also ordered mobilization. In response to this, Austria-Hungary issued a declaration of war on [[28 July]]. Initially, Russia ordered partial mobilization, directed at the Austrian frontier. On [[31 July]], after the Russian General Staff informed the Czar that partial mobilization was logistically impossible, a full mobilization was ordered. The [[Schlieffen Plan]], which relied on a quick strike against France, could not afford to allow the Russians to mobilize without launching an attack. Thus, the Germans declared war against Russia on [[1 August]] and on France two days later. Germany then violated Belgium's neutrality by the German advance through it to Paris, and this brought the British Empire into the war. With this, five of the six European powers were now involved in the largest continental European conflict since the [[Napoleonic Wars]].<ref>Joll, James. ''The Origins of the First World War'', 2nd ed. (Harlow, 1992), pp. 10–38</ref>
==Chronology==
[[Image:Europe 1914.png|right|thumb|European military alliances in 1914; [[Central Powers]] purplish-red, [[Allies of World War I|Entente Powers]] pale green, and neutral countries yellow]]
===Opening hostilities===
====Confusion among the Central Powers====
The strategy of the Central Powers suffered from miscommunication. Germany had promised to support Austria-Hungary’s invasion of Serbia, but interpretations of what this meant differed. Austro-Hungarian leaders believed Germany would cover its northern flank against Russia. Germany, however, envisioned Austria-Hungary directing the majority of its troops against Russia, while Germany dealt with France. This confusion forced the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]] to divide its forces between the Russian and Serbian fronts.
====African campaigns====
{{main|African theatre of World War I}}
Some of the first clashes of the war involved British, French and German colonial forces in Africa. On [[7 August]], French and British troops invaded the German protectorate of [[Togoland]]. On [[10 August]] German forces in [[Namibia|South-West Africa]] attacked [[South Africa]]; sporadic and fierce fighting continued for the remainder of the war.
[[Image:Guetteur au poste de l'écluse 26.jpg|left|thumb|[[Haut-Rhin]], France, 1917]]
====Serbian campaign====
{{main|Serbian Campaign (World War I)}}
The Serbian army fought the [[Battle of Cer]] against the invading Austrians, beginning on [[12 August]], occupying defensive positions on the south side of the [[Drina River|Drina]] and [[Sava]] rivers. Over the next two weeks Austrian attacks were thrown back with heavy losses, which marked the first major Allied victory of the war and dashed Austrian hopes of a swift victory. As a result, Austria had to keep sizable forces on the Serbian front, weakening their efforts against Russia.
====German forces in Belgium and France====
{{main|Western Front (World War I)}}
Initially, the Germans had great success in the [[Battle of the Frontiers]] ([[14 August]]–[[24 August]]). Russia, however, attacked in [[East Prussia]] and diverted German forces intended for the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]. Germany defeated Russia in a series of battles collectively known as the First [[Battle of Tannenberg (1914)|Battle of Tannenberg]] ([[17 August]] – [[2 September]]), but this diversion exacerbated problems of insufficient speed of advance from rail-heads not foreseen by the German [[General Staff]]. Originally, the Schlieffen Plan called for the right flank of the German advance to pass to the west of Paris. However, the capacity and low speed of horse-drawn transport hampered the German supply train, allowing French and British forces to finally halt the German advance east of Paris at the [[First Battle of the Marne]] ([[5 September]]–[[12 September]]). The Central Powers were thereby denied a quick victory and forced to fight a war on two fronts. The German army had fought its way into a good defensive position inside France and had permanently incapacitated 230,000 more French and British troops than it had lost itself. Despite this, communications problems and questionable command decisions cost Germany the chance for an early victory.
====Asia and the Pacific====
{{main|Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I}}
[[New Zealand]] occupied [[Western Samoa|German Samoa]] (later Western Samoa) on [[30 August]]. On [[11 September]] the [[Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force]] landed on the island of [[New Britain|Neu Pommern]] (later New Britain), which formed part of [[German New Guinea]]. [[Japan]] seized Germany's [[Micronesia]]n colonies and after the [[Battle of Tsingtao]], the German coaling port of [[Qingdao]], in the Chinese [[Shandong]] peninsula. Within a few months, the Allied forces had seized all the German territories in the Pacific.
[[Image:Australian infantry small box respirators Ypres 1917.jpg|left|thumb|In the trenches: Infantry with [[gas mask]]s, [[Ypres]], 1917]]
===Early stages===
====Trench warfare begins====
{{Citations missing|section|date=February 2008}}
{{main|Western Front (World War I)}}
Military tactics before World War I had failed to keep pace with advances in technology. It demanded the building of impressive defence systems, which out-of-date tactics could not break through for most of the war. [[Barbed wire]] was a significant hindrance to massed infantry advances. [[Artillery]], vastly more lethal than in the 1870s, coupled with [[machine guns]], made crossing open ground very difficult. The Germans introduced [[Poison gas in World War I|poison gas]]; it soon became used by both sides, though it never proved decisive in winning a battle. Its effects were brutal, however, causing slow and painful death, and poison gas became one of the most-feared and best-remembered horrors of the war. Commanders on both sides failed to develop tactics for breaking through entrenched positions without heavy casualties. In time, however, technology began also to yield new offensive weapons, such as the [[tank]]. Britain and France were its primary users; the Germans employed captured Allied tanks and small numbers of their own design.
After the [[First Battle of the Marne]], both [[Triple Entente|Entente]] and German forces began a series of outflanking maneuvers, in the so-called '[[Race to the Sea]]'. Britain and France soon found themselves facing entrenched German forces from [[Lorraine (province)|Lorraine]] to Belgium's [[Flanders|Flemish]] coast. Britain and France sought to take the offensive, while Germany defended the occupied territories; consequentially, German trenches were generally much better constructed than those of their enemy. Anglo-French trenches were only intended to be 'temporary' before their forces broke through German defenses. Both sides attempted to break the stalemate using scientific and technological advances. In April 1915 the Germans used [[chlorine gas]] for the first time (in violation of the [[Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)|Hague Convention]]), opening a {{convert|6|km|mi|0}} hole in the Allied lines when British and French colonial troops retreated. [[Military history of Canada during World War I|Canadian soldiers]] closed the breach at the [[Second Battle of Ypres]]. At the [[Third Battle of Ypres]], Canadian and [[ANZAC]] troops took the village of [[Passchendaele]].
On [[1 July]] [[1916]], the [[first day on the Somme|first day]] of the [[Battle of the Somme (1916)|Battle of the Somme]], the [[British Army]] endured the bloodiest day in its history, suffering 57,470 casualties and 19,240 dead. Most of the casualties occurred in the first hour of the attack. The entire offensive cost the British Army almost half a million men.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/somme.htm|title=First World War.com|author=Duffy, Michael|accessmonthday=February 25|accessyear=2007|language=English}}</ref>
[[Image:GermanInfantry1914.jpg|right|thumb| A French assault on German positions. Champagne, France, 1917]]
Neither side proved able to deliver a decisive blow for the next two years, though protracted German action at [[Battle of Verdun|Verdun]] throughout 1916, combined with the Entente's failure at the [[Battle of the Somme|Somme]],{{Fact|date=November 2007}} brought the exhausted French army to the brink of collapse. Futile attempts at frontal assault, a rigid adherence to an ineffectual method,{{Fact|date=November 2007}} came at a high price for both the British and the French ''[[poilu]]'' (infantry) and led to [[French Army Mutinies (1917)|widespread mutinies]], especially during the [[Nivelle Offensive]].
[[Image:Canadian tank and soldiers Vimy 1917.jpg||left|thumb|Canadian troops advancing behind a British [[Mark I tank#Mark II|Mark II tank]] at the [[Battle of Vimy Ridge]]]]
Throughout 1915–17, the British Empire and France suffered more casualties than Germany, due both to the strategic and tactical stances chosen by the sides. At the strategic level, while the Germans only mounted a single main offensive at [[Battle of Verdun|Verdun]], the Allies made several attempts to break through German lines. At the tactical level, the German defensive doctrine was well suited for trench warfare, with a relatively lightly defended "sacrificial" forward position,{{Fact|date=November 2007}} and a more powerful main position from which an immediate and powerful counter-offensive could be launched. This combination usually was effective in pushing out attackers at a relatively low cost to the Germans.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} In absolute terms, of course, the cost in lives of men for both attack and defense was astounding.
Ludendorff wrote on the fighting in 1917: "The 25th of August concluded the second phase of the Flanders battle. It had cost us heavily…. The costly August battles in Flanders and at Verdun imposed a heavy strain on the Western troops. In spite of all the concrete protection they seemed more or less powerless under the enormous weight of the enemy’s artillery. At some points they no longer displayed the firmness which I, in common with the local commanders, had hoped for. The enemy managed to adapt himself to our method of employing counter attacks… I myself was being put to a terrible strain. The state of affairs in the West appeared to prevent the execution of our plans elsewhere. Our wastage had been so high as to cause grave misgivings, and had exceeded all expectation."
On the battle of the Menin Road Ridge he wrote: "Another terrific assault was made on our lines on the 20th September…. The enemy’s onslaught on the 20th was successful, which proved the superiority of the attack over the defence. Its strength did not consist in the tanks; we found them inconvenient, but put them out of action all the same. The power of the attack lay in the artillery, and in the fact that ours did not do enough damage to the hostile infantry as they were assembling, and above all, at the actual time of the assault."<ref>John Terraine "Ordeal of Victory"</ref>
[[Image:BC RGA Leaders In England.jpg|thumb|right|Officers and senior enlisted men of the [[Bermuda Militia Artillery]]'s [[Bermuda]] Contingent, Royal Garrison Artillery, in Europe]]
Around 800,000 soldiers from the British Empire were on the Western Front at any one time.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} 1,000 battalions, occupying sectors of the line from the [[North Sea]] to the [[Orne River (Lorraine)|Orne River]], operated on a month-long four-stage rotation system, unless an offensive was underway. The front contained over {{convert|9600|km|mi|0}} of trenches. Each battalion held its sector for about a week before moving back to support lines and then further back to the reserve lines before a week out-of-line, often in the [[Poperinge]] or [[Amiens]] areas.
In the 1917 [[Battle of Arras (1917)|Battle of Arras]] the only significant British military success was the capture of [[Vimy Ridge]] by the [[Canadian Corps]] under [[Sir Arthur Currie]] and [[Julian Byng]]. The assaulting troops were able for the first time to overrun, rapidly reinforce and hold the ridge defending the coal-rich [[Douai]] plain.<ref>[http://www.ww1westernfront.gov.au/vimy_ridge/index.html "Vimy Ridge, Canadian National Memorial" (2007) ''Australians on the Western Front 1914-1918'' New South Wales Department of Veteran's Affairs and Board of Studies]</ref>
===Naval war===
{{main|Naval Warfare of World War I}}
[[Image:Grand Fleet sails.jpg|thumb|right|The [[British Grand Fleet]].]]
At the start of the war, the German Empire had [[cruiser]]s scattered across the globe, some of which were subsequently used to attack Allied merchant shipping. The British [[Royal Navy]] systematically hunted them down, though not without some embarrassment from its inability to protect Allied shipping. For example, the German detached light cruiser Emden, part of the East-Asia squadron stationed at Tsingtao, seized or destroyed 15 merchantmen, as well as sinking a Russian cruiser and a French destroyer. However, the bulk of the [[German East Asia Squadron|German East-Asia squadron]]—consisting of the armoured cruisers [[SMS Scharnhorst|''Scharnhorst'']] and [[SMS Gneisenau|''Gneisenau'']], light cruisers [[SMS Nürnberg (1906)|''Nürnberg'']] and [[SMS Leipzig|''Leipzig'']] and two transport ships—did not have orders to raid shipping and was instead underway to Germany when it encountered elements of the British fleet. The German flotilla, along with [[SMS Dresden (1907)|''Dresden'']], sank two armoured cruisers at the [[Battle of Coronel]], but was almost completely destroyed at the [[Battle of the Falkland Islands]] in December 1914, with only ''Dresden'' escaping.<ref>John M. Taylor, "Audacious Cruise of the Emden", The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Volume 19, Number 4, Summer 2007, pp. 39–47</ref>
Soon after the outbreak of hostilities, Britain initiated a naval [[blockade]] of Germany. The strategy proved effective, cutting off vital military and civilian supplies, although this blockade violated generally accepted international law codified by several international agreements of the past two centuries.<ref name="isbn0-313-33181-2">{{cite book |author=Keene, Jennifer D. |title=World War I (The Greenwood Press Daily Life Through History Series) |link=http://books.google.com/books?id=08daqUsn7PEC |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Conn |year= |pages=5 |isbn=0-313-33181-2 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref> Britain mined international waters to prevent any ships from entering entire sections of ocean, causing danger to even neutral ships.<ref name="isbn1-85728-498-4">{{cite book |author= |title=A Naval History of World War 1 |link=http://books.google.com/books?id=6hwb6ovvYCcC |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |year= |pages=293 |isbn=1-85728-498-4 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref> Since there was limited response to this tactic, Germany expected a similar response to its unrestricted submarine warfare.<ref name="isbn0-8476-9645-6">{{cite book |author=Zieger, Robert H. |title=America's Great War: World War I and the American experience |link=http://books.google.com/books?id=dwcuHMZ1iyMC |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |location=Lanham, Md |year=2001 |pages=50 |isbn=0-8476-9645-6 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref>
[[Image:Hochseeflotte 2.jpg|thumb|right|A battleship squadron of the [[High Seas Fleet|Hochseeflotte]] at sea]]
The 1916 [[Battle of Jutland]] (German: ''Skagerrakschlacht'', or "Battle of the Skagerrak") developed into the largest naval battle of the war, the only full-scale clash of battleships during the war. It took place on [[31 May]]–[[1 June]], [[1916]], in the [[North Sea]] off [[Jutland]]. The Kaiserliche Marine's High Seas Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral [[Reinhard Scheer]], squared off against the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet, led by Admiral Sir [[John Jellicoe]]. The engagement was a standoff, as the Germans, outmaneuvered by the larger British fleet, managed to escape and inflicted more damage to the British fleet than they received. Strategically, however, the British asserted their control of the sea, and the bulk of the German surface fleet remained confined to port for the duration of the war.
German [[U-boats]] attempted to cut the supply lines between North America and Britain.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uscg.mil/History/h_AtlWar.html |title=Coast Guard in the North Atlantic War |accessdate=2007-10-30 |format= |work=}}</ref> The nature of submarine warfare meant that attacks often came without warning, giving the crews of the merchant ships little hope of survival.<ref name="isbn0-8050-7617-4">{{cite book |author=Gilbert, Martin |title=The First World War: A Complete History |link=http://books.google.com/books?id=Ob2k5aM15cEC|publisher=Owl Books |location=Clearwater, Fla |year= |pages=306 |isbn=0-8050-7617-4 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref> The United States launched a protest, and Germany modified its rules of engagement. After the infamous sinking of the passenger ship [[RMS Lusitania|RMS ''Lusitania'']] in 1915, Germany promised not to target passenger liners, while Britain armed its merchant ships. Finally, in early 1917 Germany adopted a policy of [[unrestricted submarine warfare]], realizing the Americans would eventually enter the war.<ref name="isbn0-8420-2918-4">{{cite book |author=Jones, Howard |title=Crucible of power: a history of U. S. foreign relations since 1897 |link=http://books.google.com/books?id=n6Al88smOAUC |publisher=SR Books |location=Wilmington, Del |year=2001 |pages=80 |isbn=0-8420-2918-4 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref> Germany sought to strangle Allied sea lanes before the U.S. could transport a large army overseas.
The U-boat threat lessened in 1917, when merchant ships entered [[convoy]]s escorted by destroyers. This tactic made it difficult for U-boats to find targets, which significantly lessened losses; after the introduction of [[hydrophone]] and [[depth charges]], accompanying destroyers might actually attack a submerged submarine with some hope of success. The convoy system slowed the flow of supplies, since ships had to wait as convoys were assembled. The solution to the delays was a massive program to build new freighters. Troop ships were too fast for the submarines and did not travel the North Atlantic in convoys.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/hansard//comm/va/va_2006nov09.htm |title= Nova Scotia House of Assembly Committee on Veterans' Affairs |accessdate=2007-10-30 |format= |work=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pahh.com/oss/pt3/p23.html |title=Greek American Operational Group OSS, Part 3 continued |accessdate=2007-10-30 |format= |work=}}</ref>
The First World War also saw the first use of [[aircraft carriers]] in combat, with [[HMS Furious (47)|HMS ''Furious'']] launching [[Sopwith Camels]] in a successful raid against the [[Zeppelin]] hangars at [[Tondern]] in July 1918, as well as [[blimp]]s for antisubmarine patrol.<ref>Price, Alfred. ''Aircraft'' versus ''the Submarine''. (London: Wiliam Kimber, 1973).</ref>
===Southern theatres===
====War in the Balkans====
{{main|Balkans Campaign (World War I)|Serbian Campaign (World War I)|Macedonian front (World War I)}}
Faced with Russia, Austria-Hungary could spare only one third of its army to attack Serbia. After suffering heavy losses, the Austrians briefly occupied the Serbian capital, [[Belgrade]]. Serbian counterattack in [[battle of Kolubara]], however, succeeded in driving them from the country by the end of 1914. For the first ten months of 1915, Austria-Hungary used most of its military reserves to fight Italy. German and Austro-Hungarian diplomats, however, scored a coup by convincing [[Bulgaria]] to join in attacking Serbia. The Austro-Hungarian provinces of [[Slovenia]], [[Croatia]] and [[Bosnia (region)|Bosnia]] provided troops for Austria-Hungary, invading Serbia as well as fighting Russia and Italy. [[Montenegro]] allied itself with Serbia.
Serbia was conquered in a little more than a month. The attack began in October, when the Central Powers launched an offensive from the north; four days later the Bulgarians joined the attack from the east. The Serbian army, fighting on two fronts and facing certain defeat, retreated into [[Albania]], halting only once, to make a stand against the Bulgarians. The Serbs suffered defeat near modern day [[Gnjilane]] in [[Kosovo]]{{fact}}<!--I never heard for this battle, my book doesn't mention it at all. But it does mention minor Serbian counterattack and victory near Leskovac on November 11-->. Montenegro covered Serbian retreat toward Adriatic coast on [[Battle of Mojkovac]] in 6-7 January 1916, but ultimately Austrians conquered Montenegro, too. Serbian forces being evacuated by ship to [[Greece]].
In late 1915 a Franco-British force landed at [[Salonica]] in Greece, to offer assistance and to pressure the government to declare war against the Central Powers. Unfortunately for the Allies, the pro-German [[Constantine I of Greece|King Constantine I]] dismissed the pro-Allied government of [[Eleftherios Venizelos]], before the allied expeditionary force could arrive.
After conquest, Serbia was divided between Austro-Hungary and Bulgaria. Bulgarians commenced bulgarization of Serbian population in their occupation zone, banishing [[Serbian Cyrillic]] and [[Serbian orthodox church]]. After forceful drafting of the Serbian population into the Bulgarian army in 1917, [[Toplica Uprising]] begun. Serbian rebels liberated for the short time are between [[Kopaonik]] mountain and [[South Morava]] river. The uprising was crushed by joint efforts of Bulgarian and Austrian forces in the end March 1917.
The Macedonian Front proved static for the most of time. Serbian forces retook part of their country by liberating [[Bitolj]] on November 19, 1916. Only at the end of the conflict were the Entente powers able to break through, which was after most of the German and Austro-Hungarian troops had been withdrawn. The [[Bulgarians]] suffered their only defeat of the war, at the [[Battle of Dobro Pole]], but days later, they decisively defeated British and [[Greece|Greek]] forces at the [[Battle of Doiran]], avoiding occupation. Bulgaria signed an [[armistice]] on [[29 September]], [[1918]].
====Ottoman Empire====
{{main|Middle Eastern theatre of World War I}}
The [[Ottoman Empire]] joined the Central Powers in the war, the secret [[Ottoman-German Alliance]] having been signed in August 1914. It threatened Russia's [[Caucasus|Caucasian]] territories and Britain's communications with [[India]] via the [[Suez Canal]]. The British and French opened overseas fronts with the [[Gallipoli Campaign|Gallipoli]] (1915) and [[Mesopotamian Campaign|Mesopotamian]] campaigns. In Gallipoli, the [[Turkey|Turks]] successfully repelled the British, French and [[Australian and New Zealand Army Corps]] (ANZACs). In [[Mesopotamia]], by contrast, after the disastrous [[Siege of Kut]] (1915–16), British Imperial forces reorganised and captured [[Baghdad]] in March 1917. Further to the west, in the [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign]], initial British setbacks were overcome when [[Jerusalem]] was captured in December 1917. The [[Egyptian Expeditionary Force]], under Field Marshal [[Edmund Allenby]], broke the Ottoman forces at the [[Battle of Megiddo (1918)|Battle of Megiddo]] in September 1918.
Russian armies generally had the best of it in the [[Caucasus]]. ''Vice-Generalissimo'' [[Enver Pasha]], supreme commander of the Turkish armed forces, was ambitious and dreamed of conquering [[central Asia]]. He was, however, a poor commander.<ref name="isbn0-8050-6884-8">{{cite book |author=Fromkin, David |title=A peace to end all peace: the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of the modern Middle East |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=5Vh8r6M8QQMC|publisher=H. Holt |location=New York |year=2001 |pages=119 |isbn=0-8050-6884-8 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref> He launched an offensive against the Russians in the Caucasus in December 1914 with 100,000 troops; insisting on a frontal attack against mountainous Russian positions in winter, he lost 86% of his force at the [[Battle of Sarikamis]].<ref name=caven>{{cite book
| last = Hinterhoff
| first = Eugene
| author link =
| title =The Campaign in Armenia. Marshall Cavendish Illustrated Encyclopedia of World War I, vol ii
| publisher = Marshall Cavendish Corporation
| date= 1984
| location =New York
| pages = pp.499-503
| isbn = 0-86307-181-3}}</ref>
The Russian commander from 1915 to 1916, General [[Nikolai Nikolaevich Yudenich|Yudenich]], drove the Turks out of most of the southern Caucasus with a string of victories.<ref name=caven>{{cite book
| last = Hinterhoff
| first = Eugene
| author link =
| title =The Campaign in Armenia. Marshall Cavendish Illustrated Encyclopedia of World War I, vol ii
| publisher = Marshall Cavendish Corporation
| date= 1984
| location =New York
| pages = pp.499-503
| isbn = 0-86307-181-3}}</ref>
In 1917, Russian [[Grand Duke Nicholas]] assumed command of the Caucasus front. Nicholas planned a railway from [[Georgia (country)|Russian Georgia]] to the conquered territories, so that fresh supplies could be brought up for a new offensive in 1917. However, in March 1917, (February in the pre-revolutionary Russian calendar), the Czar was overthrown in the [[February Revolution]] and the [[Russian Caucasus Army]] began to fall apart. In this situation, the army corps of [[Armenian volunteer units]] realigned themselves under the command of General [[Tovmas Nazarbekian]], with [[Drastamat Kanayan|Dro]] as a civilian commissioner of the [[Administration for Western Armenia]]. The front line had three main divisions: [[Movses Silikyan]], [[Andranik Toros Ozanian|Andranik]], and [[Mikhail Areshian]]. Another regular unit was under Colonel Korganian. There were Armenian [[Armenian militia|partisan guerrilla detachments]] (more than 40,000<ref name="bogus">[[Boghos Nubar]] the president of the "[[Armenian National Assembly (Ottoman Empire)|Armenian National Assembly]]" declared to [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919]] through a letter to French Foreign Office - December 3, 1918</ref>) accompanying these main units.
The [[Arab Revolt]] was a major cause of the [[Ottoman Empire]]'s defeat. The revolts started with the [[Battle of Mecca 1916|Battle of Mecca]] by Sherif Hussain of [[Mecca]] with the help of Britain in June 1916, and ended with the Ottoman surrender of Damascus. [[Fakhri Pasha]] the Ottoman commander of [[Medina]] showed stubborn resistance for over two and half years during the [[Siege of Medina]].
Along the border of Italian Libya and British Egypt, the [[Senussi]] tribe, incited and armed by the Turks, waged a small-scale guerrilla war against Allied troops. According to Martin Gilbert's ''The First World War'', the British were forced to dispatch 12,000 troops to deal with the Senussi. Their rebellion was finally crushed in mid-1916.
====Italian participation====
{{main|Italian Campaign (World War I)}}
Italy had been allied with the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires since 1882 as part of the [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance]]. However, the nation had its own designs on Austrian territory in [[Province of Trento|Trentino]], [[Istria]] and [[Dalmatia]]. [[Rome]] had a secret 1902 pact with France, effectively nullifying its alliance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9381170/Triple-Alliance-(1882)|title=Triple Alliance}}</ref> At the start of hostilities, Italy refused to commit troops, arguing that the [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance]] was defensive in nature, and that Austria-Hungary was an aggressor. The Austro-Hungarian government began negotiations to secure Italian neutrality, offering the French colony of [[Tunisia]] in return. However, Italy then joined the [[Triple Entente|Entente]] in April 1915 and declared war on Austria-Hungary in May. Fifteen months later, it declared war on Germany.
[[Image:Progress In Alps.jpg|thumb|right|Difficult Progress In [[Alps]]]]
Militarily, the Italians had numerical superiority. This advantage, however, was lost, not only because of the difficult terrain in which fighting took place, but also because of the strategies and tactics employed. [[Field Marshal]] [[Luigi Cadorna]], a staunch proponent of the frontal assault, had dreams of breaking into the Slovenian plateau, taking [[Ljubljana]] and threatening [[Vienna]]. It was a [[Napoleonic Wars|Napoleonic]] plan, which had no realistic chance of success in an age of barbed wire, machine guns, and indirect artillery fire, combined with hilly and mountainous terrain.
Cadorna insisted on attacking the [[Soča|Isonzo front]].
{{see|Battles of the Isonzo}}
Cadorna unleashed eleven offensives with total disregard for his men's lives. The Italians also went on the offensive to relieve pressure on other Allied fronts. On the Trentino front, the Austro-Hungarians took advantage of the [[Alps|mountainous]] terrain, which favoured the defender. After an initial strategic retreat, the front remained largely unchanged, while Austrian [[Kaiserschützen]] and [[Standschützen]] and Italian [[Alpini]] engaged in bitter hand-to-hand combat throughout the summer. The Austro-Hungarians counter-attacked in the [[Asiago|Altopiano of Asiago]], towards Verona and Padua, in the spring of 1916 (''[[Battle of Asiago|Strafexpedition]]''), but made little progress.
Beginning in 1915, the Italians mounted eleven offensives along the [[Soča|Isonzo River]], north-east of [[Trieste]]. All eleven offensives were repelled by the Austro-Hungarians,{{Fact|date=November 2007}} who held the higher ground. In the summer of 1916, the Italians captured the town of [[Gorizia]]. After this minor victory, the front remained static for over a year, despite several Italian offensives. In the autumn of 1917, thanks to the improving situation on the Eastern front, the Austrians received large numbers of reinforcements, including German [[Stormtrooper]]s and the elite [[Alpenkorps (German Empire)|Alpenkorps]]. The Central Powers launched a crushing offensive on 26 October 1917, spearheaded by the Germans. They achieved a victory at [[Battle of Caporetto|Caporetto]]. The Italian army was routed and retreated more than 100 km (60 miles). They were able to reorganise and stabilize the front at the [[Battle of the Piave River|Piave River]]. Since in the Battle of Caporetto Italian Army had heavy losses, the Italian Government called to the arms the so called '''99 Boys'' (Ragazzi del '99), that is, all males who were 18 years old. In 1918, the Austro-Hungarians failed to break through, in a series of battles on the [[Asiago|Asiago Plateau]], finally being decisively defeated in the [[Battle of Vittorio Veneto]] in October of that year. Austria-Hungary surrendered in early November 1918.
====Fighting in India====
The war began with an unprecedented outpouring of loyalty and goodwill towards the United Kingdom from within the mainstream political leadership, contrary to initial British fears of an Indian revolt. India under British rule contributed massively to the British war effort by providing men and resources. This was done by the Indian Congress in hope of achieving self-government as India was very much in control of the British. The United Kingdom disappointed the Indians by not providing self-governance, leading to the [[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi|Gandhi]]ian Era in Indian history. About 1.3 million Indian soldiers and labourers served in [[Europe]], [[Africa]], and the [[Middle East]], while both the Indian government and the princes sent large supplies of food, money, and ammunition. In all 140,000 men served on the Western Front and nearly 700,000 in the Middle East. 47,746 Indian soldiers were killed and 65,126 wounded during World War I.<ref>[http://www.mgtrust.org/ind1.htm Participants from the Indian subcontinent in the First World War]</ref>
=====Indian independence movement=====
[[Bengal]] and [[Punjab (British India)|Punjab]] remained hotbeds of [[Revolutionary movement for Indian independence|anti-colonial activities]]. Terrorism in Bengal, increasingly closely linked with the unrests in Punjab, was significant enough to nearly paralyse the regional administration. Also from the beginning of the war, expatriate Indian population, notably in [[Germany]], [[United States]] and [[Canada]], headed by the [[Indian Independence Committee]] and the [[Ghadar Party]] respectively, attempted to trigger insurrections in India on the lines of the [[1857 uprising]] with [[Irish Republican]], German and Turkish help in a massive conspiracy that has since come to be called the [[Hindu German conspiracy]]. The conspiracy [[Niedermayer-Hentig mission|also made]] attempts to rally the Amir of Afghanistan against British India, starting a political process in that country that culminated three years later in the assassination of Amir Habibullah and precipitation of the [[Third Anglo-Afghan war]]. A number of failed attempts at mutiny were made in India, of which the [[Ghadar Conspiracy#February 1915|February mutiny plan]] and the [[1915 Singapore mutiny|Singapore mutiny]] remain most notable. This movement was suppressed by means of a massive international counter-intelligence operation and draconian political acts (including the [[Defence of India act 1915]]) that lasted nearly ten years.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|1977|p=}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Hughes|2002|p=474}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Dignan|1971|p=57}}</ref>
The Ghadarites also attempted to organise incursions from the western border of India, recruiting Indian prisoners of war from [[Turkey]], [[Germany]], [[Mesopotamia]]. Ghadarite rebels, led by [[Sufi]] Amba Prasad, fought along with Turkish forces in [[Iran]] and in [[Turkey]]. Plans were made in [[Constantinopole]] to organise a campaign from Persia, through [[Balochistan]], to Punjab. These forces were involved skirmishes that captured the frontier city of Karman, taking into custody the British consul. [[Percy Sykes]]'s campaign in Persia was directed mostly against these composite forces. It was at this time that the [[Aga Khan]] and his brother were recruited into the British War effort. However, the Aga Khan's brother was captured and shot dead by the rebels, who also successfully harassed British Forces in [[Sistan]] in Afghanistan, confining British forces to [[Karamshir]] in Baluchistan, later moving towards [[Karachi]]. They were able to take control of the coastal towns of Gawador and Dawar. The Baluchi chief of Bampur, having declared his independence from the British rule, also joined the Ghadarite forces. It was not before the war in Europe turned for the worse for Turkey and [[Baghdad]] was captured by the British forces that the Ghadarite forces, their supply lines starved, were finally dislodged. They retreated to regroup at [[Shiraz]], where they were finally defeated after a [[Siege of Shiraz|bitter fight]]. Amba Prasad Sufi was killed in this battle. The Ghadarites carried on guerrilla warfare along with the Iranian partisans till 1919.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sykes|1921|p=101}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web
| author = Singh, Jaspal.
| publisher = panjab.org.uk
| url=http://www.panjab.org.uk/english/histGPty.html
| title= History of the Ghadar Movement
| accessdate=2007-10-31
}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Herbert|2003|p=}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web
| author = Asghar, S.B.
| publisher = www.dawn.com
| url=http://www.dawn.com/weekly/dmag/archive/050612/dmag14.htm
| title= A famous uprising
| accessdate=2007-11-2
}}</ref>
Although the conflict in India was not explicitly a part of the First World War, it was part of the wider strategic context. The British attempt to subjugate the rebelling tribal leaders drew away much needed troops from other theaters, in particular, of course, the Western Front, where the real decisive victory would be made.
The reason why some Indian and Afghani tribes rose up simply came down to years of discontent which erupted, probably not coincidentally, during the First World War. It is likely that the tribal leaders were aware that Britain would not be able to field the required men, in terms of either number or quality, but the underestimated the strategic importance of India to the British. Despite being far from the epicenter of the conflict, India provided a bounty of men for the fronts. Its produce was also needed for the British war effort and many trade routes running to other profitable areas of the Empire ran through India. Therefore, although the British were not able to send the men that they wanted, they were able to send enough to mount a gradual but effective counter-guerrilla war against the tribesmen. The fighting continued into 1919 and in some areas lasted even longer.
{{See also|Third Anglo-Afghan War|Hindu-German Conspiracy}}
===Eastern Front===
====Initial actions====
{{main|Eastern Front (World War I)}}
While the Western Front had reached stalemate, the war continued in the East. Initial Russian plans called for simultaneous invasions of Austrian [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria|Galicia]] and German East Prussia. Although Russia's initial advance into Galicia was largely successful, they were driven back from East Prussia by [[Paul von Hindenburg|Hindenburg]] and [[Erich Ludendorff|Ludendorff]] at [[Battle of Tannenberg (1914)|Tannenberg]] and the [[First Battle of the Masurian Lakes|Masurian Lakes]] in August and September 1914. Russia's less developed industrial base and ineffective military leadership was instrumental in the events that unfolded. By the spring of 1915, the Russians had retreated into Galicia, and in May the Central Powers achieved a remarkable breakthrough on [[Poland]]'s southern frontiers. On [[5 August]] they captured [[Warsaw]] and forced the Russians to withdraw from Poland. This became known as the "Great Retreat" in Russia and the "Great Advance" in Germany.
====Ukrainian oppression====
{{see|Ukraine in World War I}}
====Russian Revolution====
{{main|Russian Revolution of 1917}}
Dissatisfaction with the Russian government's conduct of the war grew, despite the success of the June 1916 [[Brusilov offensive]] in eastern [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria|Galicia]]. The success was undermined by the reluctance of other generals to commit their forces to support the victory. Allied and Russian forces were revived only temporarily with [[Romania]]'s entry into the war on [[27 August]]. German forces came to the aid of embattled Austrian units in [[Transylvania]] and [[Bucharest]] fell to the Central Powers on [[6 December]]. Meanwhile, unrest grew in Russia, as the [[Nicholas II of Russia|Tsar]] remained at the front. [[Alexandra of Hesse|Empress Alexandra's]] increasingly incompetent rule drew protests and resulted in the murder of her favourite, [[Grigori Rasputin|Rasputin]], at the end of 1916.
[[Image:Lenin.WWI.JPG|thumb|left|[[Vladimir Lenin|Vladimir Illyich Lenin]]]]
In March 1917, demonstrations in [[Saint Petersburg, Russia|Petrograd]] culminated in the abdication of [[Nicholas II of Russia|Tsar Nicholas II]] and the appointment of a weak [[Russian Provisional Government, 1917|Provisional Government]] which shared power with the [[Petrograd Soviet]] socialists. This arrangement led to confusion and chaos both at the front and at home. The army became increasingly ineffective.
The war and the government became more and more unpopular. Discontent led to a rise in popularity of the [[Bolshevik]] [[political party|party]], led by [[Vladimir Lenin]]. He promised to pull Russia out of the war and was able to gain power. The [[October Revolution|triumph of the Bolsheviks]] in November was followed in December by an armistice and negotiations with Germany. At first the Bolsheviks refused the German terms, but when Germany resumed the war and marched across [[Ukraine]] with impunity, the new government acceded to the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] on [[3 March]], [[1918]]. It took Russia out of the war and ceded vast territories, including [[Finland]], the [[Baltic states|Baltic provinces]], parts of [[Poland]] and [[Ukraine]] to the Central Powers. The manpower required for German occupation of former Russian territory may have contributed to the failure of the Spring Offensive, however, and secured relatively little food or other war materiel.
With the Bolsheviks' accession to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Entente no longer existed. The Allied powers led a small-scale invasion of Russia to stop Germany from exploiting Russian resources and, to a lesser extent, to support the Whites in the [[Russian Civil War]]. Allied troops landed in [[Arkhangelsk|Archangel]] and in [[Vladivostok]].
{{see|North Russia Campaign}}
===1917–1918===
[[Image:Royal Irish Rifles ration party Somme July 1916.jpg|right|thumb|In the [[trench]]es: [[Royal Irish Rifles]] in a communications trench on the [[first day on the Somme]], [[1 July]] [[1916]]]]
Events of 1917 proved decisive in ending the war, although their effects were not fully felt until 1918. The British naval blockade began to have a serious impact on Germany. In response, in February 1917, the [[German General Staff]] convinced [[Chancellor]] [[Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg]] to declare unrestricted submarine warfare, with the goal of starving Britain out of the war. Tonnage sunk rose above 500,000 tons per month from February to July. It peaked at 860,000 tons in April. After July, the reintroduced [[convoy]] system became extremely effective in neutralizing the [[U-boat]] threat. Britain was safe from starvation and German industrial output fell.
The victory of Austria-Hungary and Germany at the [[Battle of Caporetto]] led the Allies at the [[Rapallo Conference]] to form the [[Supreme Allied Council]] to coordinate planning. Previously, British and French armies had operated under separate commands.
In December, the Central Powers signed an armistice with Russia. This released troops for use in the west. Ironically, German troop transfers could have been greater if their territorial acquisitions had not been so dramatic. With German reinforcements and new American troops pouring in, the final outcome was to be decided on the Western front. The Central Powers knew that they could not win a protracted war, but they held high hopes for a quick offensive. Furthermore, the leaders of the Central Powers and the Allies became increasingly fearful of social unrest and revolution in Europe. Thus, both sides urgently sought a decisive victory.<ref name="isbn0-313-29880-7">{{cite book |author=Heyman, Neil M. |title=World War I |link=http://books.google.com/books?id=ou0xv02KAFkC |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Conn |year=1997 |pages=146-147 |isbn=0-313-29880-7 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref>
====Entry of the United States====
[[Image:HAB ww1 1918.jpg|thumb|upright|left|An American [[doughboy]], ''circa'' 1918.]]
[[Image:USA bryter de diplomatiska förbindelserna med Tyskland 3 februari 1917.jpg|thumb|President Wilson before Congress, announcing the break in official relations with Germany on [[3 February]] [[1917]]]]
=====Isolationism=====
The United States originally pursued a policy of [[isolationism]], avoiding conflict while trying to broker a peace. This resulted in increased tensions with Berlin and London. When a German U-boat sank the British liner [[RMS Lusitania|''Lusitania'']] in 1915, with 128 Americans aboard, U.S. President [[Woodrow Wilson]] vowed, "America was too proud to fight" and demanded an end to attacks on passenger ships. Germany complied. Wilson unsuccessfully tried to mediate a settlement. He repeatedly warned the U.S. would not tolerate unrestricted submarine warfare, in violation of international law and U.S. ideas of human rights. Wilson was under pressure from former president [[Theodore Roosevelt]], who denounced German acts as "piracy".<ref>H. W. Brands, ''T. R.'' (1997) p. 756.</ref> Wilson's desire to have a seat at negotiations at war's end to advance the [[League of Nations]] also played a significant role.<ref name = "Karp-PoW-1979">Karp, Walter. "Politics of War" (1979)</ref> Wilson's Secretary of State, [[William Jennings Bryan]], resigned in protest of the President's decidedly warmongering diplomacy. Other factors contributing to the U.S. entry into the war include the suspected German sabotage of both [[Black Tom]] in [[Jersey City, New Jersey]], and the [[Kingsland Explosion]] in what is now [[Lyndhurst, New Jersey]].
=====Making the case=====
In January 1917, after the Navy pressured the Kaiser, Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. Britain's secret Royal Navy [[cryptanalysis|cryptanalytic]] group, [[Room 40]], had broken the German diplomatic code. They intercepted a proposal from Berlin (the [[Zimmermann Telegram]]) to Mexico to join the war as Germany's ally against the United States, should the U.S. join. The proposal suggested, if the U.S. were to enter the war, Mexico should declare war against the United States and enlist Japan as an ally. This would prevent the United States from joining the Allies and deploying troops to Europe, and would give Germany more time for their unrestricted submarine warfare program to strangle Britain's vital war supplies. In return, the Germans would promise Mexico support in reclaiming Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.<ref>Barbara Tuchman, ''The Zimmerman Telegram''</ref>
=====US declaration of war on Germany=====
[[Image:Over there Louis Fancher.jpg|thumb|right|American recruitment poster by [[Louis D. Fancher]]]]
After the British revealed the telegram to the United States, President Wilson, who had won reelection on his keeping the country out of the war, released the captured telegram as a way of building support for U.S. entry into the war. He had previously claimed neutrality, while calling for the arming of U.S. merchant ships delivering munitions to combatant Britain and quietly supporting the British blockading of German ports and mining of international waters, preventing the shipment of food from America and elsewhere to combatant Germany. After submarines sank seven U.S. merchant ships and the publication of the Zimmerman telegram, Wilson called for war on Germany, which the [[U.S. Congress]] declared on [[6 April]] [[1917]].<ref>(see: [[wikisource:Woodrow Wilson declares war on Germany|''Woodrow Wilson declares war on Germany'']].</ref>
Crucial to U.S. participation was the massive domestic propaganda campaign executed by the [[Committee on Public Information]] overseen by [[George Creel]]. The campaign included tens of thousands of government-selected community leaders giving brief carefully scripted pro-war speeches at thousands of public gatherings. Along with other branches of government and private vigilante groups like the [[American Protective League]], it also included the general repression and harassment of people either opposed to American entry into the war or of German heritage. Other forms of propaganda included [[newsreels]], photos, large-print posters (designed by several well-known illustrators of the day, including [[Louis D. Fancher]]), magazine and newspaper articles, etc.
=====First active US participation=====
[[Image:African American Soldiers.jpg|thumb|left|African-American soldiers marching in France.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/369th-infantry/|title=African Americans during World War I}}</ref>]]
The United States was never formally a member of the Allies but became a self-styled "Associated Power". The United States had a small army, but it drafted four million men and by summer 1918 was sending 10,000 fresh soldiers to France every day. In 1917, the U.S. Congress imposed U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans as part of the [[Jones-Shafroth Act|Jones Act]], when they were drafted to participate in World War I. Germany had miscalculated, believing it would be many more months before they would arrive and that the arrival could be stopped by U-boats.<ref>William John Wilgus, ''Transporting the A. E. F. in Western Europe, 1917–1919'' p. 52</ref>
[[Image:M1905HowitzerB&W.jpg|right|thumb|M1905 Howitzer used by Allied Forces]]
The [[United States Navy]] sent a battleship group to [[Scapa Flow]] to join with the [[British Grand Fleet]], [[destroyers]] to [[Cobh|Queenstown]], [[Ireland]] and [[submarines]] to help guard convoys. Several regiments of [[U.S. Marines]] were also dispatched to France. The British and French wanted U.S. units used to reinforce their troops already on the battle lines and not waste scarce shipping on bringing over supplies. The U.S. rejected the first proposition and accepted the second. General [[John J. Pershing]], [[American Expeditionary Force]] (AEF) commander, refused to break up U.S. units to be used as reinforcements for British Empire and French units (though he did allow [[African-American]] combat units to be used by the French). AEF doctrine called for the use of frontal assaults, which had long since been discarded by British Empire and French commanders because of the large loss of life.<ref>Allan Reed Millett and Williamson Murray, ''Military Effectiveness'', Routledge, p.143 </ref>
====German Spring Offensive of 1918====
{{main|Spring Offensive}}
[[Image:trencheswwi2.jpg|right|thumb|For most of World War I, Allied forces were stalled at trenches on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]]]
German General [[Erich Ludendorff]] drew up plans ([[Code name|codenamed]] [[Operation Michael]]) for the 1918 offensive on the Western Front. The Spring Offensive sought to divide the British and French forces with a series of feints and advances. The German leadership hoped to strike a decisive blow before significant U.S. forces arrived. The operation commenced on [[21 March]] [[1918]] with an attack on British forces near [[Amiens]]. German forces achieved an unprecedented advance of 60 kilometers (40 miles).<ref name="isbn0-7603-1937-5">{{cite book |author=Ian Westwell |title=World War I Day by Day |link=http://books.google.com/books?id=MgTqv2g0GxgC |publisher=Zenith Press |location= |year= |pages= |isbn=0-7603-1937-5 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref>
British and French trenches were penetrated using novel [[infiltration tactics]], also named ''Hutier'' tactics, after General [[Oskar von Hutier]]. Previously, attacks had been characterised by long artillery bombardments and massed assaults.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} However, in the Spring Offensive, the German Army used artillery only briefly and infiltrated small groups of infantry at weak points. They attacked command and logistics areas and bypassed points of serious resistance. More heavily armed infantry then destroyed these isolated positions. German success relied greatly on the element of surprise.{{Fact|date=November 2007}}
The front moved to within 120 kilometers (75 mi) of [[Paris]]. Three heavy [[Krupp]] [[railway gun]]s fired 183 shells on the capital, causing many Parisians to flee. The initial offensive was so successful that Kaiser Wilhelm II declared [[24 March]] a [[Public holiday|national holiday]]. Many Germans thought victory was near. After heavy fighting, however, the offensive was halted. Lacking tanks or [[Self-propelled artillery|motorised artillery]], the Germans were unable to consolidate their gains. The sudden stop was also a result of the four AIF (Australian Imperial Forces) divisions that were "rushed" down, thus doing what no other army had done and stopping the German advance in its tracks. During that time the first Australian division was hurriedly sent north again to stop the second German breakthrough.
[[Image:British 55th Division gas casualties 10 April 1918.jpg|thumb|[[British 55th (West Lancashire) Division]] troops blinded by tear gas during the [[Battle of Estaires]], [[10 April]] [[1918]]]]
American divisions, which Pershing had sought to field as an independent force, were assigned to the depleted French and British Empire commands on [[28 March]]. A Supreme War Council of Allied forces was created at the [[Doullens Conference]] on [[5 November]] [[1917]].<ref name=moon/> [[Ferdinand Foch|General Foch]] was appointed as supreme commander of the allied forces. Haig, Petain and Pershing retained tactical control of their respective armies; Foch assumed a coordinating role, rather than a directing role and the British, French and U.S. commands operated largely independently.<ref name=moon>van Courtland Moon, John Ellis. "United States Chemical Warfare Policy in World War II: A Captive of Coalition Policy?" ([http://www.jstor.org/view/08993718/di975284/97p0577b/0 JSTOR]), ''The Journal of Military History'', Vol. 60, No. 3. (Jul., 1996), pp. 495-511. Retrieved [[14 October]] [[2007]].</ref>
Following Operation Michael, Germany launched [[Operation Georgette]] against the northern [[English channel]] ports. The Allies halted the drive with limited territorial gains for Germany. The German Army to the south then conducted [[Third Battle of the Aisne|Operations Blücher and Yorck]], broadly towards Paris. Operation Marne was launched on [[15 July]], attempting to encircle [[Reims]] and beginning the [[Second Battle of the Marne]]. The resulting Allied counterattack marked their first successful offensive of the war.
By [[20 July]] the Germans were back at their Kaiserschlacht starting lines,{{Fact|date=November 2007}} having achieved nothing. Following this last phase of the war in the West, the German Army never again regained the initiative. German casualties between March and April 1918 were 270,000, including many highly trained stormtroopers.
Meanwhile, Germany was falling apart at home. [[Anti-war]] marches become frequent and morale in the army fell. Industrial output was 53% of 1913 levels.
====New states under war zone====
In 1918, the internationally recognized [[Democratic Republic of Armenia]] and [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]] bordering the Ottoman Empire were established, as well as the unrecognized [[Centrocaspian Dictatorship]] and [[South West Caucasian Republic]].
In 1918, the [[Dashnak]]s of the [[Armenian national liberation movement]] declared the [[Democratic Republic of Armenia]] (DRA) through the [[Armenian Congress of Eastern Armenians]] (unified form of [[Armenian National Council]]s) after the dissolution of the [[Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic]]. [[Tovmas Nazarbekian]] became the first Commander-in-chief of the DRA. Enver Pasha ordered the creation of a new army to be named the [[Ottoman Army of Islam|Army of Islam]]. He ordered the Army of Islam into the DRA, with the goal of taking [[Baku]] on the [[Caspian Sea]]. This new offensive was strongly opposed by the [[German Empire|Germans]]. In early May 1918, the Ottoman army attacked the newly declared DRA. Although the Armenians managed to inflict one defeat on the Ottomans at the [[Battle of Sardarapat]], the Ottoman army won a later battle and scattered the Armenian army. The Republic of Armenia was forced to sign the [[Treaty of Batum]] in June 1918.
====Allied victory: Summer and Autumn 1918====
{{main|Hundred Days Offensive|Weimar Republic}}
[[Image:Battle of St. Mihiel 03.jpg|right|thumb|U.S. engineers returning from the front during the [[Battle of Saint-Mihiel]] in September 1918]]
The Allied counteroffensive, known as the [[Hundred Days Offensive]], began on [[8 August]] [[1918]]. The [[Battle of Amiens]] developed with III Corps [[British Fourth Army|Fourth British Army]] on the left, the [[French First Army|First French Army]] on the right, and the [[Australian Corps|Australian]] and [[Canadian Corps]] spearheading the offensive in the centre through [[Harbonnières]].<ref name="AWMAmiens">[http://www.awm.gov.au/1918/battles/amiens.htm Amiens]</ref><ref>[http://www.awm.gov.au/1918/battles/amiensmap.htm Map]</ref> It involved 414 [[tank]]s of the [[Mark I (tank)|Mark IV]] and [[Mark V (tank)#Mark V series|Mark V]] type, and 120,000 men. They advanced 12 kilometers (7 miles) into German-held territory in just seven hours. [[Erich Ludendorff]] referred to this day as the "Black Day of the German army".<ref name="AWMAmiens" /><ref>[http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/people_ludendorff.html Rickard J. (5 March 2001), "Erich von Ludendorff, 1865-1937, German General" accessed [[2008-02-06]]]</ref>
The Australian-Canadian spearhead at Amiens, a battle that was the beginning of Germany’s downfall,<ref name = "Terraine-Victory">Ordeal Of Victory John Terraine</ref> helped pull the British Armies to the north and the French Armies to the south forward starting the momentum that eventually forced the German Armies back along the western front and into the Hindenburg Line. While German resistance on the [[British Fourth Army]] front at Amiens stiffened, after an advance as far as {{convert|14|mi|km|0}} and brought the battle there to an end, the French Third Army lengthened the Amiens front on [[August 10]], when it was thrown in on the right of the [[French First Army]], and advanced {{convert|4|mi|km|0}} liberating Lassigny in fighting which lasted until the 16th. South of the French Third Army General Mangin (The Butcher) drove his French Tenth Army forward at Soissons on [[August 20]] to capture eight thousand prisoners, two hundred guns and the Aisne heights overlooking and menacing the German position north of the Vesle.<ref name = "Pitt-1918">"1918 The Last Act" Barrie Pitt</ref> Another "Black day" as described by [[Ludendorff]].
Meanwhile General Byng of the Third British Army, reporting that the enemy on his front was thinning in a limited withdrawal, was ordered to attack with 200 tanks toward Bapaume, opening what is known as the Battle of Albert with the specific orders of "To break the enemy's front, in order to outflank the enemies present battle front" (opposite the British Fourth Army at Amiens).<ref name = "Terraine-Victory"/> Allied leaders had now realized that to continue an attack after resistance had hardened was a waste of lives and it was better to turn a line than to try and roll over it. Attacks were being undertaken in quick order to take advantage of the successful advances on the flanks and then broken off when that attack lost its initial impetus.<ref name = "Pitt-1918"/>
The British Third Army's {{convert|15|mi|km|0|sing=on}} front north of Albert progressed after stalling for a day against the main resistance line to which the enemy had withdrawn.<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B02EFD6103BEE3ABC4052DFBE668383609EDE&scp=8&sq=Ludendorff+Amiens+1918&st=p [[Fredrick B. Maurice]], "Foe's Reserves Now Only 16 Divisions; Allies'Counteroffensive Has Reduced Them from 60, Gen. Maurice Says. Ludendorff in Dilemma; He Must Choose Between Giving Up Offensive Projects and Shortening His Line" ''New York Times'' [[1918-08-18]]]</ref> Rawlinson’s [[Fourth British Army]] was able to battle its left flank forward between Albert and the Somme straightening the line between the advanced positions of the Third Army and the Amiens front which resulted in recapturing Albert at the same time.<ref>"1918 The last Act" Barrie Pitt</ref> On [[August 26]] the British First Army on the left of the Third Army was drawn into the battle extending it northward to beyond Arras. The Canadian Corps already being back in the vanguard of the [[First Army]] fought their way from Arras eastward {{convert|5|mi|km|0}} astride the heavily defended Arras-Cambrai before reaching the outer defenses of the Hindenburg line, breaching them on the 28th and 29th. Bapaume fell on the 29th to the New Zealand Division of the Third Army and the Australians, still leading the advance of the Fourth Army, were again able to push forward at Amiens to take Peronne and Mont St. Quentin on August 31. Further south the French First and Third Armies had slowly fought forward while the Tenth Army, who had by now crossed the Ailette and was east of the Chemin des Dames, was now near to the Alberich position of the [[Hindenburg line]].<ref name = "Chron-FWW">Chronicle Of The First World War</ref> During the last week of August the pressure along a {{convert|70|mi|km|0|sing=on}} front against the enemy was heavy and unrelenting. From German accounts, "Each day was spent in bloody fighting against an ever and again on-storming enemy, and nights passed without sleep in retirements to new lines."<ref>The Last Act Barrie Pitt</ref> Even to the north in [[Flanders]] the British Second and Fifth Armies during August and September were able to make progress taking prisoners and positions that were previously denied them.<ref name = "Chron-FWW"/>
[[Image:World War I Observation Balloon HD-SN-99-02269.JPEG|thumb|right|Close-up view of an American major in the basket of an [[observation balloon]] flying over territory near front lines.]]On [[September 2]] the [[Canadian Corps]] outflanking of the [[Hindenburg line]], with the breaching of the [[Wotan Position]], made it possible for the Third Army to advance and sent repercussions all along the Western Front. That same day [[Oberste Heeresleitung|OHL]] had no choice but to issue orders to six armies for withdrawal back into the Hindenburg line in the south, behind the [[Canal Du Nord]] on the Canadian-First Army's front and back to a line east of the Lys in the north, giving up without a fight the salient seized in the previous April.<ref>Nicholson CEF</ref> According to [[Ludendorff]] “We had to admit the necessity…to withdraw the entire front from the Scarpe to the Vesle.”<ref>Ludendorff My War Memories</ref>
In nearly four weeks of fighting since [[August 8]] over 100,000 German prisoners were taken, 75,000 by the BEF and the rest by the French. Since "The Black Day of the German Army" the German High Command realized the war was lost and made attempts for a satisfactory end. The day after the battle Ludenforff told Colonel Mertz "We cannot win the war any more, but we must not lose it either." On [[August 11]] he offered his resignation to the Kaiser, who refused it and replied, "I see that we must strike a balance. We have nearly reached the limit of our powers of resistance. The war must be ended." On [[August 13]] at Spa, Hindenburg, Ludendorff, Chancellor and Foreign minister Hintz agreed that the war could not be ended militarily and on the following day the German Crown Council decided victory in the field was now most improbable. Austria and Hungary warned that they could only continue the war until December and Ludendorff recommended immediate peace negotiations, to which the Kaiser responded by instructing Hintz to seek the Queen of Holland's mediation. Prince Rupprecht warned Prince Max of Baden "Our military situation has deteriorated so rapidly that I no longer believe we can hold out over the winter; it is even possible that a catastrophe will come earlier." On [[September 10]] Hindenburg urged peace moves to Emperor Charles of Austria and Germany appealed to Holland for mediation. On the 14th Austria sent a note to all belligerents and neutrals suggesting a meeting for peace talks on neutral soil and on [[September 15]] Germany made a peace offer to Belgium. Both peace offers were rejected and on [[September 24]] OHL informed the leaders in Berlin that armistice talks were inevitable.<ref name = "Chron-FWW"/>
September saw the Germans continuing to fight strong rear guard actions and launching numerous counter attacks on lost positions, with only a few succeeding and then only temporarily. Contested towns, villages, heights and trenches in the screening positions and outposts of the Hindenburg Line continued to fall to the Allies as well as thousands of prisoners, with the BEF alone taking 30,441 in the last week of September. Further small advances eastward would follow the Third Army victory at Ivincourt on [[September 12]], the Fourth Armies at Epheny on the 18th and the French gain of Essigny Le Grand a day later. On the 24th a final assault by both the British and French on a four mile (6 km) front would come within two miles (3 km) of St. Quentin.<ref name = "Chron-FWW"/> With the outposts and preliminary defensive lines of the Siegfried and Alberich Positions eliminated the Germans were now completely back in the Hindenburg line. With the Wotan position of that line already breached and the Siegfried position in danger of being turned from the north the time had now come for an assault on the whole length of the line.
The Allied [[Meuse-Argonne Offensive|attack on the Hindenburg Line]] began on [[26 September]]. 260,000 U.S. soldiers went "over the top". All initial objectives were captured; the [[U.S. 79th Infantry Division]], which met stiff resistance at [[Montfaucon-d'Argonne|Montfaucon]], took an extra day to capture its objective. The U.S. Army stalled due to supply problems because its inexperienced headquarters had to cope with large units and a difficult landscape.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/bigshow.htm |title=The Meuse-Argonne Offensive: Overview |accessdate=2007-10-30 |format= |work=}}</ref> At the same time, French units broke through in [[Champagne, France|Champagne]] and closed on the Belgian frontier.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} The most significant advance came from Commonwealth units, as they entered Belgium.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} The last Belgian town to be liberated before the armistice was Ghent, which the Germans held as a pivot until Allied artillery was brought up.<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=940DE1DC1239E13ABC4D52DFB7678383609EDE "Ghent Burghers Hail Liberators" ''New York Times'' 1918-11-15]</ref><ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F05E4D61539E13ABC4850DFB6678383609EDE&scp=4&sq=Ghent+1918&st=p "Fall of Ghent Near, German Flank in Peril" ''New York Times'' dateline 1918-10-26, published 1918-10-30]</ref> The German army had to shorten its front and use the Dutch frontier as an anchor to fight rear-guard actions.
By October, it was evident that Germany could no longer mount a successful defence.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} They were increasingly outnumbered, with few new recruits. Rations were cut. Ludendorff decided, on [[1 October]],{{Fact|date=November 2007}} that Germany had two ways out — total annihilation or an armistice. He recommended the latter at a summit of senior German officials. Allied pressure did not let up.
Meanwhile, news of Germany's impending military defeat spread throughout the German armed forces. The threat of [[mutiny]] was rife. Admiral [[Reinhard Scheer]] and Ludendorff decided to launch a last attempt to restore the "valour" of the German Navy. Knowing the government of [[Prince Maximilian of Baden|Max von Baden]] would veto any such action, Ludendorff decided not to inform him. Nonetheless, word of the impending assault reached sailors at [[Kiel]]. Many rebelled and were arrested, refusing to be part of a naval offensive which they believed to be suicidal. Ludendorff took the blame—the Kaiser dismissed him on [[26 October]]. The collapse of the Balkans meant that Germany was about to lose its main supplies of oil and food. The reserves had been used up, but U.S. troops kept arriving at the rate of 10,000 per day.<ref> Stevenson, ''Cataclysm'' (2004) p 383.</ref>
Having suffered over 6 million casualties, Germany moved toward peace. [[Prince Maximilian of Baden|Prince Max von Baden]] took charge of a new government as [[Chancellor of Germany]] to negotiate with the Allies. Negotiations with President Wilson began immediately, in the vain hope that better terms would be offered than with the British and French. Instead Wilson demanded the abdication of the Kaiser. There was no resistance when the [[Social Democratic|social democrat]] [[Philipp Scheidemann]] on [[9 November]] declared Germany to be a republic. Imperial Germany was dead; a new Germany had been born: the [[Weimar Republic]].<ref> Stevenson, ''Cataclysm'' (2004) ch 17.</ref>
====Allied Superiority and the [[Stab-in-the-Back Legend]], November 1918====
In November 1918 the Allies had ample supplies of men and materiel; continuation of the war would have meant the invasion of Germany. This had unforeseeable consequences; some Allied decisionmakers felt the war should be "finished," not just stopped, and many voices on both sides voiced the opinion that the war was not really over. {{Fact|date=May 2008}} But most Allied decisionmakers were eager to see the end of hostilities.
Berlin was almost {{convert|900|mi|km}} from the Western Front; no Allied soldier had ever set foot on German soil in anger, and the Kaiser's armies retreated from the battlefield in good order. Thus many Germans, including [[Adolf Hitler]], were convinced their armies had not really been defeated.
===End of war===
[[Image:Armisticetrain.jpg|thumb|This photograph was taken after reaching an agreement for the armistice that ended World War I. The location is in the forest of [[Compiègne]]. Foch is second from the right. The train carriage seen in the background, where the armistice was signed, later became the setting of France's own armistice in June 1940. The rail car was ultimately destroyed at Berlin when the Allies bombed that city.]]
The collapse of the Central Powers came swiftly. Bulgaria was the first to sign an armistice on [[September 29]] [[1918]] at [[Saloniki]].<ref name = "indiana.edu-1918">{{cite web|url=http://www.indiana.edu/~league/1918.htm|title=1918 Timeline}}</ref> On [[October 30]] the [[Ottoman Empire]] capitulated at [[Mudros]].<ref name = "indiana.edu-1918"/>
On [[October 24]] the Italians began a push which rapidly recovered territory lost after the [[Battle of Caporetto]]. This culminated in the [[Battle of Vittorio Veneto]], which marked the end of the Austro-Hungarian Army as an effective fighting force. The offensive also triggered the disintegration of Austro-Hungarian Empire. During the last week of October declarations of independence were made in Budapest, Prague and Zagreb. On [[October 29]], the imperial authorities asked Italy for an armistice. But the Italians continued advancing, reaching Trento, Udine and Trieste. On [[November 3]] Austria-Hungary sent a [[White flag|flag of truce]] to ask for an [[Armistice]]. The terms, arranged by telegraph with the Allied Authorities in Paris, were communicated to the Austrian Commander and accepted. The [[Armistice with Austria]] was signed in the Villa Giusti, near [[Padua]], on [[November 3]]. Austria and Hungary signed separate armistices following the overthrow of the [[Habsburg monarchy]].
Following the outbreak of the [[German Revolution]], a republic was proclaimed on [[9 November]]. The [[Kaiser]] fled to the Netherlands. On [[November 11]] [[Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)|an armistice with Germany]] was signed in a railroad carriage at [[Compiègne]]. At 11 a.m. on [[November 11]], [[1918]] — the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month — a ceasefire came into effect. Opposing armies on the Western Front began to withdraw from their positions. Canadian [[George Lawrence Price]] is traditionally regarded as the last soldier killed in the Great War: he was shot by a German sniper and died at 10:58.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nwbattalion.com/last.html|title=The Last Hours| The 28th (North-west) Battalion Canadian Corps}}</ref>
A formal state of war between the two sides persisted for another seven months, until signing of the [[Treaty of Versailles]] with Germany on [[June 28]], [[1919]]. Later treaties with Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire were signed. However, the latter treaty with the Ottoman Empire was followed by strife (the [[Turkish Independence War]]) and a final peace treaty was signed between the Allied Powers and the country that would shortly become the [[Republic of Turkey]], at [[Treaty of Lausanne|Lausanne]] on [[July 24]] [[1923]].
Some [[war memorial]]s date the end of the War as being when the Versailles treaty was signed in 1919; by contrast, most commemorations of the War's end concentrate on the armistice of [[November 11]], [[1918]]. Legally the last formal peace treaties were not signed until the Treaty of Lausanne. Under its terms, the Allied forces abandoned [[Constantinople]] on [[23 August]], [[1923]].
{{further|[[World War I casualties]]}}
==Soldiers' experiences==
[[Image:BVRC-Great-War-Contingent 1914.jpg|thumb|right|The First [[Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps]] Contingent, raised in 1914, sent as an extra, 90-man [[company]] to the [[Royal Lincolnshire Regiment|1 Lincolns]] in June, 1915, the first colonial volunteer unit to reach the Front. Its strength rapidly reduced. After losing 50% of its remaining men at [[Gueudecourt]] on 25 September, 1916, the survivors merged with a Second Contingent of thirty-seven, and trained as [[Lewis gun]]ners. By the War's end, the two contingents had lost over 75% of their combined strength. Forty died on active service. 16 were commissioned., one received the [[O.B.E]], and six the [[Military Medal]]]]
The soldiers of the war were initially volunteers, except for [[Italy]], but increasingly were [[conscription|conscripted]] into service. Books such as ''[[All Quiet on the Western Front]]'' detail the mundane time, but also the intense horror, of soldiers that fought the war. Britain's [[Imperial War Museum]] has collected more than 2,500 recordings of soldiers' personal accounts and selected transcripts, edited by military author [[Max Arthur]], have been published. The museum believes that historians have not taken full account of this material and accordingly has made the full archive of recordings available to authors and researchers.<ref>{{cite web
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==Prisoners of war==
[[Image:Indian army soldier after siege of Kut q79446.jpg|left|thumb|This photograph shows an emaciated Indian army soldier who survived the [[Siege of Kut]]]]
About 8 million men surrendered and were held in [[Pow camp|POW camps]] during the war. All nations pledged to follow the Hague Convention on fair treatment of [[prisoners of war]]. In general, a POW's rate of survival was much higher than their peers at the front.<ref>Geo G. Phillimore and Hugh H. L. Bellot, "Treatment of Prisoners of War", ''Transactions of the Grotius Society'' Vol. 5, (1919), pp. 47–64.</ref> Individual surrenders were uncommon. Large units usually surrendered en masse. At the [[Battle of Tannenberg (1914)|Battle of Tannenberg]] 92,000 Russians surrendered. When the besieged garrison of [[Kaunas]] surrendered in 1915, 20,000 Russians became prisoners. Over half of Russian losses were prisoners (as a proportion of those captured, wounded or killed); for Austria 32%, for Italy 26%, for France 12%, for Germany 9%; for Britain 7%. Prisoners from the Allied armies totalled about 1.4 million (not including Russia, which lost between 2.5 and 3.5 million men as prisoners.) From the Central Powers about 3.3 million men became prisoners.<ref>Niall Ferguson, ''The Pity of War'' (1999) pages 368-369</ref>
Germany held 2.5 million prisoners; Russia held 2.9 million and Britain and France held about 720,000. Most were captured just prior to the Armistice. The U.S. held 48,000. The most dangerous moment was the act of surrender, when helpless soldiers were sometimes gunned down.<ref> Dale Blair, ''No Quarter: Unlawful killing and surrender in the Australian war experience, 1915-1918''(2005)</ref><ref>Tim Cook, ''The politics of surrender: Canadian soldiers and the killing of prisoners in the First World War ''The Journal of Military History, Vol.70, No.3, 2006, pp.637-665 </ref> Once prisoners reached a camp, in general, conditions were satisfactory (and much better than in World War II), thanks in part to the efforts of the [[International Red Cross]] and inspections by neutral nations. Conditions were terrible in Russia, [[starvation]] was common for prisoners and civilians alike; about 15–20% of the prisoners in Russia died. In Germany food was in short supply, but only 5% died.<ref>
{{cite book |author=Richard B. Speed, III. |title=Prisoners, Diplomats and the Great War: A Study in the Diplomacy of Captivity |year=1990}}</ref><ref>Ferguson, ''The Pity of War'' (1999) ch 13</ref><ref>Desmond Morton, ''Silent Battle: Canadian Prisoners of War in Germany, 1914-1919'' (1992)</ref>
The Ottoman Empire often treated POWs poorly.<ref name="isbn0-691-09278-8">{{cite book |author=Bass, Gary Jonathan |title=Stay the Hand of Vengeance: The Politics of War Crimes Tribunals |link=http://books.google.com/books?id=M3XeD1OvxRYC |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, N.J |year= |pages=107 |isbn=0-691-09278-8 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref> Some 11,800 British Empire soldiers, most of them Indians, became prisoners after the [[Siege of Kut]], in [[Mesopotamia]], in April 1916; 4,250 died in captivity.<ref>
{{cite web|publisher=British National Archives|title=The Mesopotamia campaign |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/firstworldwar/battles/mesopotamia.htm|accessdate=2007-03-10}}</ref>
Although many were in very bad condition when captured, Ottoman officers forced them to march {{convert|1100|km|mi|0|sing=off}} to [[Anatolia]]. A survivor said: "we were driven along like beasts, to drop out was to die."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/stolenyears/ww1/turkey/story2.asp|publisher=Australian War Memorial|title=Stolen Years: Australian Prisoners of War. Men of Kut ''Driven along like beasts''|accessdate=2007-03-10}} </ref> The survivors were then forced to build a railway through the [[Taurus Mountains]].
In Russia, where the prisoners from the [[Czech Legion]] of the Austro-Hungarian army were released in 1917 they re-armed themselves and briefly became a military and diplomatic force during the Russian Civil War.
==War crimes==
===Genocide===
{{main|Ottoman casualties of World War I}}
{{Seealso|Armenian Genocide|Assyrian Genocide|Pontic Greek Genocide}}
The [[ethnic cleansing]] of the Ottoman Empire's [[Christian]] population, with the most prominent among them being the massacres of [[Armenians]] (similar policies were enacted against the [[Assyrians]] and [[Greeks]]), during the final years of the Ottoman Empire is widely considered [[genocide]].<ref>[http://www.genocidewatch.org/TurkishPMIAGSOpenLetterreArmenia6-13-05.htm Letter] from the [[International Association of Genocide Scholars]] to [[Prime Minister of Turkey|Prime Minister]] [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]], [[June 13]], [[2005]]</ref> The Turks saw the entire Armenian population as an [[Fifth column|enemy]]<ref>Lewy, Guenter, "The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide", p.57</ref> that had chosen to side with Russia during the beginning of the war.<ref>[[Niall Ferguson|Ferguson, Niall]]. ''The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West''. New York: Penguin Press, 2006, p. 177 ISBN 1-5942-0100-5.</ref> The exact number of deaths is unknown although a range of 1.2 to 1.5 million is often given for the deaths of Armenians.<ref>[[Peter Balakian|Balakian, Peter]]. ''The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response''. New York: HarperCollins, 2003, pp. 195-196 ISBN 0-0605-5870-9.</ref> Successive Turkish governments have consistently [[Denial of the Armenian Genocide|rejected]] charges of genocide and of others, often arguing that those who died were simply caught up in the fighting or that killings of Armenians and other Christians were justified by their individual or collective [[treason]].<ref>[[David Fromkin|Fromkin, David]]. ''[[A Peace to End All Peace|A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East]]''. New York: Owl, 1989 pp. 212-215 ISBN 0-8050-6884-8</ref> These claims have often been labeled as [[historical revisionism]] by western scholars.
===Rape of Belgium===
{{main|Rape of Belgium}}
In Belgium, German troops, in fear of French and Belgian guerrilla fighters, or ''[[francs-tireurs]]'', massacred townspeople in [[Andenne]] (211 dead), [[Tamines]] (384 dead), and [[Dinant]] (612 dead). The victims included women and children. On [[25 August]] [[1914]], the Germans set fire to the town of [[Leuven]], burned the library containing about 230,000 books, killed 209 civilians and forced 42,000 to evacuate. These actions brought worldwide condemnation.<ref> Keegan, John. The First World War. 1998. pp82–83</ref>
==Economics and manpower issues==
[[Gross Domestic Product]] (GDP) increased for three Allies (Britain, Italy, and U.S.), but decreased in France and Russia, in neutral Netherlands, and in the main three Central Powers. The shrinkage in GDP in Austria, Russia, France, and the Ottoman Empire reached 30 to 40%. In Austria, for example, most of the pigs were slaughtered and, at war's end, there was no meat.
All nations had increases in the government's share of GDP, surpassing fifty percent in both Germany and France and nearly reaching fifty percent in Britain. To pay for purchases in the United States, Britain cashed in its massive investments in American railroads and then began borrowing heavily on [[Wall Street]]. President Wilson was on the verge of cutting off the loans in late 1916, but allowed a massive increase in [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]] lending to the Allies. After 1919, the U.S. demanded repayment of these loans, which, in part, were funded by German reparations, which, in turn, were supported by American loans to Germany. This circular system collapsed in 1931 and the loans were never repaid.
One of the most dramatic effects was the expansion of governmental powers and responsibilities in Britain, France, the United States, and the [[Dominions]] of the British Empire. In order to harness all the power of their societies, new government ministries and powers were created. New taxes were levied and laws enacted, all designed to bolster the [[war effort]]; many of which have lasted to this day.
At the same time, the war strained the abilities of the formerly large and bureaucratised governments such as in Austria-Hungary and Germany. Here, however, the long-term effects were clouded by the defeat of these governments.
Families were altered by the departure of many men. With the death or absence of the primary wage earner, women were forced into the workforce in unprecedented numbers. At the same time, industry needed to replace the lost laborers sent to war. This aided the struggle for [[suffragette|voting rights for women]].
As the war slowly turned into a [[Attrition warfare|war of attrition]], [[conscription]] was implemented in some countries. This issue was particularly explosive in Canada and Australia. In the former it opened a political gap between French-Canadians — who claimed their true loyalty was to Canada and not the British Empire — and the [[English language|Anglophone]] majority who saw the war as a duty to both Britain and Canada. Prime Minister [[Sir Robert Borden|Robert Borden]] pushed through a [[Military Service Act (Canada)|Military Service Act]], provoking the [[Conscription Crisis of 1917]]. In Australia, a sustained pro-conscription campaign by Prime Minister [[William Morris Hughes|Billy Hughes]], caused a split in the [[Australian Labor Party]] and Hughes formed the [[Nationalist Party of Australia]] in 1917 to pursue the matter. Nevertheless, the [[labour movement]], the [[Catholic Church]], and [[Irish republican|Irish nationalist]] expatriates successfully opposed Hughes' push, which was [[Australian plebiscite, 1917|rejected in two plebiscites]].
In Britain, rationing was finally imposed in early 1918, limited to meat, sugar, and fats (butter and [[Margarine|oleo]]), but not bread. The new system worked smoothly. From 1914 to 1918 trade union membership doubled, from a little over four million to a little over eight million. Work stoppages and strikes became frequent in 1917–18 as the unions expressed grievances regarding prices, alcohol control, pay disputes, fatigue from overtime and working on Sundays and inadequate housing. Conscription put into uniform nearly every physically fit man, six of ten million eligible. Of these, about 750,000 lost their lives and 1,700,000 were wounded. Most deaths were to young unmarried men; however, 160,000 wives lost husbands and 300,000 children lost fathers.<ref>Havighurst p.134-5.</ref>
Britain turned to her colonies for help in obtaining essential war materials whose supply had become difficult from traditional sources. Geologists, such as [[Albert Ernest Kitson]], were called upon to find new resources of precious minerals in the African colonies. Kitson discovered important new deposits of [[manganese]], used in munitions production, in the [[Gold Coast]].<ref>John Frederick Norman Green, 'Obituary: Albert Ernest Kitson', ''Geological Society, Quarterly Journal'' no 94, 1938, p. CXXVI</ref>
==Technology==
{{seealso|Technology during World War I}}
[[Image:Vickers IWW.jpg|thumb|right|[[British Army]] [[Vickers machine gun]].]]
The First World War began as a clash of 20th century [[technology]] and 19th century [[military tactics|tactics]], with inevitably large casualties. By the end of 1917, however, the major armies, now numbering millions of men, had modernised and were making use of [[telephone]], [[Wireless|wireless communication]], [[Armored car (military)|armoured car]]s, [[tanks]], and [[aircraft]]. Infantry formations were reorganised, so that 100-man companies were no longer the main unit of maneuver. Instead, squads of 10 or so men, under the command of a junior NCO, were favoured. Artillery also underwent a revolution.
In 1914, cannons were positioned in the front line and fired directly at their targets. By 1917, [[indirect fire]] with guns (as well as mortars and even machine guns) was commonplace, using new techniques for spotting and ranging, notably aircraft and (often overlooked) field telephone. [[Counter-battery fire|Counter-battery]] missions became commonplace, also, and sound detection was used to locate enemy batteries.
[[Image:Sopwith F-1 Camel.jpg|thumb|right|[[RAF]] [[Sopwith Camel]].]]
Germany was far ahead of the Allies in utilizing heavy indirect fire. She employed 150 and 210 mm [[howitzer]]s in 1914 when the typical French and British guns were only 75 and 105 mm. The British had a 6 [[inch]] (152 mm) howitzer, but it was so heavy it had to be assembled for firing. Germans also fielded Austrian 305 mm and 420 mm guns, and already by the beginning of the war had inventories of various calibers of ''[[Minenwerfer]]'' ideally suited for trench warfare.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mosier |first=John | title=Myth of the Great War: How the Germans Won the Battles and How the Americans Saved the Allies | year=2001 | publisher=Harper Collins | location=New York | id=ISBN 0-06-019676-9 | chapter=Germany and the Development of Combined Arms Tactics | pages=42–48 }}</ref>
Much of the combat involved [[trench warfare]], where hundreds often died for each yard gained. Many of the deadliest battles in history occurred during the First World War. Such battles include [[Passchendaele|Ypres]], the [[First Battle of the Marne|Marne]], [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Cambrai]], the [[Battle of the Somme (1916)|Somme]], [[Battle of Verdun|Verdun]], and [[Battle of Gallipoli|Gallipoli]]. The [[Haber process]] of [[nitrogen fixation]] was employed to provide the German forces with a constant supply of gunpowder, in the face of British naval blockade. Artillery was responsible for the largest number of casualties and consumed vast quantities of explosives. The large number of head-wounds caused by exploding shells and [[Fragmentation (weaponry)|fragmentation]] forced the combatant nations to develop the modern steel [[helmet]], led by the French, who introduced the [[Adrian helmet]] in 1915. It was quickly followed by the [[Brodie helmet]], worn by British Imperial and U.S. troops, and in 1916 by the distinctive German ''[[Stahlhelm]]'', a design, with improvements, still in use today.
[[Image:Nieuport.jpg|right|thumb|French [[Nieuport 17|Nieuport 17 C.1 fighter]], 1917]]
There was [[chemical warfare]] and small-scale [[Aerial bombing of cities|strategic bombing]], both of which were outlawed by the 1907 Hague Conventions, and both proving of limited effectiveness,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/Heller/HELLER.asp |title=Chemical Warfare in World War I |accessdate=2007-10-30 |format= |work=}}</ref> though they captured the public imagination.<ref>Postwar, there were numerous pulp novels on future "gas wars", including ''Ghastly Dew'' ''The Gas War of 19--''.</ref>
The widespread use of chemical warfare was a distinguishing feature of the conflict. Gases used included [[chlorine]], [[mustard gas]] and [[phosgene]]. Only a small proportion of total war casualties were caused by gas. Effective countermeasures to gas attacks were quickly created, such as [[gas mask]]s.
The most powerful land-based weapons were [[railway gun]]s weighing hundreds of tons apiece. These were nicknamed [[Big Bertha]]s, even though the namesake was not a railway gun. Germany developed the [[Paris Gun]], able to bombard Paris from over 100 km (60 mi), though shells were relatively light at 94 kilograms (210 lb). While the Allies had railway guns, German models severely out-ranged and out-classed them.
[[Image:Ilja Muromez.jpg|right|thumb|Russian [[Sikorsky Ilya Muromets|Ilya Muromets]] the world's first strategic bomber, 1913]]
[[Fixed-wing aircraft]] were first used militarily by the Italians in Libya [[23 October]] [[1911]] during the [[Italo-Turkish War]] for reconnaissance, soon followed by the dropping of grenades and [[aerial photography]] the next year. By 1914 the military utility was obvious. They were initially used for [[reconnaissance]] and [[Close air support|ground attack]]. To shoot down enemy planes, anti-aircraft guns and [[fighter aircraft]] were developed. [[Strategic bombers]] were created, principally by the Germans and British, though the former used [[Zeppelin]]s as well.
Towards the end of the conflict, [[aircraft carriers]] were used for the first time, with [[HMS Furious (47)|HMS ''Furious'']] launching [[Sopwith Camels]] in a raid against the Zeppelin hangars at [[Tondern]] in 1918.
[[Image:Armoured car.jpg|thumb|right|Armoured cars]]
German [[U-boat]]s ([[submarines]]) were deployed after the war began. Alternating between restricted and unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic, they were employed by the [[Kaiserliche Marine]] in a strategy to deprive the [[British Isles]] of vital supplies. The deaths of British merchant sailors and the seeming invulnerability of U-boats led to the development of [[depth charges]] (1916), [[hydrophones]] (passive [[sonar]], 1917), [[blimp]]s, [[hunter-killer]] submarines ([[British R class submarine|HMS ''R-1'']], 1917), [[ahead-throwing weapons]], and dipping hydrophones (the latter two both abandoned in 1918). To extend their operations, the Germans proposed supply submarines (1916). Most of these would be forgotten in the [[interwar period]] until World War II revived the need.
Trenches, machineguns, air reconnaissance, barbed wire, and modern artillery with [[fragmentation shell]]s helped bring the battle lines of World War I to a stalemate. The British sought a solution with the creation of the tank and [[mechanised warfare]]. The [[Mark I (tank)|first tanks]] were used during the [[Battle of the Somme]] on [[15 September]] [[1916]]. Mechanical reliability became an issue, but the experiment proved its worth. Within a year, the British were fielding tanks by the hundreds and showed their potential during the [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Battle of Cambrai]] in November 1917, by breaking the Hindenburg Line, while [[combined arms]] teams captured 8000 enemy soldiers and 100 guns. Light [[Automatic firearm|automatic weapons]] also were introduced, such as the [[Lewis Gun]] and [[Browning Automatic Rifle|Browning automatic rifle]].
Manned [[observation balloon]]s, floating high above the trenches, were used as stationary reconnaissance platforms, reporting enemy movements and directing artillery. Balloons commonly had a crew of two, equipped with [[parachute]]s.<ref>Winter, Denis. ''First of the Few''.</ref> In the event of an enemy air attack, the crew could parachute to safety. At the time, parachutes were too heavy to be used by pilots of aircraft (with their marginal power output) and smaller versions would not be developed until the end of the war; they were also opposed by British leadership, who feared they might promote cowardice.<ref name=FullCircle>[[Johnnie Johnson (RAF officer)|Johnson, James Edgar]], ''Full Circle: The Story of Air Fighting'' (2001) ISBN 0304358606</ref> Recognised for their value as observation platforms, balloons were important targets of enemy aircraft. To defend against air attack, they were heavily protected by antiaircraft guns and patrolled by friendly aircraft; to attack them, unusual weapons such as air-to-air rockets were even tried. Blimps and balloons contributed to air-to-air combat among aircraft, because of their reconnaissance value, and to the trench stalemate, because it was impossible to move large numbers of troops undetected. The Germans conducted air raids on England during 1915 and 1916 with airships, hoping to damage British morale and cause aircraft to be diverted from the front lines. The resulting panic took several squadrons of fighters from France.<ref name=FullCircle />
[[Image:Nieuport w Le Prieur rockets.jpg|thumb|Johnson's Nieuport 11 armed with rockets for attacking observation balloons]]
Another new weapon, [[flamethrower]]s, were first used by the German army and later adopted by other forces. Although not of high tactical value, they were a powerful, demoralizing weapon and caused terror on the battlefield. It was a dangerous weapon to wield, as its heavy weight made operators vulnerable targets.
[[Trench railways]] evolved to supply the enormous quantities of food, water, and ammunition required to support large numbers of soldiers in areas where conventional transportation systems had been destroyed. A trench railway system was included in construction of the [[Maginot Line]], but internal combustion engines and improved traction systems for wheeled vehicles rendered trench railways obsolete within a decade.
==Opposition to the war==
{{main|Opposition to World War I}}
The [[trade union]] and [[socialism|socialist]] movements had long voiced their opposition to a war, which they argued, meant only that workers would kill other workers in the interest of [[capitalism]]. Once war was declared, however, many socialists and trade unions backed their governments. Among the exceptions were the [[Bolshevik]]s, the [[Socialist Party of America]], and the [[Italian Socialist Party]], and individuals such as [[Karl Liebknecht]], [[Rosa Luxemburg]] and their followers in Germany. There were also small anti-war groups in Britain and France. Other opposition came from [[conscientious objector]]s - some socialist, some religious - who refused to fight. In Britain 16,000 people asked for conscientious objector status.<ref name="isbn0-691-01232-6">{{cite book |author=Lehmann, Hartmut; Veer, Peter van der |title=Nation and religion: perspectives on Europe and Asia |link=http://books.google.com/books?id=mtGPshIg-TgC |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, N.J |year=1999 |pages=62 |isbn=0-691-01232-6 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref> Many suffered years of prison, including [[solitary confinement]] and bread and water diets. Even after the war, in Britain many job advertisements were marked "No conscientious objectors need apply". Many countries jailed those who spoke out against the conflict. These included [[Eugene Debs]] in the United States and [[Bertrand Russell]] in Britain. In the U.S. the 1917 [[Espionage Act]] effectively made free speech illegal and many served long prison sentences for statements of fact deemed unpatriotic. The [[Sedition Act of 1918]] made any statements deemed "disloyal" a federal crime. Publications at all critical of the government were removed from circulation by postal censors.<ref name = "Karp-PoW-1979"/>
==Aftermath==
{{main|Aftermath of World War I}}
[[Image:Beaumont hamel newfoundland memorial.jpg|thumbnail|left|The [[Beaumont Hamel Newfoundland Memorial]] in the Somme]]
No other war had changed the map of Europe so dramatically — four empires disappeared: the German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and the Russian. Four defunct dynasties, the [[Hohenzollern]]s, the [[Habsburg]], [[Romanov]]s and the [[Ottoman Dynasty|Ottomans]] together with all their ancillary aristocracies, all fell after the war. Belgium was badly damaged, as was France with 1.4 million soldiers dead, not counting other casualties. Germany and Russia were similarly affected. The war had profound economic consequences. In addition, a [[Spanish flu|major influenza epidemic]] that started in [[Western Europe]] in the latter months of the war, killed millions in Europe and then spread around the world. Overall, the [[Spanish flu]] killed at least 50 million people.<ref>
{{cite web|url=http://www.nap.edu/books/0309095042/html/7.html|title=The Threat of Pandemic Influenza: Are We Ready? Workshop Summary |year=2005 |publisher=Board on Global Health |accessdate=2008-03-11
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.influenzareport.com/ir/overview.htm|title=Influenza Report}}</ref>
===Later conflicts===
The end of World War I set the stage for other world conflicts, some of which are continuing into the 21st century. The [[Bolshevik]]s, led by [[Vladimir Lenin]], pushed for socialist revolution. Out of German discontent with the still controversial [[Treaty of Versailles]], [[Adolf Hitler]] was able to gain popularity and power.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/war_end_01.shtml BBC - History - The Ending of World War One, and the Legacy of Peace<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/hitlergainspower.htm The Rise of Hitler<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> [[World War II]] was in part a continuation of the power struggle that was never fully resolved by the First World War; in fact, it was common for Germans in the 1930s and 1940s to justify acts of international aggression because of perceived injustices imposed by the victors of the First World War.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9110199/World-War-II World War II - Britannica Online Encyclopedia<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
The birth of [[Israel]] and the roots of the continuing [[Israeli-Palestinian Conflict]] are partially found in the unstable power dynamics of the [[Middle East]] which were born at the end of World War I.<ref>[http://www.economist.com/countries/Israel/profile.cfm?folder=History%20in%20brief Economist.com | Country Briefings: Israel<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Previous to the end of fighting in the war, the [[Ottoman Empire]] had maintained a modest level of peace and stability throughout the Middle East.<ref>[http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/OTTOMAN/OTTOMAN1.HTM The Ottomans<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> With the end of the war and the fall of Ottoman government, power vacuums developed and conflicting claims to land and nationhood began to emerge.<ref>[http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20080301faessay87203/jerry-z-muller/us-and-them.html Foreign Affairs - Us and Them - Jerry Z. Muller<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Sometimes after only cursory consultation with the local population, the political boundaries drawn by the victors of the First World War were quickly imposed, and in many cases are still problematic in the 21st century struggles for [[national identity]].<ref>[http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199302/kaplan Syria: Identity Crisis<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/900/902/Kamal-Salibi/ How it all began - A concise history of Lebanon<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> While the dissolution of the [[Ottoman Empire]] at the end of World War I was a pivotal milestone in the creation of the modern political situation of the Middle East, including especially the [[Arab-Israeli conflict]],<ref>[http://www.international.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=24920 Future of Iraq, Israel-Palestine Conflict, and Central Asia Weighed at International Conference, UCLA International Institute<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Ottoman.html Ottoman Rule<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=wfIFVze1MqQC&dq=fall+ottoman+empire+israel+palestine&pg=PP1&ots=4yaJpLFPPD&source=citation&sig=ZUc3NVOQe7fifMQhB_9UPZ1zxs4&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=fall+ottoman+empire+israel+palestine&sa=X&oi=print&ct=result&cd=1&cad=bottom-3results#PPA6,M1]</ref> the end of Ottoman rule also spawned lesser known disputes over water and other natural resources.<ref>[http://www.oranim.ac.il/courses/meast/water/Roots%20of%20the%20Water%20Conflict%20in%20the%20Middle%20East.htm Roots of the Water Conflict in the Middle East<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
===Peace treaties===
After the war, the Allies imposed a series of peace treaties on the Central Powers. The 1919 [[Treaty of Versailles]], which Germany was kept under blockade until she signed, ended the war. It declared Germany responsible for the war and required Germany to pay enormous [[war reparations]] and award territory to the victors. Unable to pay them with exports (a result of territorial losses and postwar recession),<ref>Keynes, J.M. ''The Economic Consequences of the Peace'' (New York : Harcourt, 1920).</ref> she did so by borrowing from the United States, until the reparations were suspended in 1931. The "Guilt Thesis" became a controversial explanation of events in Britain and the United States. The Treaty of Versailles caused enormous bitterness in Germany, which nationalist movements, especially the [[Nazi]]s, exploited with a [[conspiracy theory]] they called the [[Dolchstosslegende]]. The treaty contributed to economic collapse of the [[Weimar Republic]] by sparking runaway inflation in the 1920s.
The Ottoman Empire was to be partitioned by the [[Treaty of Sèvres]] in 1920. The treaty, however, was never ratified by the Sultan and was rejected by the [[Turkish republican movement]]. This led to the [[Turkish Independence War]] and, ultimately, to the 1923 [[Treaty of Lausanne]].
Austria-Hungary was also partitioned, largely along ethnic lines. The details were contained in the [[Treaty of Saint-Germain]] and the [[Treaty of Trianon]].
===New national identities===
{{Refimprovesect|date=May 2008}}
[[Poland]] reemerged as an independent country, after more than a century. [[Yugoslavia]] and [[Czechoslovakia]] were entirely new nations. Russia became the [[Soviet Union]] and lost [[Finland]], [[Estonia]], [[Lithuania]] and [[Latvia]], which became independent countries. The Ottoman Empire was soon replaced by [[Turkey]] and several other countries in the Middle East.
In the British Empire, the war unleashed new forms of nationalism. In [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]] the [[Battle of Gallipoli]] became known as those nations' "Baptism of Fire". It was the first major war in which the newly established countries fought and it was one of the first times that Australian troops fought as Australians, not just subjects of the [[British Crown]]. [[Anzac Day]], commemorating the [[Australian and New Zealand Army Corps]], celebrates this defining moment.
After the [[Battle of Vimy Ridge]], where the Canadian divisions fought together for the first time as a single corps, Canadians began to refer to theirs as a nation "forged from fire". Having succeeded on the same battleground where the "mother countries" had previously faltered, they were for the first time respected internationally for their own accomplishments. Having entered the war as a Dominion of the British Empire, by its end Canada emerged as a fully independent nation.<ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/09/babcock-citizen.html "Canada's last WW1 vet gets his citizenship back"] ''CBC News'' [[2008-05-09]]</ref> While the other Dominions were represented by Britain, Canada was an independent negotiator and signatory of the [[Versailles Treaty]].
===Social trauma===
{{Refimprove|section|date=January 2008}}
The experiences of the war led to a collective trauma for all participating countries. The [[optimism]] of the 1900s was gone and those who fought in the war became known as the [[Lost Generation]]. For the next few years, much of Europe mourned. Memorials were erected in thousands of villages and towns. The soldiers returning home from World War I suffered greatly from the horrors they had witnessed. Many returning veterans suffered from [[post-traumatic stress disorder]], called [[shell shock]] at the time.
The social trauma caused by years of fighting manifested itself in different ways. Some people were revolted by [[nationalism]] and its results, and so they began to work toward a more [[internationalism (politics)|internationalist]] world, supporting organisations such as the [[League of Nations]]. [[Pacifism]] became increasingly popular. Others had the opposite reaction, feeling that only strength and military might could be relied upon in a chaotic and inhumane world. [[Anti-modernism|Anti-modernist]] views were an outgrowth of the many changes taking place in society. The rise of [[Nazism]] and [[fascism]] included a revival of the nationalist spirit and a rejection of many post-war changes. Similarly, the popularity of the [[Stab-in-the-back legend|''Dolchstosslegende'']] ("stab-in-the-back legend") was a testament to the [[Mental health|psychological state]] of defeated Germany and was a rejection of responsibility for the conflict. The [[conspiracy theory]] of betrayal became common and the German public came to see themselves as victims. The ''Dolchstosslegende'''s popular acceptance in Germany played a significant role in the rise of Nazism. A sense of disillusionment and [[cynicism]] became pronounced, with [[nihilism]] growing in popularity. This disillusionment for humanity found a cultural climax with the [[Dada]]ist [[Art movement|artistic movement]]. Many believed the war heralded the end of the world as they had known it, including the collapse of [[capitalism]] and [[imperialism]]. [[Communist]] and [[socialist]] movements around the world drew strength from this theory and enjoyed a level of popularity they had never known before. These feelings were most pronounced in areas directly or harshly affected by the war.<ref>Baker, Kevin [http://harpers.org/StabbedInTheBack.html Stabbed in the Back! The past and future of a right-wing myth] Harper's Magazine, June 2006</ref><ref>Chickering, Rodger, ''Imperial Germany and the Great War, 1914-1918." Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 2004</ref>
[[Image:JohnMcCraeportrait.jpg|thumb|right|Lt. Col. [[John McCrae]] of Canada, who wrote the poem "[[In Flanders Fields]]", died in 1918 of [[pneumonia]]]]
On [[May 3]], [[1915]], during the [[Second Battle of Ypres]], Lieutenant Alexis Helmer was killed. At his graveside, his friend [[John McCrae]], M.D., of [[Guelph, Ontario]], Canada wrote the memorable poem ''[[In Flanders Fields]]'' as a salute to those who perished in the Great War. Published in [[Punch Magazine|''Punch'']] on [[December 8]], [[1915]], it is still recited today, especially on [[Armistice Day|Remembrance Day]] and [[Memorial Day]].<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10200|title=John McCrae (from Historica)
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&ArticleId=A0004849 |author=Evans David |title=John McCrae (from the Canadian Encyclopedia)
}}</ref>
==Other names==
Before World War II, the war was also known as ''The Great War'', ''The World War'', ''The War to End All Wars'', ''The Kaiser's War'', ''The War of the Nations'' and ''The War in Europe''. In France and Belgium it was sometimes referred to as ''La Guerre du Droit'' (''the War for Justice'') or ''La Guerre Pour la Civilisation'' / ''de Oorlog tot de Beschaving'' (''the War to Preserve Civilization''), especially on medals and commemorative monuments. The term used by official histories of the war in Britain and Canada is ''The First World War'', while American histories generally use the term ''World War I''.
German biologist and philosopher [[Ernst Haeckel]] wrote this shortly after the start of the war:
{{cquote|There is no doubt that the course and character of the feared "European War"...will become the first world war the full sense of the word.
''[[Indianapolis Star]]'' [[September 20]] [[1914]]<ref>"The Yale Book of Quotations" (2006) [[Yale University Press]], edited by Fred R. Shapiro </ref>}}
This is the first known instance of the term ''First World War'', which previously had been dated to 1931 for the earliest usage. The term was used again near the end of the war. [[The Times]] journalist Colonel [[Charles à Court Repington|Charles A. Repington]] (1858–1925) wrote:
{{cquote|[''Diary entry, [[September 10]] [[1918]]'']: We discussed the right name of the war. I said the we called it now ''The War'', but that this could not last. The Napoleonic War was ''The Great War.'' To call it ''The German War'' was too much flattery for the Boche. I suggested ''The World War'' as a shade better title, and finally we mutually agreed to call it ''The First World War'' in order to prevent the millennium folk from forgetting that the history of the world was the history of war.<ref>''"The First World War, 1914–1918" (1920)'' "The Yale Book of Quotations" (2006) [[Yale University Press]], edited by Fred R. Shapiro </ref>}}
In many European countries, it appears the current usage is tending back to calling it ''The Great War'' / ''la Grande Guerre'' / ''de Grote Oorlog'' / ''der Große Krieg'', because of the growing historical awareness that, of the two 20th century world wars, the 1914–1918 conflict caused more social, economic and political upheaval. It was also one of the prime factors in the outbreak of the Second World War.
==Historical era==
{{start box}}
{{succession box|title=[[World History]]|before=[[Colonisation]]|after=[[Interbellum|Interwar Period]]|years=1914–1918}}
{{end box}}
==See also==
{{Portal|World War I|Fokker_Dr._I_(117710246).jpg}}
{{wikisource|Wikisource:World War I|World War I}}
*[[Timeline of World War I]]
*[[Surviving veterans of World War I]]
*[[War memorials]]
*[[World War I casualties]]
*[[World War One - Medal Abbreviations]]
*[[List of people associated with World War I]]
*[[List of wars and disasters by death toll|List of wars by death toll]]
*[[Technology during World War I]]
*[[Russian Civil War]]
*[[List of wars]]
*[[World War II]]
*[[Room 40]]
===Media===
{{multi-video start}}
{{multi-video item|filename=Bombers of WW1.ogg|title=Bombers of WWI|description= Video clip of allied bombing runs over German lines.|format=[[Theora]]}}
{{multi-video item|filename=Tanks of WWI.ogg|title=Tanks of WWI|description=Primitive WWI tanks help the Allies with an advance in Langres, France (1918).|format=[[Theora]]}}
{{multi-video end}}
===Animated maps===
*[http://www.the-map-as-history.com/demos/tome06/ An animated map "Europe plunges into war"]
*[http://www.the-map-as-history.com/demos/tome03/ An animated map of Europe at the end of the First World War]
==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}
==References==
{{seealso|List of World War I books}}
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |author=[[American Battle Monuments Commission]] |title=American armies and battlefields in Europe: a history, guide, and reference book |publisher=U.S.G.P.O. |year=1938 |url=http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/publications_detail.aspx?p=31 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=[[American Battle Monuments Commission]] |title=American armies and battlefields in Europe : a history, guide, and reference book |publisher=U.S.G.P.O. |year=1938 |url=http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/ww1/maps.aspx |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |title=Army art of World War I |publisher=U.S. Army Center of Military History: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History |year=1993 |url=http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/publications_detail.aspx?p=28 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=Coffman Edward M |title=The War to End All Wars: The American Military Experience in World War I |year=1998 |isbn=0813109558}}
* {{cite book |author=Cruttwell Charles Robert Mowbray Fraser |title=A History of the Great War, 1914–1918 |originalyear=1934 |year=2007 |isbn=0897333152}} general military history
* {{cite book |author=[[Modris Eksteins|Eksteins Modris]] |title=Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age |year=1989 |isbn=0593018621}} an analysis of cultural changes before, during, and after the war
* {{cite book |author=Ellis John, Cox Michael |title=The World War I Databook: The Essential Facts and Figures for All the Combatants |year=2002 |isbn=1854107666}}
* {{cite book |author=Esposito Vincent J |title=The West Point Atlas of American Wars: 1900–1918 |year=1997 |url= http://www.dean.usma.edu/history/web03/atlases/great%20war/great%20war%20index.htm |isbn=}} despite the title covers entire war
* {{cite book |author=Falls Cyril |title=The Great War |year=1960 |publisher=Capricorn |isbn=0399501002}} general military history
* {{cite book |author=Fussell Paul |title=The Great War and Modern Memory |year=1975 |isbn=}} on literature
* {{cite book |author=Gray Edwyn A |title=The U-Boat War, 1914–1918 |year=1994 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=Haber LF |title=The Poisonous Cloud: Chemical Warfare in the First World War |year=1986 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=Halpern Paul G |title=A Naval History of World War I |year=1995 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=Hardach Gerd |title=The First World War 1914–1918 |year=1977 |isbn=}} economics
* {{cite book |author=Henig Ruth |title=The Origins of the First World War |year=2002 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=Herrmann David G |title=The Arming of Europe and the Making of the First World War |year=1996 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=Herwig Holger H |title=The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914–1918 |year=1996 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=Higham Robin and Dennis E. Showalter, eds. |title=Researching World War I: A Handbook |year=2003 |isbn=}}, historiography, stressing military themes
* {{cite book |author=Howard Michael |title=The First World War |year=2002 |pages=175 |isbn=}}, general military history
* {{cite book |author=Hubatsch Walther |title=Germany and the Central Powers in the World War, 1914–1918 |year=1963 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=Joll James |title=The Origins of the First World War |year=1984 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=[[John Keegan|Keegan John]] |title=The First World War |year=1999 |isbn=}}, general military history
* {{cite book |author=Karp Walter |title=The Politics of War |year=1979 |isbn=}}, Wilson's maneuvering U.S. into war
* {{cite book |author=Kennedy David M |title=Over Here: The First World War and American Society |year=1982 |isbn=}}, covers politics & economics & society
* {{cite book |author=Kennett Lee B |title=The First Air War, 1914–1918 |year=1992 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=Lee Dwight E (ed.) |title=The Outbreak of the First World War: Who Was Responsible? |year=1958 |isbn=}}, readings from multiple points of view
* {{cite book |author=Lyons Michael J |title=World War I: A Short History |edition=2nd Edition |publisher=Prentice Hall |year=1999 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=Morton Desmond, and [[Jack Granatstein|Granatstein JL]] |title=Marching to Armageddon: Canadians and the Great War 1914–1919 |year=1989 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=Pope Stephen, Wheal Elizabeth-Anne (eds.) |title=The Macmillan Dictionary of the First World War |year=1995 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=Robbins Keith |title=The First World War |year=1993 |isbn= }}, short overview
* {{cite book |author=Silkin Jon ed. |title=The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry |edition=2nd ed. |year=1997 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=[[David Stevenson (WW1 historian)|Stevenson David]] |title=Cataclysm: The First World War As Political Tragedy |year=2004 |pages=560pp |isbn=}}, major reinterpretation
* {{cite book |author=[[David Stevenson (WW1 historian)|Stevenson David]] |title=The First World War and International Politics |year=2005 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=Stokesbury James |title=A Short History of World War I |year=1981 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=[[Hew Strachan|Strachan Hew]] |title=The First World War: Volume I: To Arms |year=2004 |isbn=}}: the major scholarly synthesis. Thorough coverage of 1914; Also:
* {{cite book |author=[[Hew Strachan|Strachan Hew]] |title=The First World War |year=2004 |isbn=}}: a 385pp version of his multivolume history
* {{cite book |author=[[A.J.P. Taylor|Taylor AJP]] |title=The First World War: An Illustrated History |publisher=Hamish Hamilton |year=1963 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=[[Barbara Tuchman|Tuchman Barbara]] |title=[[The Guns of August]] |isbn=}}, tells of the opening diplomatic and military manoeuvres
* {{cite book |author=[[Spencer Tucker|Tucker Spencer]], ed. |title=The Encyclopedia of World War I: A Political, Social, and Military History |year=2005 |volumes=5 |isbn=}}, online at eBook.com
* {{cite book |author=Tucker Spencer, ed. |title=European Powers in the First World War: An Encyclopedia |year=1999 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=[[Anne Venzon|Venzon Anne]] ed. |title=The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia |year=1995 |isbn=}}
* {{cite book |author=[[Jay Winter|Winter Jay M]] |title=The Experience of World War I |edition=2nd ed |year=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0195207769}}, topical essays; well illustrated
* {{cite book |author=[[Dan van der Vat|van der Vat Dan]] |title=The Atlantic Campaign |year=1988 |isbn=0586206957}} Connects submarine and antisubmarine operations between wars, and suggests a continuous war
* Price Alfred, Dr. ''Aircraft'' versus ''the Submarine''. Deals with technical developments, including the first dipping hydrophones
* {{Harvard reference
| Surname1 = Dignan
| Given1 = Don
| Year = 1971
| Title = The Hindu Conspiracy in Anglo-American Relations during World War I. The Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 40, No. 1. (Feb., 1971), pp. 57-76.
| URL =
| Publisher = University of California Press
| issn = 0030-8684
}}.
* {{Harvard reference
| Surname1 = Fraser
| Given1 = Thomas G
| Year = 1977
| Title = Germany and Indian Revolution, 1914-18. Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Apr., 1977), pp. 255-272.
| URL =
| Publisher = Sage Publications
| issn = 00220094
}}
* {{Harvard reference
| Surname1 = Hughes
| Given1 = Thomas L
| Year = 2002
| Title = The German Mission to Afghanistan, 1915-1916.German Studies Review, Vol. 25, No. 3. (Oct., 2002), pp. 447-476.
| URL =
| Publisher = German Studies Association
| issn = 01497952
}}
* {{Harvard reference
| Surname1 = Herbert
| Given1 = Edwin
| Year = 2003
| Title = Small Wars and Skirmishes 1902-1918: Early Twentieth-century Colonial Campaigns in Africa, Asia and the Americas
| URL =
| Publisher = Nottingham, Foundry Books Publications.
| isbn = 1901543056
}}
{{refend}}
===Western Front===
====American Operations====
* [[American Battle Monuments Commission]], "[http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/maps_detail.aspx?m=24 American operations in the Aisne-Marne region: May 31–October 12, 1918]"
* [[American Battle Monuments Commission]], "[http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/maps_detail.aspx?m=25 American operations in the St. Mihiel region: September 12–November 11, 1918]"
* [[American Battle Monuments Commission]], "[http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/maps_detail.aspx?m=25 The Meuse-Argonne offensive of the American First Army: September 26–November 11, 1918]"
==Literature and movies==
<!--these lists are too long already, please make any additions in the linked list articles rather than here-->
<!--in chronological order-->
{{main|Literature of World War I|Media of World War I}}
===Poetry and songs (contemporary)===
*''[[In Flanders Fields]]'' (1915), poem by [[John McCrae]] [http://www.english.emory.edu/LostPoets/McCrae.html]
*''[[On Receiving News of the War]]'' (1914), poem by [[Isaac Rosenberg]]
*''[[It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary]]'' (1914), song by [[Jack Judge|Jack Judge (1878–1938)]] [http://nla.gov.au/nla.mus-an5444974 - sheet music]
*''[[Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag]]'' (1916), song by [[Felix Powell|Felix Powell (1878–1942)]] and [[George Henry Powell|George Asaf (1880–1951)]] [http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/content/collections/chorus/song5.ram - RealAudio]
*''[[Keep the Home Fires Burning]]'' (1916), song by [[Ivor Novello]] and [[Lena Guilbert Ford]]
*[http://book.ellawheelerwilcox.org/hellob.htm ''Hello Boys!'' (1919)], poems by [[Ella Wheeler Wilcox]]
*''[[There's A Long Long Trail A-Winding]] 1916
*''[[Anthem for Doomed Youth]]'' (1917), poem by [[Wilfred Owen]]
*''[[Dulce et Decorum Est]]'' (1917), poem by [[Wilfred Owen]]
*[[Disabled (poem)|''Disabled'']] (1917), poem by [[Wilfred Owen]]
*''[[Over There]]'' (1917), song by [[George M. Cohan]]
*[[They (poem)|''They'']] (1918), poem by [[Siegfried Sassoon]]
*''[[Base details]]'' (1918), poem by [[Siegfried Sassoon]]
*''The [[Rose of No Man's Land]]'' (1918), song by [[Jack Caddigan]] and [[James Alexander Brennan]] [http://nla.gov.au/nla.mus-an5420808 - sheet music]
===Poetry and songs (latter day)===
*"[[And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda]]" (1972), song by [[Eric Bogle]]
*"[[No Man's Land (Eric Bogle song)|No Man's Land]]" (also known as ''The Green Fields of France'' and ''Willie McBride'') (1976), song by [[Eric Bogle]]
*"[[Christmas In The Trenches (John McCutcheon Song)|Christmas in the Trenches]]" (1984) by [[John McCutcheon]]
*"[[All Together Now (The Farm song)|All Together Now]]" (1990), Song by [[The Farm (band)|The Farm]]
*"[[The Dream of the Blue Turtles|Children's Crusade]]" (2000), Song by [[Sting (musician)|Sting]]
*"[[Paschendale (song)|Paschendale]]" (2003), Song by [[Iron Maiden]]
===Books===
====Nonfiction====
*[[The Storm of Steel|''Storm of Steel'']], autobiography of [[Ernst Jünger]]. First published 1920 and revised several times through 1961
*''[[Seven Pillars of Wisdom]]'' (1922), by [[T. E. Lawrence]]
*''[[Testament of Youth]]'' (1933), memoir by [[Vera Brittain]]
*''Infanterie greift an ([[Infantry Attacks]])'' (1937), military textbook by [[Erwin Rommel]]
*''[[Goodbye to All That]]'' (1929), autobiography of [[Robert Graves]]
*''[[Hussar's Picture Book]]'' (1972), memoir by [[Pál Kelemen]]
* ''Padre E. C. Crosse and 'the Devonshire Epitaph': The Astonishing Story of One Man at the Battle of the Somme (with Antecedents to Today's 'Just War' Dialogue)'' (2007), research by [[David Roberts MacDonald]] ISBN 978-1-929569-45-8 [[Cloverdale Books]]
* {{gutenberg|11571}}, Punch magazine's history
====Fiction====
*''[[Under Fire (novel)|Le Feu (Under Fire)]]'' (1916), semi-autobiographical novel by [[Henri Barbusse]]
*''[[Rilla of Ingleside]]'' (1920), novel by [[L.M. Montgomery]], an account of the war as experienced by Canadian women of the time.
*''[[Three Soldiers]]'' (1921), novel by [[John Dos Passos]]
*''[[One of Ours]]'' (1922), novel by [[Willa Cather]]
*''[[The Good Soldier Švejk]]'' (1923), satirical novel by [[Jaroslav Hašek]]
*''[[All Quiet on the Western Front]]'' (1929), novel written by [[Erich Maria Remarque]]
*''[[Death of a Hero]]'' (1929), novel by [[Richard Aldington]]
*''[[A Farewell to Arms]]'' (1929), novel by [[Ernest Hemingway]]
*[[Sherston trilogy|''The Memoirs of George Sherston'']] semi-autobiographical series of three novels by [[Siegfried Sassoon]]
*''[[Paths of Glory]]'' (1935), novel by [[Humphrey Cobb]]
*[[Johnny Got His Gun]] (1939), novel by [[Dalton Trumbo]] later turned into a [[Johnny Got His Gun (film)|film]] directed by the author.
* [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Main_coupée La Main coupée (1946)] by [[Blaise Cendrars]].
*''[[Joe's War: Memoirs of a Doughboy]]'' (1983), autobiography by [[Joseph N. Rizzi]]
*[[Regeneration (novel)|''Regeneration'']] (1991), ''[[The Eye in the Door]]'', (1993); ''[[The Ghost Road]]'', (1995) novels by [[Pat Barker]]; also Life Class.
*[[Birdsong (novel)|''Birdsong'']] (1993), novel by [[Sebastian Faulks]]
*''No Graves As Yet'' (2003), first volume of a trilogy of novels by [[Anne Perry]]
*''[[Deafening]]'' (2003), novel written by [[Frances Itani]]
*''A Long, Long Way'' (2005), novel by [[Sebastian Barry]]
*''[[To the Last Man]]'' (2005), novel by [[Jeff Shaara]]
*''Turn Right at Istanbul'' novel by Tony Wright
*''[[Three Day Road]]'' novel by [[Joseph Boyden]]
*''A World Undone'' (2006), novel by G. J. Meyer
===Films, plays, and television series and mini-series===
*[[The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (film)|''The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'']] (1921), movie directed by [[Rex Ingram (director)|Rex Ingram]], from a novel by [[Vicente Blasco Ibáñez]]
*[[Mare Nostrum (film)|''Mare Nostrum'']] (1926), movie directed by Rex Ingram, from a novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
*[[Wings (film)|''Wings'']] (1927), directed by [[William A. Wellman]], tells the story about two fighter pilots; only [[Silent film|silent movie]] to win the Academy Oscar
*''[[Journey's End]]'' (1928), play by [[R. C. Sherriff]]
*''[[All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 film)|All Quiet on the Western Front]]'' (1930), movie directed by [[Lewis Milestone]], from the novel by [[Erich Maria Remarque]] (1929)
*''[[Hell's Angels (film)|''Hell's Angels'']] (1930), movie directed by [[Howard Hughes]]
*''[[Grand Illusion (film)|''Grand Illusion'']] (1937), directed by [[Jean Renoir]]
*''[[Sergeant York]]'' (1941), movie directed by [[Howard Hawks]]
*''[[Yankee Doodle Dandy]]'' (1942), directed by [[Michael Curtiz]]
*''[[Paths of Glory]]'' (1957), movie directed by [[Stanley Kubrick]], based on the novel by [[Humphrey Cobb]] (1935)
*''[[Marš na Drinu]]'' (1961), Serbian [[war film]] about a Serbian artillery battalion in the [[Battle of Cer]]
*''[[Lawrence of Arabia]]'' (1962), movie covering events surrounding [[T. E. Lawrence]] in the pan-Arabian Theater, starring [[Peter O'Toole]], [[Alec Guinness]], [[Anthony Quinn]], and [[Omar Sharif]] and directed by [[David Lean]]
*[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057801/ ''World War I''] (1964), [[CBS News]] documentary narrated by [[Robert Ryan]]
*[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057753/ The Great War] (1964), TV series by [[Correlli Barnett]] and others of [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ BBC]
*[[Doctor Zhivago (1965 film)|''Doctor Zhivago'']] (1965), movie by [[David Lean]], based on the novel by [[Boris Pasternak]], deals with Russia's involvement in the war and how it led to that country's Revolution.
*''[[The Blue Max]]'' (1966), movie directed by [[John Guillermin]], titled after the Prussian [[Military decoration|military award]], or [[Pour le Mérite]]
*''[[Oh! What a Lovely War]]'' (1969), movie directed by [[Richard Attenborough]], from the 1963 [[Musical theatre|musical play]] by [[Joan Littlewood]]
*''[[Johnny Got His Gun (film)|Johnny Got His Gun]]'' (1971), movie of the [[Johnny Got His Gun|book]] directed by the book's author [[Dalton Trumbo]]
*[[Gallipoli (1981 film)|''Gallipoli'']] (1981), movie directed by [[Peter Weir]]
*''[[Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme]]'', (1985), play by [[Frank McGuinness]]
*''[[The Lighthorsemen]]'' (1987), movie directed by [[Simon Wincer]]
*''[[Blackadder Goes Forth]]'' (1989), TV series by [[Richard Curtis]] and [[Ben Elton]]
*[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115193/ ''The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century''] (1996), [[PBS]] narrated by [[Judi Dench]]
*''[[Capitaine Conan]]'' (1996), movie directed by [[Bertrand Tavernier]]
*[[Regeneration (novel)|''Regeneration'']] (1997), movie directed by [[Gillies MacKinnon]], from a novel by [[Pat Barker]] (1991)
*''[[The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles]]'' (1992), television series in which the title character joins the Belgian army and participates in many major battles and events of the war.
*''[[The Lost Battalion]]'' (2001), movie and screenplay directed by [[Russell Mulcahy]]
*''[[A Very Long Engagement]]'' (2004), movie directed by [[Jean-Pierre Jeunet]], based on the novel by [[Sebastien Japrisot]] (1991)
*''[[Joyeux Noël]]'' (2005), Based on the 1914 [[Christmas truce]].
*[[Passchendaele (film)|''Passchendaele'']] (2006), movie directed by and starring [[Paul Gross]]
*''[[Flyboys]]'' (2006), Movie directed by [[Tony Bill]], tells the story of American pilots who volunteered for the [[Military of France|French military]] before America entered World War I.
*''[[My Boy Jack]]'' (2007), Movie about a British boy named Jack Kipling (son of the poet [[Rudyard Kipling|Rudyard]]) and his war service.
==External links==
{{Spoken Wikipedia-3|2006-06-24|World_War_I_(part_1).ogg|World_War_I_(part_2).ogg|World_War_I_(part_3).ogg}}
*[http://www.firstworldwar.com/ A multimedia history of World War I]
*[http://www.karalahana.net/fotograf/thumbnails.php?album=85 World War I rare Photograph album]
*[http://www.greatwar.nl/ The Heritage of the Great War, Netherlands]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/10/98/world_war_i/198172.stm The War to End All Wars on BBC]
*[http://www.cwgc.org/ The Commonwealth War Graves Commission]
*[http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/ww1/ World War I : Soldiers Remembered] Presented by the Washington State Library and Washington State Archives
*[http://www.remuseum.org.uk/corpshistory/rem_corps_part14.htm Royal Engineers Museum] Royal Engineers and the First World War
*[http://www.greatwarmap.com/ World War 1 Atlas] A day-by-day map of the First World War
*[http://www.gettysburg.edu/special_collections/collections/manuscripts/collections/ms048.dot WWI Service Questionnaires at Gettysburg College]
*[http://www.theblackvault.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=thumbnails&album=4 Collection of World War I Color Photographs]
{{World War I}}
[[Category:World War I| ]]
[[Category:Wars involving the states and peoples of Europe]]
[[Category:Global conflicts]]
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[[az:Birinci dünya müharibəsi]]
[[be:Першая сусветная вайна]]
[[be-x-old:Першая сусьветная вайна]]
[[bs:Prvi svjetski rat]]
[[br:Brezel-bed kentañ]]
[[bg:Първа световна война]]
[[ca:Primera Guerra Mundial]]
[[cv:Пĕрремĕш Тĕнче вăрçи]]
[[cs:První světová válka]]
[[cy:Y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf]]
[[da:1. verdenskrig]]
[[de:Erster Weltkrieg]]
[[et:Esimene maailmasõda]]
[[el:Α΄ Παγκόσμιος Πόλεμος]]
[[eml:Prémma guèra mundièl]]
[[es:Primera Guerra Mundial]]
[[ext:I Guerra Mundial]]
[[eo:Unua mondmilito]]
[[eu:Lehen Mundu Gerra]]
[[fa:جنگ جهانی اول]]
[[fr:Première Guerre mondiale]]
[[fy:Earste Wrâldkriich]]
[[fur:Prime vuere mondiâl]]
[[ga:An Chéad Chogadh Domhanda]]
[[gd:An Cogadh Mòr]]
[[gl:Primeira Guerra Mundial]]
[[ko:제1차 세계 대전]]
[[hi:प्रथम विश्वयुद्ध]]
[[hr:Prvi svjetski rat]]
[[io:Unesma Mondo-milito]]
[[id:Perang Dunia I]]
[[ia:Prime Guerra Mundial]]
[[is:Fyrri heimsstyrjöldin]]
[[it:Prima guerra mondiale]]
[[he:מלחמת העולם הראשונה]]
[[kn:ಮೊದಲನೇ ಮಹಾಯುದ್ಧ]]
[[ka:პირველი მსოფლიო ომი]]
[[sw:Vita Kuu ya Kwanza ya Dunia]]
[[la:Bellum Orbis Terrarum I]]
[[lv:Pirmais pasaules karš]]
[[lb:Éischte Weltkrich]]
[[lt:Pirmasis pasaulinis karas]]
[[hu:Első világháború]]
[[mk:Прва Светска војна]]
[[ml:ഒന്നാം ലോകമഹായുദ്ധം]]
[[mr:पहिले महायुद्ध]]
[[ms:Perang Dunia I]]
[[mn:Дэлхийн нэгдүгээр дайн]]
[[nah:Īyāōyo in Cemānāhuac Inic Cē]]
[[nl:Eerste Wereldoorlog]]
[[ja:第一次世界大戦]]
[[no:Første verdenskrig]]
[[nn:Den fyrste verdskrigen]]
[[nrm:Preunmié Dgèrre Mondiale]]
[[oc:Primièra Guèrra Mondiala]]
[[om:Warrana Adunya 1]]
[[nds:Eerste Weltkrieg]]
[[pl:I wojna światowa]]
[[pt:Primeira Guerra Mundial]]
[[crh:Birinci Cian cenki]]
[[ksh:Eezte Weltkreech]]
[[ro:Primul Război Mondial]]
[[qu:Huk ñiqin pachantin maqanakuy]]
[[ru:Первая мировая война]]
[[sc:Prima Gherra Mundiale]]
[[sq:Lufta e Parë Botërore]]
[[scn:Prima Guerra Munniali]]
[[simple:World War I]]
[[sk:Prvá svetová vojna]]
[[sl:Prva svetovna vojna]]
[[so:Dagaalkii koowaad]]
[[sr:Први светски рат]]
[[sh:Prvi svjetski rat]]
[[su:Perang Dunya I]]
[[fi:Ensimmäinen maailmansota]]
[[sv:Första världskriget]]
[[tl:Unang Digmaang Pandaigdig]]
[[ta:முதல் உலகப் போர்]]
[[th:สงครามโลกครั้งที่หนึ่ง]]
[[vi:Đệ nhất thế chiến]]
[[tr:I. Dünya Savaşı]]
[[uk:Перша світова війна]]
[[ur:پہلی جنگ عظیم]]
[[vec:Prima guera mondiałe]]
[[wa:Prumire guere daegnrece]]
[[vls:Êestn Weireldoorloge]]
[[yi:ערשטע וועלט מלחמה]]
[[zh-yue:第一次世界大戰]]
[[bat-smg:Pėrma svieta vaina]]
[[zh:第一次世界大战]]