Jacques Jones

April 21, 2007

World War I

World War I took place between 1914 and 1918 in Europe. Millions of civilians

and soldiers died. World War I is also known as WWI, the Great War, the First World War

and “The War to End All Wars.” The 20th century was greatly impacted by the war.

The Central Powers, which was composed of Austria-Hungary, Germany, and the

Ottoman Empire, was defeated by the Allied Powers, made up of Italy, France, Russia,

the United Kingdom and the United States.

There are many reasons World War I begin in 1914. The main reasons are listed

below.

• Britain and Germany were competing to have the most powerful navy in the

world. This caused tension in Europe.

• The French were distrustful of the Germans as a result of the war in 1870-1871

that the Germans had won.

• Nationalism. People across the world were very eager to let the rest of the world

know how strong and important their country was. They thought that they’d be

able to win a war very easily if there was one.

• A desire for independence. Many people in Europe lived in countries that were

part of empires. They didn’t like being ruled by people with different religions

and languages and this led to conflicts that involved other nations.

• The alliance systems set up to prevent war meant that any major disputes would

inevitably lead to a large rather than small conflict.

 Jacques Jones
April 21, 2007
• The assassination of Archduke Fran Ferdinand in Sarajevo. He was the heir to the

Austrian throne and was murdered by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Principe. This

was the spark that caused war to be declared.

Fighting took place along the Western Front, within a system of trenches and

fortifications separated by an area known as no man’s land. These fortifications ran from

the North Sea to Switzerland. On the Eastern Front, the vast eastern plains and limited

rail network prevented a trench warfare stalemate. The Middle East and the Italian Front

saw heavy fighting as well. Hostilities also occurred at sea and, for the first time, in the

air which ultimately opened up the war.

The war caused the disintegration of four empires: the Austro-Hungarian,

German, Ottoman and Russian. Germany lost its overseas empire and stated such as

Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Yugoslavia gained

independence.World War I marked the end of the old world order, which had emerged

after the Napoleonic Wars. The result of the conflict was an important factor in the

outbreak of World War II.