World+War+I+facts


 * World War I: ** Fast facts from Wikipedia!

During and in the aftermath of the conflict it was called the **Great War**, particularly in British newspapers, whereas US media preferred simply the **World War**. It was also known as the **War To End All Wars**.

The [|assassination on 28 June 1914] of [|Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria], the heir to the throne of [|Austria-Hungary] , is seen as the **immediate trigger** of the war. Long-term causes (such as [|imperialistic] foreign policies of the great powers of Europe) played a major role. Several alliances formed over the past decades were invoked, so within weeks the major powers were at war; as all had [|colonies], the conflict soon spread around the world.

On **28 July 1914** the conflict opened with the Austro-Hungarian [|invasion of] [|Serbia], followed by the German invasion of [|Belgium] , [|Luxembourg] and [|France] ; and a Russian attack against [|Germany]. After the German march on [|Paris] was brought to a halt, the [|Western Front] settled into a static battle of attrition with a [|trench line] that changed little until 1917. The Russian Empire [|collapsed] in 1917, and Russia left the war after the [|October Revolution] later that year.

The earlier years of the First World War were a clash of 20th-century technology with 19th-century warfare. Military technology had led to important **innovations in weaponry**, grenades, poison gas, and artillery, along with the submarine, warplane and the tank. Military strategy had not caught up to these advances, resulting in ineffectual battles with huge numbers of casualties on both sides.

** [|Conscription] ** began in January 1916 when the [|British] government passed the [|Military Service Act]. The act specified that single men 18 to 41 years old were liable to be called up for military service unless they were widowed with children or ministers of a religion. There was a system of tribunals to adjudicate upon claims for exemption upon the grounds of performing civilian work of national importance, domestic hardship, health, and conscientious objection. The law went through several changes before the war ended. Married men ceased to be exempt in June 1916, and the age limit was eventually raised to 51 years old. Recognition of work of national importance also diminished, and in the last year of the war there was some support for the conscription of clergy.

After a 1918 German offensive along the western front, ** [|United States] ** forces entered the trenches and the allies drove back the German armies in a series of successful offensives. Germany agreed to a cease fire on **11 November 1918**, later known as [|Armistice Day].

By the war's end, four major imperial powers—the [|German], [|Russian] , [|Austro-Hungarian] and [|Ottoman Empires] —had been militarily and politically defeated. The last two ceased to exist. The revolutionized ** [|Soviet Union] ** emerged from the Russian Empire, while the map of [|central Europe] was completely redrawn into numerous smaller states. The European [|nationalism] spawned by the war and the break-up of empires, and the repercussions of Germany's defeat and the [|Treaty of Versailles] led to the beginning of [|World War II] in 1939.