On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. Princip belonged to a Serbian nationalist group called the Black Hand. This event triggered a series of political alliances that led to World War I. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914. Russia mobilized its army to support Serbia. Germany then declared war on Russia and France. When German troops marched through neutral Belgium to reach France, Great Britain declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914.
The war divided Europe into two main groups. The Allied Powers included Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and eventually the United States. The Central Powers consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria. The fighting took place on several fronts. The Western Front stretched through France and Belgium. The Eastern Front lay between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia.
In the autumn of 1914, the German advance into France stopped at the Battle of the Marne. Both sides dug long lines of defensive trenches to protect their soldiers from machine gun fire. This created a stalemate where neither side could move forward. By the end of 1914, these trenches stretched for 475 miles from the Swiss border to the North Sea.
Life in the trenches was difficult and dangerous. Soldiers lived in deep ditches dug into the earth. These trenches were usually six to eight feet deep. They were often filled with mud and stagnant water. Soldiers suffered from a condition called trench foot, caused by feet staying wet for too long. Rats infested the trenches and ate the soldiers’ meager food supplies. Lice were also common and spread a disease known as trench fever.
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Between the enemy trenches lay “No Man’s Land.” This was a space filled with craters from artillery shells and tangles of barbed wire. Soldiers had to climb out of their trenches and run across this open ground to attack the enemy. Machine guns could fire 600 rounds per minute, making these charges very deadly. Most attacks resulted in high casualties with very little land gained.
The war saw the introduction of several new technologies. The British developed the first tanks to cross No Man’s Land and break through barbed wire. The first tank, the Mark I, moved at only three miles per hour. Airplanes were initially used for scouting enemy positions. Later, pilots attached machine guns to their planes to engage in “dogfights.” Germany used large, hydrogen-filled airships called Zeppelins to bomb British cities.
Chemical weapons appeared on the battlefield in 1915. German forces used chlorine gas at the Second Battle of Ypres. This gas irritated the lungs and caused victims to suffocate. Later, both sides used mustard gas. Mustard gas was harder to detect and caused painful blisters on the skin and in the eyes. Soldiers had to carry heavy rubber gas masks at all times to survive these attacks.
At sea, Germany used submarines called U-boats to sink merchant ships. They aimed to cut off food and supplies reaching Great Britain. In May 1915, a German U-boat sank the British passenger ship Lusitania. The attack killed 1,198 people, including 128 Americans. This event increased tension between Germany and the United States.
The Battle of Verdun began in February 1916 and lasted for ten months. It was the longest battle of the war. Germany attacked the French city of Verdun to draw the French army into a battle of attrition. Over 700,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or went missing during this fight. The Battle of the Somme started in July 1916 to relieve pressure on the French at Verdun. On the first day of the Somme, the British army suffered 57,000 casualties. By the time the battle ended in November, the Allies had gained only seven miles of territory.
On the Eastern Front, the war was more mobile. Russian forces initially moved into German territory but suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Tannenberg in August 1914. The Russian army lacked enough rifles and boots for all its soldiers. By 1917, the Russian people were starving and unhappy with the war. This led to the Russian Revolution. The new Bolshevik government signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany and exited the war in early 1918.
The United States remained neutral during the first three years of the war. In early 1917, British intelligence intercepted the Zimmermann Telegram. This was a secret message from Germany to Mexico. Germany promised to help Mexico reclaim land in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona if Mexico joined the war against the United States. This telegram and the return of unrestricted submarine warfare led the United States to declare war on Germany on April 6, 1917.
The war affected people living at home as well. This was “total war,” meaning entire nations were involved in the effort. Governments used propaganda posters to encourage men to enlist and to keep public morale high. Rationing became necessary because food was sent to the front lines. Women entered the workforce in large numbers to replace men who were fighting. They worked in munitions factories, drove ambulances, and served as nurses near the battlefields.
In the spring of 1918, Germany launched the Spring Offensive. They used troops moved from the Eastern Front to try and win the war before the full force of the American army arrived. The Germans used “stormtroopers” to bypass strong points and move quickly. They reached within 75 miles of Paris. However, the German army was exhausted and ran low on supplies.
The Allies launched the Hundred Days Offensive in August 1918. Supported by fresh American troops, they broke the German lines. The Central Powers began to collapse from within. Bulgaria signed an armistice in September. The Ottoman Empire signed one in October. Austria-Hungary signed its agreement on November 3.
In Germany, sailors in the navy mutinied and workers went on strike. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated his throne and fled to the Netherlands. A new German government was formed. They met with Allied leaders in a railway carriage in the Compiègne Forest. They signed an armistice to stop the fighting.
The armistice went into effect at 11:00 a.m. on November 11, 1918. This is often referred to as the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. The war involved over 65 million soldiers from around the world. Approximately 9 million soldiers died in combat. Another 21 million were wounded. Civilian deaths from disease and starvation reached nearly 10 million. The war required the use of 8 billion artillery shells and cost hundreds of billions of dollars.
The fighting stopped along the Western Front immediately. Soldiers on both sides emerged from their trenches. Some shook hands, while others simply sat in silence. The Treaty of Versailles was later signed in 1919 to formally set the terms of peace. This treaty required Germany to accept responsibility for the war and pay large sums of money in reparations. It also redrew the map of Europe and the Middle East, creating several new countries including Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia.
