World War I

World War I
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"Great War" redirects here. For other uses, see Great War (disambiguation).
"World War One" redirects here. For other uses, see World War One (disambiguation).
World War I

Clockwise from top: Trenches on the Western Front; a British Mark IV Tank crossing a trench; Royal Navy battleship HMS Irresistible sinking after striking a mine at the Battle of the Dardanelles; a Vickers machine gun crew with gas masks, and German Albatros D.III biplanes
Date 28 July 1914–11 November 1918 (Armistice Treaty)
Treaty of Versailles signed 28 June 1919

Location Europe, Africa and the Middle East (briefly in China and the Pacific Islands)
Result Allied victory; end of the German, Russian, Ottoman, and 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.

Belligerents
Allied (Entente) Powers

Russia (until 1917)
United Kingdom
United States (after 1917)
France
Italy
and others
Central Powers
Austria-Hungary
German Empire
Ottoman Empire
Bulgaria


Commanders
Leaders and commanders Leaders and commanders
Casualties and losses
Military dead:
5,525,000
Military wounded:
12,831,500
Military missing:
4,121,000
Total:
22,477,500 KIA, WIA or MIA ...further details. Military dead:
4,386,000
Military wounded:
8,388,000
Military missing:
3,629,000
Total:
16,403,000 KIA, WIA or MIA ...further details.

[show]v • d • eTheatres of World War I

European
Balkans – Gallipoli – Western Front – Macedonian Front – Eastern Front – Italian Front
Middle Eastern
Caucasus – Mesopotamia – Sinai and Palestine – Persia – Arab Revolt
African
South-West Africa – West Africa – East Africa – North Africa
Asian and Pacific
Other
Atlantic Ocean – Mediterranean – Naval – Aerial


World War I (abbreviated as WW-I, WWI, or WW1), also known as the First World War, the Great War, the World War (prior to the outbreak of the Second World War), and the War to End All Wars, was a military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers,[1] assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies, centred around the Triple Entente, and the Central Powers, centred around the Triple Alliance.[2] More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history.[3][4] More than 15 million people were killed, making it one of the deadliest conflicts in history.[5]

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, though long-term causes, such as imperialistic foreign policy, played a major role. Ferdinand's assassination at the hands of Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip resulted in demands against the Kingdom of Serbia.[6] Several alliances that had been formed over the past decades were invoked, so within weeks the major powers were at war; with all having colonies, the conflict soon spread around the world.

By the war's end, four major imperial powers—the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires—had been militarily and politically defeated, with the last two ceasing to exist.[7] The revolutionised Soviet Union emerged from the Russian Empire, while the map of central Europe was completely redrawn into numerous smaller states.[8] The League of Nations was formed in the hope of preventing another such conflict. The European nationalism spawned by the war, the repercussions of Germany's defeat, and of the Treaty of Versailles would eventually lead to the beginning of World War II in 1939.[9]