An outline, era by era

World War I (1914 – 1918)

20th Century · 1914 – 2000

World War I was a global conflict fought between 1914 and 1918. It pitted the Allied Powers, chiefly Britain, France, Russia and later Italy and the United States, against the Central Powers, chiefly Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. The main fronts lay in Western and Eastern Europe, but fighting also reached the Middle East, Africa, East Asia and the oceans.

The war began after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo in June 1914 set off a chain of ultimatums and mobilisations. Trench warfare, machine guns, heavy artillery, poison gas and, later, aircraft and tanks produced casualties on a scale not seen before, with millions of soldiers and civilians dead. It ended with armistices in 1918 and the peace settlements of 1919 and after. The war toppled the German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman empires, redrew the map of Europe and the Middle East, and shaped the rest of the twentieth century.

Things happened, and the rest is history

  1. The alliance system of Europe

    Event

    What happened

    In 1879 Germany and Austria-Hungary form the Dual Alliance, and Italy joins them in 1882 to make the Triple Alliance. France and Russia agree a military alliance in 1894. Britain settles its colonial quarrels with France in 1904 and with Russia in 1907.

    The rest is history

    Europe became divided into two loose blocs, each fearing encirclement or defeat by the other. Historians debate how far the alliances caused the war, since they also restrained some states. They did make a local crisis likely to spread. In 1914 Russia's support for Serbia and Germany's support for Austria-Hungary drew the great powers into one conflict.

    Sources

    1. BookClark, Christopher. The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914. London: Allen Lane, 2012.
    2. BookKennedy, Paul. The Rise of the Anglo-German Antagonism, 1860-1914. London: Allen & Unwin, 1980.

  2. The Anglo-German naval race

    Event

    What happened

    From 1898 Germany passes naval laws to build a large battle fleet. Britain answers with the launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906 and a rapid building programme of its own. Both countries spend heavily on battleships until 1914.

    The rest is history

    The race soured relations between Britain and Germany and pushed Britain towards France and Russia. Some historians see it as a major cause of the wider hostility, while others stress that the two governments were still talking about naval limits in 1912 and 1914. When war came, the main fleets met only once in full, at Jutland in 1916. The British blockade of Germany did far more to shape the war.

    Sources

    1. BookMassie, Robert K. Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War. New York: Random House, 1991.
    2. BookKennedy, Paul. The Rise of the Anglo-German Antagonism, 1860-1914. London: Allen & Unwin, 1980.

  3. The Balkan Wars

    Event

    What happened

    In 1912 Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro attack the Ottoman Empire and take most of its European lands. In 1913 the victors fight one another over the spoils, and Bulgaria is defeated. Serbia emerges larger and stronger.

    The rest is history

    Serbia's gains alarmed Austria-Hungary, which feared Serbian influence over its own South Slav subjects. Russia, which backed Serbia, wanted to avoid losing standing in the region again. The wars left the Balkans tense and the great powers on edge. A year later a crisis in this region became the spark for general war.

    Sources

    1. BookHall, Richard C. The Balkan Wars, 1912-1913: Prelude to the First World War. London: Routledge, 2000.
    2. BookClark, Christopher. The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914. London: Allen Lane, 2012.

  4. The assassination at Sarajevo

    Event

    What happened

    On 28 June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, visits Sarajevo in Bosnia, which Austria-Hungary had annexed in 1908. A young Bosnian Serb, Gavrilo Princip, a member of a group of conspirators, shoots the Archduke and his wife Sophie dead. The plotters had been armed and helped from Serbia.

    The rest is history

    Austria-Hungary decided to use the murder to crush Serbia. Germany gave it strong support in early July, the so-called blank cheque. The assassination did not make a great war unavoidable, but it started the July Crisis. Within five weeks most of the great powers were at war.

    Sources

    1. BookDedijer, Vladimir. The Road to Sarajevo. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1966.
    2. BookClark, Christopher. The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914. London: Allen Lane, 2012.

  5. The July Crisis and the outbreak of war

    Event

    What happened

    On 23 July 1914 Austria-Hungary sends Serbia an ultimatum, and declares war on 28 July. Russia mobilises in support of Serbia. Germany declares war on Russia on 1 August and on France on 3 August, then invades Belgium. Britain declares war on Germany on 4 August.

    The rest is history

    A regional dispute became a European war in about a week, driven by mobilisation plans and alliance commitments. Germany's Schlieffen Plan called for a swift attack on France through Belgium, whose neutrality Britain had guaranteed. Historians still debate how much blame each government bears, a argument that began with the Versailles treaty. The war then spread to the empires of the combatants around the world.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryAustro-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia, 23 July 1914. Diplomatic note, published in the Austrian Red Book, 1914.
    2. BookMcMeekin, Sean. July 1914: Countdown to War. New York: Basic Books, 2013.

  6. The Marne and the stalemate in the West

    Event

    What happened

    In August 1914 German armies sweep through Belgium and northern France. In early September French and British forces halt them at the Marne, and the Germans fall back to the Aisne. Both sides then try to outflank each other in the Race to the Sea, and by late 1914 a line of trenches runs from the Channel to Switzerland.

    The rest is history

    The German plan for a quick victory failed. For most of the next three years the Western Front moved only a few miles at a time, in costly battles such as Verdun and the Somme in 1916. A long war meant a war of industry, blockade and manpower. It drew in colonies and dominions and made a negotiated peace harder.

    Sources

    1. BookStrachan, Hew. The First World War. Vol. 1, To Arms. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
    2. BookTuchman, Barbara W. The Guns of August. New York: Macmillan, 1962.

  7. Unrestricted submarine warfare and the United States

    Event

    What happened

    A British naval blockade cuts German trade, and Germany answers with submarines. In May 1915 a German U-boat sinks the liner Lusitania with many civilian deaths. In January 1917 Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare, and the Zimmermann telegram, a German offer of alliance to Mexico, is made public. The United States declares war on Germany on 6 April 1917.

    The rest is history

    American money, supplies and, from 1918, large numbers of troops strengthened the Allies just as Russia was leaving the war. The German spring offensives of 1918 failed to win before the Americans arrived in force. Historians generally see the U.S. entry as a major factor in the Allied victory. It also gave President Wilson a voice in the peace.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryZimmermann Telegram. German diplomatic cable to Mexico, 16 January 1917, deciphered by British Naval Intelligence. U.S. National Archives.
    2. BookStrachan, Hew. The First World War. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.

  8. Revolution in Russia and the armistice

    Event

    What happened

    Heavy losses and shortages bring down Tsar Nicholas II in March 1917, and the Bolsheviks seize power in November. Russia signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers in March 1918. In the autumn the Central Powers collapse one by one, and Germany, in revolution, signs an armistice with the Allies at Compiègne on 11 November 1918.

    The rest is history

    The Treaty of Versailles, signed on 28 June 1919, imposed terms on Germany including territorial losses and reparations. Other treaties dealt with Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. Empires gave way to new states in central and eastern Europe, and the League of Nations was founded. Many historians see the unsettled peace as one root of later conflicts.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryArmistice of 11 November 1918. Agreement signed at Compiègne between the Allies and Germany.
    2. BookMacMillan, Margaret. Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World. New York: Random House, 2002.

  9. The Christmas Truce

    Popular belief

    The legend

    On Christmas Eve 1914 soldiers on the Western Front are said to stop fighting, sing carols and climb out of their trenches. British and German troops meet in No Man's Land, swap gifts and play a football match.

    The rest is history

    A truce did happen, and many soldiers wrote about it in letters and diaries. It was patchy, covering only parts of the line, and in places fighting went on. Football kickabouts are reported in a few accounts, but a full organised match is not well documented. Senior commanders disapproved, and later Christmases saw nothing like it on the same scale.

    Sources

    1. BookBrown, Malcolm, and Shirley Seaton. Christmas Truce: The Western Front, December 1914. London: Secker & Warburg, 1984.
    2. BookWeintraub, Stanley. Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce. New York: Free Press, 2001.

  10. The war to end all wars

    Popular belief

    The legend

    People often say that World War I was called the war to end all wars, and that everyone believed it would never be repeated.

    The rest is history

    The phrase was popularised by H. G. Wells, whose 1914 book The War That Will End War argued that defeating German militarism could bring lasting peace. Politicians and writers used it, and Woodrow Wilson spoke of a war to make the world safe for democracy. Many people hoped for this, but others doubted it, and Wells himself later grew sceptical. The Second World War began twenty-one years after the armistice.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryWells, H. G. The War That Will End War. London: Frank and Cecil Palmer, 1914.
    2. BookMacMillan, Margaret. The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914. London: Profile Books, 2013.

  11. Lions led by donkeys

    Popular belief

    The legend

    A common belief holds that First World War soldiers were brave lions led by stupid, callous donkeys, meaning generals who sent men to die in pointless attacks while living in comfort far behind the lines.

    The rest is history

    The phrase was popularised by Alan Clark's 1961 book The Donkeys, and its supposed German origin has no good evidence. Historians now stress that commanders faced new problems and that British and French armies learned and adapted, using better artillery tactics, tanks and air support by 1918. Casualty rates among senior officers were also not trivial, though most generals did not fight in the front line. Historians still argue about particular commanders and battles.

    Sources

    1. BookSheffield, Gary. Forgotten Victory: The First World War, Myths and Realities. London: Headline, 2001.
    2. BookClark, Alan. The Donkeys. London: Hutchinson, 1961.

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