World War I
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Why did the U.S. enter World War I?
In February 1917 U.S. Pres.Woodrow Wilson was made aware of theZimmermann Telegram, a coded message sent by German foreign secretaryArthur Zimmermann. The telegram proposed that Mexico enter into an alliance with Germany against the United States, promising Mexico the return of its “lost provinces” of Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. The publication of the telegram caused an uproar, and American opinion began to swing in favor of entering the war against Germany. At the same time, Germany resumed its practice of unrestricted submarine warfare and GermanU-boats began sinking American merchant ships in March. On April 2, 1917, Wilson addressed a joint session of Congress, declaring that “The world must be made safe for democracy.” TheU.S. Congress declared war on Germany on April 6.
What was the main cause of World War I?
World War I began after the assassination of Austrian archdukeFranz Ferdinand by South Slav nationalistGavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914.
What countries fought in World War I?
The war pitted theCentral Powers (mainly Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey) against theAllies (mainly France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, and, from 1917, the United States).
Who won World War I?
TheAllies won World War I after four years of combat and the deaths of some 8.5 million soldiers as a result of battle wounds or disease.
How many people died during World War I?
Some 8,500,000 soldiers died as a result of wounds or disease during World War I. Perhaps as many as 13,000,000 civilians also died. This immensely large number of deaths dwarfed that of any previous war, largely because of the new technologies and styles of warfare used in World War I.
What was the significance of World War I?
Four imperial dynasties—theHabsburgs of Austria-Hungary, theHohenzollerns of Germany, the sultanate of theOttoman Empire, and theRomanovs of Russia—collapsed as a direct result of the war, and the map of Europe was changed forever. The United States emerged as a world power, and new technology made warfare deadlier than ever before.
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World War I, an international conflict that in 1914–18 embroiled most of the nations ofEurope along withRussia, theUnited States, theMiddle East, and other regions. Thewar pitted theCentral Powers—mainlyGermany,Austria-Hungary, andTurkey—against the Allies—mainlyFrance,Great Britain, Russia,Italy,Japan, and, from 1917, theUnited States. It ended with the defeat of the Central Powers. The war was virtually unprecedented in the slaughter, carnage, and destruction it caused.
World War I was one of the great watersheds of 20th-century geopolitical history. It led to the fall of four great imperialdynasties (inGermany,Russia, Austria-Hungary, andTurkey), resulted in theBolshevik Revolution in Russia, and, in its destabilization of European society, laid the groundwork forWorld War II.
The outbreak of war
WithSerbia already muchaggrandized by the twoBalkan Wars (1912–13, 1913), Serbian nationalists turned their attention back to the idea of “liberating” the South Slavs ofAustria-Hungary. ColonelDragutin Dimitrijević, head of Serbia’smilitary intelligence, was also, under the alias “Apis,” head of thesecret societyUnion or Death, pledged to the pursuit of this pan-Serbian ambition. Believing that the Serbs’ cause would be served by the death of theAustrian archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the Austrian emperorFranz Joseph, and learning that theArchduke was about to visit Bosnia on a tour of military inspection, Apis plotted hisassassination.Nikola Pašić, the Serbianprime minister and an enemy of Apis, heard of the plot and warned the Austrian government of it, but his message was too cautiously worded to be understood.
At 11:15am on June 28, 1914, in the Bosnian capital,Sarajevo, FranzFerdinand and his morganatic wife, Sophie, duchess of Hohenberg, were shot dead by a Bosnian Serb,Gavrilo Princip. The chief of the Austro-Hungariangeneral staff,Franz, Graf (count) Conrad von Hötzendorf, and the foreign minister,Leopold, Graf von Berchtold, saw the crime as the occasion for measures to humiliate Serbia and so toenhance Austria-Hungary’sprestige in theBalkans. Conrad had already (October 1913) been assured byWilliam II ofGermany’s support if Austria-Hungary should start a preventive war against Serbia. Thisassurance was confirmed in the week following theassassination, before William, on July 6, set off upon his annual cruise to theNorth Cape, offNorway.
The Austrians decided to present an unacceptable ultimatum to Serbia and then to declare war, relying on Germany to deterRussia from intervention. Though the terms of the ultimatum were finally approved on July 19, its delivery was postponed to the evening of July 23, since by that time the French president,Raymond Poincaré, and his premier,René Viviani, who had set off on a state visit to Russia on July 15, would be on their way home and therefore unable to concert an immediate reaction with their Russian allies. When the delivery was announced, on July 24, Russia declared that Austria-Hungary must not be allowed to crush Serbia.
Serbia replied to theultimatum on July 25, accepting most of its demands but protesting against two of them—namely, that Serbian officials (unnamed) should be dismissed at Austria-Hungary’s behest and that Austro-Hungarian officials should take part, on Serbian soil, in proceedings against organizations hostile to Austria-Hungary. Though Serbia offered to submit the issue to international arbitration, Austria-Hungary promptly severed diplomatic relations and ordered partial mobilization.
Home from his cruise on July 27, William learned on July 28 how Serbia had replied to the ultimatum. At once he instructed the German Foreign Office to tell Austria-Hungary that there was no longer any justification for war and that it should content itself with a temporary occupation ofBelgrade. But, meanwhile, the German Foreign Office had been giving such encouragement to Berchtold that already on July 27 he had persuaded Franz Joseph to authorize war against Serbia. War was in fact declared on July 28, and Austro-Hungarianartillery began to bombard Belgrade the next day. Russia then ordered partial mobilization against Austria-Hungary, and on July 30, when Austria-Hungary was riposting conventionally with an order of mobilization on its Russian frontier, Russia ordered general mobilization. Germany, which since July 28 had still been hoping, indisregard of earlier warning hints from Great Britain, that Austria-Hungary’s war against Serbia could be “localized” to the Balkans, was now disillusioned insofar as eastern Europe was concerned. On July 31 Germany sent a 24-hour ultimatum requiring Russia to halt its mobilization and an 18-hour ultimatum requiringFrance to promise neutrality in the event of war between Russia and Germany.
Both Russia and France predictably ignored these demands. On August 1 Germany ordered general mobilization and declared war against Russia, and France likewise ordered general mobilization. The next day Germany sent troops intoLuxembourg and demanded fromBelgium free passage for German troops across its neutral territory. On August 3 Germany declared war against France.
In the night of August 3–4 German forces invaded Belgium. Thereupon,Great Britain, which had no concern with Serbia and no expressobligation to fight either for Russia or for France but was expressly committed to defend Belgium, on August 4 declared war against Germany.
Austria-Hungary declared war against Russia on August 5; Serbia against Germany on August 6;Montenegro against Austria-Hungary on August 7 and against Germany on August 12; France and Great Britain against Austria-Hungary on August 10 and on August 12, respectively;Japan against Germany on August 23; Austria-Hungary against Japan on August 25 and against Belgium on August 28.
Romania had renewed its secret anti-Russian alliance of 1883 with theCentral Powers on February 26, 1914, but now chose to remain neutral.Italy had confirmed theTriple Alliance on December 7, 1912, but could now propound formal arguments fordisregarding it: first, Italy was not obliged to support its allies in a war of aggression; second, the original treaty of 1882 had stated expressly that the alliance was not againstEngland.
On September 5, 1914, Russia, France, and Great Britain concluded theTreaty of London, each promising not to make a separate peace with the Central Powers. Thenceforth, they could be called theAllied, or Entente, powers, or simply theAllies.
- Also called:
- First World War or Great War
- Date:
- July 28, 1914 - November 11, 1918
The outbreak of war in August 1914 was generally greeted with confidence and jubilation by the peoples of Europe, among whom it inspired a wave of patriotic feeling and celebration. Few people imagined how long or how disastrous a war between the great nations of Europe could be, and most believed that their country’s side would be victorious within a matter of months. The war was welcomed either patriotically, as a defensive one imposed by national necessity, or idealistically, as one for upholding right against might, the sanctity of treaties, and internationalmorality.