World War I | Henderson Heritage

World War I began July 28, 1914, in Europe and ended Nov. 11, 1918. It was also called the Great War.
The world’s powers divided into opposing alliances: the Allies with the United Kingdom, France and Russia; and the Central Powers with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Before the war ended, Italy, Japan and the United States joined the Allies and the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers.
By the war’s end, more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, fought. More than 9 million were killed. It was the fifth deadliest conflict in world history. The total American deaths was 116,516.
The primary, long-term cause of the war was the policy of imperialism by the world’s large powers. The immediate cause of the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by a Yugoslav (Serbian) nationalist in Sarajevo. Within weeks, the major powers were at war, along with their colonies throughout the world.
The war ended in victory for the Allies.
By the end of the war, four major world empires ceased to exist: German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires. The map of central Europe was redrawn into several countries. The League of Nations formed in hopes of preventing another large-scale war.
Nationalism, weak new nations, and the humiliation of Germany’s defeat were contributing factors to the rise of the Nazis and the start of World War II.
World War I saw the first use of the telephone, armored cars and aircraft in a war.
Much of the combat during the war involved trench warfare. The large number of head wounds resulted in the development of helmets.
Chemical warfare was used, including chlorine, mustard gas and phosgene. This led to the creation of gas masks.
This was the first war using mechanized warfare with the invention of the first tanks. Flamethrowers were also used.
The Germans deployed U-boats (submarines).
In addition to the first use of aircraft in a war, forces also manned observation balloons.