MILITARY TECHNOLOGIES TECHNOLOGY DURING WORLD WAR I JOANNE MATTERN Checkerboard Library An Imprint of Abdo Publishing abdopublishing com
1 THE WORLD AT WAR In 1914 nations around the world engaged in a bloody battle The fighting lasted four years World War I was the first modern war between many different countries fighting on a global scale In the years before the war European nations made several alliances In 1882 Germany Austria Hungary and Italy formed an alliance In 1907 Great Britain France and Russia formed their own alliance These alliances required their members to support one another during conflict They helped protect member nations But they would also eventually pull many countries into war The spark that set off World War I happened in Eastern Europe On June 28 1914 a Serbian assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand who was heir to the Austro Hungarian throne In return Austria Hungary attacked Serbia Russia came to Serbia's aid
The day after Ferdinand was assassinated riots broke out in Serbia Within one month the first declaration of war was made Then Germany declared war on Russia in defense of its alliance with Austria-Hungary Germany also declared war on France and Belgium France and Great Britain declared war on Austria-Hungary Britain also declared war on Germany World War I had begun 5
