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
More than 4 7 million Americans served in World War I Of these more than 50,000 were soldiers who died in battle
Across the Atlantic Ocean many Americans did not want anything to do with the war The United States remained neutral Then in 1917 Germany broke a naval peace agreement it had with the United States On April 6 the United States joined the Allies declaring war on Germany Germany led the Central powers During the war troops fought long bloody battles Soldiers dug trenches and did much of their fighting from inside They fired machine guns threw grenades and launched bombs Several armies waged chemical warfare attacking tech fact their enemies with poison gases And this war saw the introduction of two new technologies the airplane and the submarine These weapons would change how war was fought both during World War I and in the future As in prior wars more deaths were caused by disease than battle during World War I However many lives were saved on and off the battlefield due to technological advancements 7
