World War I

World War I
World War I, also known as the First World War and (before 1939) the Great War, the War of the Nations, and the War to End All Wars, was a world conflict lasting from August 1914 till the signing of the armistice by Germany on November 11, 1918.
The Allied Powers (led by the British Empire and France, and, after 1917, the United States) defeated the Central Powers (led by the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire), and led to the collapse of four empires and a radical change in the map of Europe.
The war occurred due to many causes, some of which remain unexposed today. The obvious trigger for the war was the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie on June 28, 1914. The assassination occurred during the Archduke's visit to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Archduke was targeted due to the general feeling among the Serbians that, once appointed to the throne, Ferdinand would continue the persecution of Serbs living within the borders of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
          Besides the assassination of the Ferdinand, they were four other possible reasons for the start of WW1.
 Militarism- the building of large armies, all the nations in Europe at that time were engaged in what today could only be called an arms race
 Mutual Defense Alliances-overtime countries throughout Europe made mutual defense agreements that would pull them into battle. Thus, if one country were attacked, allied countries were bound to defend them. Before World War 1, the following alliances existed:
• Russia and Serbia
• Germany and Austria-Hungary
• France and Russia
• Britain and France and Belgium
• Japan and Britain
 Imperialism- when a country increases their power and wealth by bringing additional territories under their control. .
 Nationalism- each country tried to prove their dominance and power.
When World War I broke out in Europe, Woodrow...