World War I (1914-1918)

• First war in which countries all took sides
• Called "the war to end all wars"
• Modern war- used airplanes, tanks, mustard gas, ect.
• Bloodiest war up to that time
• Started on June 28, 1914- Archduke Francis Ferdinand (future ruler of Austria-Hungary) assasinated, Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia
• Alliance- an agreement among nations to support in times of war
• Allies- Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy (1915), Japan, U.S. (1917)
Central Powers- Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey (Ottoman Empire), Bulgaria
• Western Front- ran from Belgium to Switzerland
Eastern Front- Baltic to Black Sea
• U.S. entered WWI in 1917- Lusintina (British ship) sunk by Germany (had U.S. passengers on board)
• 1918- Russia signed peace treaty with Germany

3) countries formed alliances-: Triple Entente- France, Russia, and Great Britain; Triple Alliance- Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy
4) in response to assassination- Austria-Hungary attacked Serbia
5) Russia came to the aid of Serbia; Germany declared war on Russia; France declared war on Germany; Germany attacked Belgium; Great Britain entered the war to help Belgium and France
6) Slavs, Czechs, and Slovaks wanted freedom from Austria-Hungary and declared war

• Treaty of Versailles ended war in 1918, Germany held responsible

* Results
1) Germany gave up territories and colonies in France, Great Britain, Belgium, Denmark, and Poland
2) Germany's army was reduced and it was forbidden to have submarines and aircraft- to prevent Germany starting another war
3) Germany responsible for starting war and penalized $33 million in damages to other nations
4) League of Nations formed

• Reasons it failed:: 1) Did not include every major nation- U.S. never joined, Russia joined in 1934 but was later removed, Germany and Japan withdrew in 1933; 2) Decisions required all nations to agree- rare occurence; 3) League had no power to tax its members- no money, had to reply on voluntary contributions; 4) Could not raise an army to enforce decisions; 5) Unable to prevent Japan from invading Manchuria (on Asia mainland), Italy from conquering Ethiopia (in Africa), or the Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay

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