Great World War I

From Command and Conquer Wiki

Main article: World War One

World War I, also known as the First World War and the Great War, was a global military conflict which took place primarily in Europe from 1914 to 1918. Over 40 million casualties resulted, including approximately 20 million military and civilian deaths. Over 60 million European soldiers were mobilized from 1914 to 1918. The immediate cause of the war was the June 28, 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb citizen of Austria-Hungary and member of the Black Hand. The retaliation by Austria-Hungary against Serbia activated a series of alliances that set off a chain reaction of war declarations. Within a month, much of Europe was in a state of open warfare.

The two sides of the conflict were deemed the Allied Powers and the Central Powers. The Allied Powers included the United Kingdom, France, and Russia, while the Central Powers consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. Russia eventually stood down after the communist takeover, and the United States of America joined the Allied powers towards the end, after German policies killed American citizens.

The war was marked by years of trench warfare; whereupon the Allied and Central armies fought bloody battles in which thousands of men were killed for virtually no territorial gains. Eventually an armistice was signed; with Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire suffering greatly afterwards.

The war was notable for several things. First, it led to the dissolution of several prominent empires; Germany was forced into a Republic, the Ottoman and Austrian Empires were completely broken up, and Tsarist Russia became the communist Soviet Union. Second, several new weapons introduced played far more important roles in later wars, such as tanks, flame weaponry, submarines (or U-boats), aircraft, and poisonous gas. Third, the outcome of this war divided Europe; in the West, republican governments stood in stark contrast to the Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe.

This set the stage for the Great World War II.