World War I took place between 1914 and 1918. Although
the conflict began in Europe, it ultimately involved countries as
far away as the United States and Japan. At the time, the English-speaking
world knew it as the “Great War”—the term “World War I” was applied decades
later. Historians still actively disagree over the fundamental causes
of the war. The period leading up to the war was a complex tangle
of diplomacy and political maneuvering—many countries debated over
strategies and alliances until nearly the last minute—and the first
few weeks of the conflict were similarly chaotic and confusing. However,
historians agree nearly unanimously about the war’s consequences:
World War I led almost directly to World War II and set the stage
for many other important events in the twentieth century.
By conservative estimates, around 9 million
soldiers died in battle—many of them defending entrenched front
lines that were so stalemated that they rarely moved even a few
yards in either direction. Civilian loss of life totaled an additional 13 million.
Epidemics of influenza and other diseases, either induced or exacerbated
by the war, raised the death toll by at least an additional 20 million.
In total, counting battle casualties, civilian deaths, and victims
of disease, the loss of life worldwide surpassed 40 million.
Political tensions ran high in early twentieth-century
Europe. Abroad, Europe’s great powers were increasingly coming to impasses
over the acquisition of new colonies. As the unclaimed lands of
the earth ran short, the race to claim them became fiercely competitive.
At the same time, the Turkish-ruled Ottoman Empire, which had existed
for hundreds of years, was slowly decaying. Greece, Bulgaria, Romania,
Serbia, and other southern European nations that had been under
Ottoman rule became independent, changing the balance of power in
Europe. The many ethnic groups of Austria-Hungary, inspired by these
new southern European nations, began to agitate for their own independence.
Furthermore, Serbia wanted back the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina,
lost to Austria in a previous war.
At the same time, technological and industrial developments
in Europe were advancing with unprecedented speed. Military technology
was at the forefront of this trend, and a horrible war using these
new weapons was both feared and seen as inevitable. Indeed, World
War I turned out to be a showcase of new technologies that would
change the nature, speed, and efficiency of warfare in the century
to come. Tanks, airplanes, and submarines changed the way wars were
fought. Other types of motorized vehicles, such as trucks, cars,
and especially trains, vastly improved the speed with which troops
and supplies could be deployed and increased the distance over which
they could be transported. Guns in all categories, ranging from
pistols to major artillery, greatly improved in accuracy and range
of fire, enabling armies to fire upon each other across long distances
and in some cases without even having to see each other. The machine
gun made it possible for a single soldier to effectively take on
multiple opponents at once. Chemical warfare was seen on a large
scale for the first time, with results so gruesome that most countries
vowed never to use such weapons again.
By war’s end, the map of Europe began to resemble the
one we know today. The German and Austro-Hungarian empires ceased
to exist. Much of eastern Europe, in particular, was redivided along ethno-linguistic
lines, and Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland
all became independent countries. Several other nations were awkwardly
combined into the countries of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. A
major reorganization of the Near and Middle East also took place
following the war, establishing the forerunners of the countries
we know today as Armenia, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia,
and Iraq.
The aftermath of World War I also marked the practical
end of monarchy on the continent and of European colonialism
throughout the rest of the world. Most European nations began to
rely increasingly upon parliamentary systems of government, and
socialism gained increasing popularity. The brutality
of the conflict and the enormous loss of human life inspired a renewed
determination among nations to rely upon diplomacy to resolve conflicts
in the future. This resolve directly inspired the birth of the League
of Nations.
