WORLD WAR I FACTS – INTRO FROM THE AUTOR

 WWI began on June 28, 1914, when a Serbian terrorist assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. The war had actually not been a surprise, after four decades of diplomatic and economic conflicts between France, Great Britain, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Japan, United States and Russia, worsened by the unresolved territorial disputes on the Balkans.

Almost 70 million people from over 40 countries fought in WWI. The Allies lost 6 million soldiers, the Central Powers – 4 million (almost 6,500 deaths every day during the war). Naively, World War I was also known as the War to End All Wars but actually stayed as the sixth deadliest conflict in world history. WWI officially ended on November 11, 1918.

During the war, so many things happened or were introduced for first time:

• Use of tanks in a military conflict (September 1916, by U.K.);

• Sea war was mostly decided by submarines (German U-boats sank half of all British merchant shipping during WWI);

• A war to be fought so extensively in the air. The use of airplanes by military however had started beforehand: for reconnaissance by Italians (1911) and for bombings by Bulgarians (1912);

• Use of flamethrowers (Germans could fire jets of flame as far as 130 feet (40 m));

• Use of chemical weapons (by France, 1914). At the end of the war, most countries signed treaties, outlawing the use of chemical weapons;

• British invented the first practical gas mask;

• Widespread use of machine gun;

• Use of aircraft carriers;

• The war went also underground with tunnels dug below enemy lines so that explosives could be planted. Sometimes soldiers from both sides would meet underground and engage in hand-to-hand combat;

• Blood banks were developed;

• Horrific face injuries inspired the invention of early plastic surgery;

• First war to have more deaths on battlefield than due to disease. Talking about diseases, the Spanish Flu was to blame for 1/3 of total military deaths.

Britain and France became “joyless victors”, with Britain’s leadership in the world economy gone forever. Treaty of Versailles imposed over-the-top sanctions on Germany, driving it into a deep recession.

Four empires collapsed as a result of WWI: Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, German, and Russian. Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland emerged as independent nations. Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Palestine were declared “mandates” under the League of Nations. France took control over Syria while Britain occupied the remaining three. U.S.A. emerged as a super-power.

Among the long-term effects of WWI is the setting up of the League of Nations (precursor of the United Nations). Also, sadly, WWI incited the worldwide arms race and paved the way for WWII.