World War I was an international brutal conflict between 1914 and 1918. Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire, also called the Central Powers, fought against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan and the United States, which are the Allied Powers. Thanks to new military technologies and the horrors of trench warfare, World War I saw unprecedented levels of carnage and destruction. It ended with the defeat of the Central Powers and the death of more than 16 million people throughout Europe and the world.
00:00World War I was an international brutal conflict between 1914 and 1918.
00:14Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire, also called the Central Powers,
00:20fought against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan and the United States, which are the Allied Powers.
00:28Thanks to new military technologies and the horrors of trench warfare, World War I saw unprecedented levels of carnage and destruction.
00:36It ended with the defeat of the Central Powers and the death of more than 16 million people throughout Europe and the world.
00:43Tensions had been brewing throughout Europe following Germany's unification and annexation of French territories after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.
00:52Germany's rise upset the European balance of powers and led to a game of alliances.
00:57The spark was struck in Bosnia where the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire was killed by a Serbian nationalist struggling to end Austro-Hungarian rule over Bosnia.
01:07Austria-Hungary, supported by Germany, blamed the Serbian government for the attack and declared war on Serbia, which was backed by Russia, allied to France.
01:17Within a week, World War I unfolded.
01:20Germany's strategy known as the Schlieffen Plan was for a war on two fronts, against France and Russia.
01:25The plan was to rapidly concentrate the bulk of its army in the west to defeat France first, then shift forces to the east before Russia could fully mobilize.
01:34In Asia, Japan sided with Britain, seizing German colonies in China and the Pacific.
01:40The Ottoman Empire, historic enemy of the Russian Empire, entered the war on the side of Austria-Hungary and Germany, opening fronts in the Middle East for controlling access to oil and the Suez Canal.
01:51The German advance penetrated deep into France, closing in on Paris, but was halted at the Battle of the Marne by Franco-British forces.
01:59The defeat meant the end of German plans for a quick victory in France.
02:03Both sides dug into trenches and the Western Front was the setting for a three years long war of attrition that saw the first use of chemical weapons and gases.
02:12Important World War I battles include Verdun and the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front, and the huge naval battle of Jutland between the German and British fleets in 1916.
02:23The recent invention of aviation was first used for observations, then planes were gradually used for bombing and air combat.
02:31Around the world, European colonies and British dominions such as India engaged in war.
02:36From 1914 to 1916, Russia's army mounted several offensives on the Eastern Front but was unable to break through the German lines.
02:45To support geographically isolated Russia, Allied forces tried to open a sea supply route via the Dardanelles Strait, and then later launched to land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula.
02:55Both campaigns failed against Ottoman resistance.
02:59Italy, which was initially part of the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, had stayed neutral until 1915 as it turned against Austria-Hungary to annex new territories.
03:09The 12 Italian offensives along the Isonzo River yielded little result.
03:14Aspiring to recover Balkan territories, Bulgaria joined the Central Powers in invading Serbia.
03:20In the seas, the Royal Navy imposed a naval blockade on Germany, while German submarines were used to sink military and commercial ships supplying the Allies, including those coming from the US.
03:32In addition, Britain intercepted and transmitted a German telegram to Mexico offering an alliance against the United States, which decided to go to war in 1917.
03:42Russia's lack of advances on the battlefield and economic instability exploded in the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, which ended Russian involvement in World War I and later led to the creation of the Soviet Union.
03:55Although Russia was out of the game and Germany was able to focus on the Western Front, it was unable to achieve quick victory against the Allies before the arrival of US troops.
04:04Despite the Ottoman victory at Gallipoli, later defeats and an Arab revolt, backed by the British, forced the Turks to sign a treaty with the Allies in October 1918.
04:14Moreover, Austria-Hungary, dissolving from within due to growing nationalist movements among its diverse population, reached an armistice.
04:22Facing dwindling resources on the battlefield and the surrender of its allies, Germany was finally forced to seek an armistice in November 1918, ending World War I.
04:33World War I helped spread a severe pandemic called the Spanish Flu, strengthened America's economic status and led to the fall of four large empires.
04:42The German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman empires were dismantled as nations were created, including Poland, Finland, Turkey, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
04:52Germany was forced to cut down its army and pay heavy war reparations, as it was considered the sole responsible for war damages by the Treaty of Versailles.
05:01The treaty was considered a humiliation by the German people and laid the groundwork for World War II, despite the creation of the League of Nations that aimed at promoting peace.
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