World War One

World War I (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), was one of the bloodiest global conflicts in history. Much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire were involved in the fighting, which raged across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, with another 23 million injured, and 5 million civilians were killed as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died as a result of genocides within the Ottoman Empire and the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by combatant movement during the war.

Prior to 1914, Europe's great powers were divided into the Triple Entente (France, Russia, and the United Kingdom) and the Triple Alliance ( Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy). The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb, heightened tensions in the Balkans on June 28, 1914. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia. On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, while Russia defended the latter. Germany, France, and Britain (along with their respective colonies) were all drawn into the war by August 4. The Ottoman Empire, Germany, and Austria-Hungary formed the Central Powers in November 1914, and Italy joined Britain, France, Russia, and Serbia as World War I Allies on April 26, 1915.

In 1914, Germany's strategy was to concentrate its forces on defeating France in six weeks, then move them to the Eastern Front and do the same with Russia. However, this was defeated in September 1914 at the Battle of Marne, and the year ended with the two sides facing each other along the Western Front, a continuous series of trenches stretching from the English Channel to Switzerland. The Western Front changed little until 1917, whereas the Eastern Front was far more fluid, with Austria-Hungary and Russia both gaining and losing large swaths of territory. Other important theaters of war included the Middle East, Italy, Asia Pacific, and the Balkans, which drew Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece into the conflict.
Throughout 1915, both Russia and Austria-Hungary suffered massive casualties in the East, while Allied offensives in Gallipoli and the Western Front failed. In 1916, German attacks on Verdun and a Franco-British offensive on the Somme resulted in heavy losses for limited strategic gains, while the Russian Brusilov offensive stalled after initial success. By 1917, Russia was on the verge of revolution, the French Nivelle offensive had failed, and British, French, and German forces had suffered heavy losses in Ypres, leaving all belligerents short of manpower and suffering from severe economic stress.
Due to Allied naval blockade shortages, Germany launched unrestricted submarine warfare, bringing the previously neutral United States into the war on April 6, 1917.
The Bolsheviks seized power in Russia during the 1917 October Revolution and exited the war with the March 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, freeing up a large number of German troops. Germany used these additional resources to launch an offensive in March 1918, but it was thwarted by tenacious Allied defense, heavy casualties, and supply shortages. When the Allies launched the Hundred Days Offensive in August, the Imperial German Army fought valiantly but could only slow the advance, not halt it.

The Central Powers began to disintegrate toward the end of 1918, with Bulgaria signing an armistice on September 29, the Ottomans on October 31, and Austria-Hungary on November 3. Isolated, facing the German Revolution at home and a mutinous military, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated on November 9, 1918, and the new German government signed the Armistice of 11 November 1918, bringing the war to an end.
The Treaty of Versailles was the most famous of the settlements imposed on the defeated powers by the Paris Peace Conference of 1919-1920. The dissolution of the Russian Empire in 1917, the German Empire in 1918, the Austria-Hungarian Empire in 1920, and the Ottoman Empire in 1922 sparked numerous uprisings and the establishment of independent states such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia.
Failure to manage the instability that resulted from this upheaval during the interwar period resulted in the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, for reasons that are still debated. If you enjoy it, subscribe to our channel for more interesting videos.

Timestamps 📽
0:06 - Europe goes to war
3:20 - Opening moves
6:23 - The Eastern Front
8:13 - The World at War
11:48 - The year 1915
17:45 - German Advances in the East
19:37 - Italy enters the war
21:23 - The Great Autumn Offensive
24:20 - The year 1916
27:47 - Battle of Verdun
30:00 - The Arab Revolt
34:07 - Romanian joins the war
38:00 - The year 1917
40:00 - Russian Revolution
46:46 - Middle East 1917
51:20 - The year 1918
54:28 - The Dawn of Air Power
57:20 - Collapse
1:01:05 - Paris Peace Conference

Cre: @HistoryTime (YouTube)