The First World War: causes and consequences

In short: The First World War (1914–1918) was a global war that claimed about 17 million lives. The trigger was the assassination at Sarajevo; deeper causes were alliance systems, the arms race and nationalism.

In more detail: On 28 June 1914 the Austrian heir Franz Ferdinand was shot. The alliances drew many states into war within a short time.

In detail

• Powers: Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire) against the Entente (France, Britain, Russia, later the USA).
• Trench warfare: On the Western Front the lines froze in trenches; poison gas, machine guns and artillery killed hundreds of thousands.
• End of the war: Armistice on 11 November 1918; in Germany revolution and the end of the monarchy.
• Treaty of Versailles (1919): Territorial losses, reparations and the war guilt clause weighed on Germany.
• Consequences: Collapse of the great empires, new states in Europe, League of Nations.
• Remembrance: The war is regarded as the “seminal catastrophe” of the 20th century (weimarer-republik).