World War I - Battle of Verdun, Somme, Brusilov | Britannica

World War I

Table of Contents

Introduction & Top Questions
The outbreak of war
- Forces and resources of the combatant nations in 1914
- Technology of war in 1914
The initial stages of the war
- Initial strategies
  - The Schlieffen Plan
  - Eastern Front strategy, 1914
  - The strategy of the Western Allies, 1914
- The war in the west, 1914
  - The German invasion
  - The First Battle of the Marne
- The Eastern and other fronts, 1914
  - The war in the east, 1914
  - The Serbian campaign, 1914
  - The Turkish entry
  - The war at sea, 1914–15
  - The loss of the German colonies
The years of stalemate
- Rival strategies and the Dardanelles campaign, 1915–16
- The Western and Eastern fronts, 1915
  - The Western Front, 1915
  - The Eastern Front, 1915
- Other fronts, 1915–16
  - The Caucasus, 1914–16
  - Mesopotamia, 1914–April 1916
  - The Egyptian frontiers, 1915–July 1917
  - Italy and the Italian front, 1915–16
  - Serbia and the Salonika expedition, 1915–17
- Major developments in 1916
  - The Western Front, 1916
  - The Battle of Jutland
  - The Eastern Front, 1916
  - German strategy and the submarine war, 1916–January 1917
  - Peace moves and U.S. policy to February 1917
- Developments in 1917
  - The Western Front, January–May 1917
  - The U.S. entry into the war
  - The Russian revolutions and the Eastern Front, March 1917–March 1918
  - Greek affairs
  - Caporetto
  - Mesopotamia, summer 1916–winter 1917
  - Palestine, autumn 1917
  - The Western Front, June–December 1917
  - The Far East
  - Naval operations, 1917–18
  - Air warfare
  - Peace moves, March 1917–September 1918
The last offensives and the Allies’ victory
- The Western Front, March–September 1918
- Other developments in 1918
  - Czechs, Yugoslavs, and Poles
  - Eastern Europe and the Russian periphery, March–November 1918
  - The Balkan front, 1918
  - The Turkish fronts, 1918
  - Vittorio Veneto
  - The collapse of Austria-Hungary
- The final offensive on the Western Front
  - The end of the German war
  - The Armistice
- Killed, wounded, and missing

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Explore the roles of Marie Curie, Mabel St. Clair Stobart, and Aileen Cole Stewart in World War I

Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, duchess of Hohenberg

Causes and start of World War I

Maxim machine gun

Somme; machine gun

See how No Man's Land between World War I trenches led to the use of chemical weapons, tanks, and warplanes

When was the motorized ambulance invented?

For Students

World War I

Key Facts of World War I

Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, duchess of Hohenberg

World War I Timeline

Paris Peace Conference

Causes and Effects of World War I

Read Next

General Pershing's troops moving into Mexico in 1917 during World War I.

Timeline of World War I

American troops at the front in Italy. American soldiers on the Piave (river) front hurling a shower of hand grenades into the Austrian trenches, Varage, Italy; September 16, 1918. (World War I)

Leaders of World War I

Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 9th Mechanized Division learning to operate and maintain M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Center, Baghdad, Iraq, 2011. Military training. Iraq war. U.S. Army

8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century

French soldiers resting behind the front during the Battle of Verdun during the First World War From L'Illustration, 1916

100th Anniversary of the Battle of Verdun

ANZAC troops set up camps on the Gallipoli Peninsula (now in Turkey) during World War I.

100th Anniversary of the Gallipoli Landings

Discover

Adolf Hitler (Nazi, nazism, German leader).

9 Things You Might Not Know About Adolf Hitler

Coffee beans after roasting.

How Is Coffee Decaffeinated?

Aphrodite. Greek mythology. Sculpture. Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

12 Greek Gods and Goddesses

Still from the film Deliverance, 1919. The story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. View shows Keller in the cockpit/front seat of an airplane.

How Did Helen Keller Fly a Plane?

solar eclipse, sun, moon, astronomy, space

How Do You Tell the Difference Between Total, Annular, Solar, and Lunar Eclipses?

Two chicks near an egg with a white background (poultry, chick, chickens, birds).

What Do Eggs Have to Do with Easter?

Mona Lisa, oil on wood panel by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1503-06; in the Louvre, Paris, France. 77 x 53 cm.

Why Is the Mona Lisa So Famous?

In 1914 the centre of gravity of World War I had been on the Western Front, in 1915 it shifted to the Eastern, and in 1916 it once more moved back to France. Though the western Allies had dissipated some of their strength in the Dardanelles, Salonika, and Mesopotamia, the rising tide of Britain’s new armies and of its increased munition supplies promised the means for an offensive far larger in scale than any before to break the trench deadlock. Britain’s armies in France had grown to 36 divisions by the end of 1915. By that time voluntary enlistments, though ...(100 of 31671 words)

Access the full article

Help support true facts by becoming a member.