The World War I Ended

There are many reasons for the casualties on the western front during World War I, such as the length of the war, the weapons involved, strategy and tactics, and the conditions. The total number of casualties in World War I, both military and civilian, was about 37 million: 16 million deaths and 21 million wounded. Throughout this essay, I will explain how each of these things affected the number of people who died on the Western Front.

World War I began in Europe in 1914. Europe was divided as two competing alliances, Central Powers (Britain, France, and Russia) and Triple Entente (Germany, Austro-Hungary, and Italy). On June 28, 1914, the two alliances started breaking apart. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated by a Serbian nationalist while visiting Sarajevo. Austria declared war on Serbia as a result. This led to Russia defending Serbia. By August 3, Germany declared war on Russia and France and invaded Belgium. Great Britain declared war on Germany. By then, Europe and a part of Asia

On June 28, 1914, a young Serbian nationalist that was for the revolution in his country named Gavrilo Princip killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Tensions were high between these two countries at the time, and started to escalate dramatically till this event happened. This set off a chain of events that helped to developed into allies, revolutions, and led to a declaration of war. World War I started barely one month later [history.com].

On June 28, 1914 Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist. His death was the spark that ignited the dry grass and wood pile that was Europe. One month later on July 28th, 1914 Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. World War 1 had begun. The sides were the allies: France, the UK (and their colonies), Italy, Russia, Japan, Romania, Serbia, Greece, and Portugal. The other side was the central powers: Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria, and Turkey. The United States said that they were neutral in the beginning, but due to the US being under attack despite its neutrality, the growing anti-German sentiment in the US influenced by historic ties to Great Britain, German policies of aggression, and American and British propaganda the United States entered World War 1 on the side of the allies on April 6, 1917

November 11, 1918 marketed the end of World War I. During the 2 yeas the United States fought, women became part of the labor force as well as African Americans, the Nineteenth Amendment was passed and factories were booming. Even After the war men returned to the work force and quality of life started to improve. October 1929, the stock market crashed as a result of many buying goods on credit. The Great Depression was the worst in American history and lasted until 1939 before America started in War preparations for World War II. It was after 1945 when men came home and reentered the work force that quality of life improved and we begin to see the rise of the middle class.

Before addressing the manner in which trench warfare greatly affected World War I, it is imperative to adequately describe what this tactic is. Trench warfare, quite literally, is when armies would dig trenches into the ground as a station for their armed forced. Likewise, the enemy would also have trenches dug nearby. In general, this type of warfare was described as a way of fighting from a ‘permanent’ area:

Imagine standing in thick mud, surrounded by dirt walls. Artillery shells could be heard crashing into the ground as fellow soldiers were blown up in close proximity. Moaning from the wounded filled the air. Fear and panic were abundant as the soldiers employed methodical tasks they had learned in their training. A quick glance over the parapet showed the brutality of war, as this is the day-to-day life of a soldier in the trenches. During World War I new scientific know how allowed for the development and introduction of numerous types of weaponry for use in battle. Advancements of technology during World War I led to a higher number of casualties than what was otherwise possible. The technologies included guns, tanks, explosives, barbed wire, and poison gas.

World War 1 was history’s largest transformation in military technology tactics. Almost all battlefield missions in 1914 to 1918 stay the same today but have. However, militaries around adapted to more modern-day weapons and technologies. What started in World War 1 is usually seen in today’s Warfare. Since 1918 Almost all military approaches have stayed the same but have been technically improved to the more recent style of warfare. According to the Wall Street Journal, “World War 1 accelerated the evolution of warfare, catapulting it out of the victorian era into nearly the middle of the 20th century” (1). Additionally, there are many different types of warfare used in World War 1. Two of those tactics that affected war greatly was Trench Warfare and the use of gas. To begin, the first major attack using gas was in 1915 in the country of what is now called Poland. It was a strategy where they would rain 18 thousand gas shells holding chemical xylyl bromide. It was not successful at all, so German scientists created a method where chloride gas is released from pressurized cylinders. This was a success killing many people from suffocation. There are three main types of gas used in war: Lachrymator (tear gas), Suffocating gas, and Sternutator gas. Trench warfare was another strategy used in World War 1. The goal of trench warfare was to avoid as many deaths as possible, and it actually saved many lives. Trenches were usually dug by men, and extended for miles and miles. The trenches were made zig-zag so it would confuse the enemies. For every mile there was usually five thousand men. Trenches were good for traveling and made communication easier. In conclusion, trench warfare and the use of gas affected war back then, and still affects war

The Great War was the most calamitous war in history until the Second World War: an estimated 10 million belligerents died from all causes, moreover 20 million more were severely wounded. Estimates of human casualties are harder to make; the amount is colossal. Additionally, as Neil M. Heyman in World War quoted, "Not physically hurt but scarred nonetheless were 5 million widowed women, 9 million orphaned children, and 10 million individuals torn from their homes to become refugees."

Warfare was very different from previous conflicts especially with the nature of war including new technologies. The most potent weapon during the Great war was the machine gun, which fired 200-250 shots per minute. The skill and accuracy of soldiers was not as of a necessity for this weapon as it shot so rapidly. This weapon did not always immediately kill an enemy, but it would likely lead to a loss of a limb which resulted in infections that would eventually end their life. Other new weapons including flame throwers and hand grenades also came into play during this war. War on land also took a turn as to how it was fought. Trench warfare became prevalent at the end of 1914. Both sides of the war dug themselves into the ground in order to entrench themselves in which they would live, eat, sleep, and fight in. The area in between the trenches on each side was referred to as “No Man’s Land”. The conflict was moving further away from face to face fighting resulting

World War One began on July 28, 1914 after the Austrian-Hungarian emperor was assassinated by coordination of The Black Hand secret society, a Serbian nationalist group. The war between Serbia and Austria-Hungary began. The First World War is known for its trench warfare, alliances, and technological advancements. World War I ended on November 11, 1918 ending in an allied victory. World War II, also known as the Second War, began on September 1, 1939. World War II was much more brutal than World War I, the German, Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist, Nazi Party, killed over 60 million people. The war came to an end on September 2, 1942 when the surrender was signed aboard the battleship U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Advancements

The main event that led to the spark of World War I was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Who was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne (Willmott, 2003). Archduke Franz Ferdinand was a friend to Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, the two met in mid-June 1914 to discuss

World War I, also known as the Grate War or The War to end all Wars, was one of the most devastating and destructive war in history. Some significant causes of the war were the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, allies and imperialism. The war lasted over four years and killed around 20 million deaths, and half of the dead were innocent civilians. Also, some large effects of the war were the punishing Germany, which, undeniably led to World War II and the creation of the League of Nations.

Trench warfare had soldiers fighting hand to hand. This was one of the worst types of fighting. Trench warfare resulted in huge losses of human life for small amounts of land. Life in the trenches was horrendous. They had to sleep next to rats running around and bomb shells going off. They said that sleep was impossible. Along with that fresh food was nonexistent. Then, on top of all of that they went to attack and got greeted with murderous rounds of machine gun fire. A French soldier described it as “the air being unbreathable and living hell with the injured crawling while screaming.” It was a “terrain of death” said a British soldier.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated. He and his wife was assassinated in 1914. The killings sparked a chain of events that led to the outbreak of World War I by early August. On June 28, 1919, five years to the day after Franz Ferdinand’s death, Germany and the Allied Powers signed the Treaty of Versailles, officially marking the end of World War I.