Remember the First World War

Look back and remember the First World War, the war to end all wars.

2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the conflict which involved more or less 25 countries (in present-day counting), annihilated over 60 million lives and forever change the nature of military wars. Let us all remember World War I — the war that was supposed to end all wars, but instead partially sewn the seeds for World War II.

Remember, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand who was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire sparked the Great War. Europe was unstable and was quite volatile at those times. The subsequent killing of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife while they were travelling in an open-topped car was the trigger. When it happened, all hell broke loose.

Remember, two great groups rose up to take the Great War’s either sides. On one side were the Central Powers which was composed of Germany, Austro-Hungary and the Ottoman empires. On the other side were the Allies made up of the following countries — Great Britain, the United States, France, Russia, Italy and Japan.

Remember, the First World War went on for four years starting in July 28, 1914 when Austria declared war against Serbia. It, then, ended officially in November 11, 1918 after Germany signed the Armistice with the Allies.

Remember, the Great War introduced new technologies to military warfare like the use of submarines and mines. These, subsequently, changed the course of how wars are fought as well as drastically changing the numbers of casualties so unlike in the previous wars.

Remember, the end of the First World War saw the collapse of the Central Powers. It marked the end of both the Austro-Hungarian and the Ottoman empires. Germany was permitted to go on being a sovereign nation as part of the peace agreement. However, the country had to pay an enormous amount as reparations bill.