Page 104 - ABCTE Study Guide_Neat

Trench warfare was a hallmark of World War I. Without the benefit of antibiotics, soldiers in the trenches often died of disease

Nationalism, the love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it, rose to great heights prior to the first
World War and fueled the fires of warfare. Conflicts turned from political to personal as patriotic zealotry
brought simple ideological and ethnic differences into sharp relief throughout the European theater.

World War I

The war started on July 28, 1914 , when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Germany got into the
act next and, during the first four days of August 1914, declared war on Russia, occupied Luxembourg,
declared war on France, and invaded Belgium, which prompted Great Britain to declare war on Germany.

In September France, Britain, and Russia, the three opponents to German aggression, signed the Unity
Pact. The next month, the Ottoman Empire joined the war on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary.
The London Pactpromised Italy territorial gains if it joined with France, Britain, and Russia; Italy declared
war on Austria-Hungary less than a month after the pact was signed and joined the fight against Germany
fifteen months later.

The Zimmermann note (shown below), along with other factors, prompted the United States to declare
war onGermany four months after the secret telegram was received. Over next four
months, Greece , China, and Braziljoined in on the side of the Triple
Entente against Germany and Austria-Hungary. The Central Powers (Germanyand Austria-Hungary)
were defeated, and an armistice ended the war in November 1918. The Treaty of Versailles was signed
six months later, and the Great War came to an official close.

For its own reasons, Russia had pulled out of the fighting before the November 11 armistice.
The October Revolution changed forever the face of Russian politics, replacing the tsarist kingdom with
a communist state. Civil war followed, assisted on the tsarist side by capitalist nations interested in
containing and perhaps eliminating communism. The Bolsheviks won, however, and the Soviet
Union was created at the end of December 1922.