World War I

World War I, also known as WWI, The First World War, or the Great War, was a major global conflict that took place between 1914 and 1918. The war featured fighting between two sides, the Allies and the Central Powers, mostly in Europe, but also in Asia, Africa, and Oceania. Fighting in Europe mostly revolved around trench warfare. As well as causing the deaths of 17 million people, the large movement of people contributed to the outbreak of the Spanish Flu, which further killed millions.

Tensions in Europe have been brewing for a long time, before reaching a breaking point in 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the nephew of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I. Franz Joseph immediately blamed the assassination, which was done by the Black Hand, on Serbia, declaring war on them and starting World War I. This led to a chain reaction, with Germany, Russia, and France subsequently joining. After Germany trespassed through Belgium to get to France, Britain joined the war on the side of the Allies.

The Sublime Ottoman State was in decline, and hoped to recover, so they made a deal with Germany and Austria-Hungary, joining the Central Powers. The Ottomans' first attack was to raid the Russian port of Sevastopol, which brought them into formal combat.

By 1917, mutiny inside of Russia lead to the abdication of Nicolas II, and the takeover by the Bolsheviks, leading to the formation of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and Russia's withdrawal from the war. The United States soon after joined, and with the Central Powers on the verge of collapse, all four of them surrenderd.