The Spark in Sarajevo
On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in Sarajevo. It was the spark — but the powder keg was decades of rival alliances, arms races, and nationalism. Within weeks, Europe's alliance system dragged 32 nations into war: the Allies (France, Britain, Russia) vs. the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottomans).
Trench Hell
The Western Front froze into 700 km of trenches from Belgium to Switzerland. Soldiers lived in mud with rats, launching suicidal charges into machine-gun fire. New horrors debuted: poison gas, tanks, fighter planes, submarines. Battles like Verdun and the Somme killed hundreds of thousands for a few kilometers of mud.
America Tips the Balance
By 1917, all sides were exhausted. Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare sank American ships, pulling the USA into the war. Fresh American troops and supplies broke the stalemate. On November 11, 1918, Germany surrendered. The cost: 20 million dead, 21 million wounded — a generation destroyed.
The Peace That Failed
The Treaty of Versailles (1919) blamed Germany entirely and imposed crushing reparations. Four empires collapsed: German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, Russian. New nations were born — including Poland and Czechoslovakia. But the humiliation of Versailles planted the seeds of World War II. The 'war to end all wars' ended nothing.