![]() Despite some initial success, an Allied counteroffensive in the First Battle of Marne forced the Germans to retreat in September. Based on a modified version of the Schlieffen Plan, the Germans thus attacked France through Belgium in the summer of 1914 in hopes of a quick submission. Therefore, while Russia was still mobilizing, the German high command hoped they could quickly beat the British and French forces before shifting their focus to Russia. With Germany facing France in the west and Russia in the east, this meant that a war on two fronts was likely. The United Kingdom, France, and Russia made up the Allied Powers (or Triple Entente) on one side, and Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire made up the Central Powers on the other. By the end of 1914, all the major European powers were involved in the conflict. This was followed by Germany mobilizing against Russia. Thereafter, Russia, a Serbian ally, mobilized against Austria-Hungary. First Battle Of The Marne German soldiers (wearing distinctive pickelhaube helmets with cloth covers) on the front at the First Battle of the Marne.įollowing the assassination of the Archduke, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. However, explaining some key battles is one way to provide a semi-thorough overview. The enormity of this conflict makes capturing all of its aspects in a single article difficult. Finally, Great War-based grievances, particularly in Germany and Italy, ultimately led to the conditions that made the Second World War possible. The maps of the Middle East and Africa were also redrawn. For instance, self-determination became a norm in international relations-at least for European countries. Furthermore, the war fundamentally reshaped the geopolitical landscape. It was the deadliest conflict in world history up to that point between 15 to 22 million people died, and another 23 million were injured. This assassination set off a chain of events that led to the First World War (also known as the Great War) from 1914 to 1918. In the years that followed, the word Verdun came to represent carnage and heavy losses.On June 28, 1914, Archduke of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Franz Ferdinand was shot dead by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter And, despite its pivotal place in the history of World War I, it ended with the French and German armies in much the same position-at least on a map-that they had held before the whole thing started. The region had also been physically devastated. Though some historians have argued that what we call “Verdun” was in fact a series of battles with elements that not only filled 1916 but also stretched before and after that year, the importance of what Verdun means to 20th-century military history is hard to debate.īy Britannica’s estimation, about 300,000 were killed during the course of those brutal months, out of a total of 400,000 French casualties and 350,000 German. The idea wasn’t wrong: France was in fact willing to go to extreme lengths to repel the enemy at Verdun, successfully pushing back German advances at great cost. The idea was that France would spend too much effort on that goal, weakening its position and helping the German effort. ![]() With its strategic location, the German military determined that Verdun would not only be worthy of attack, but that French forces would go to great lengths to defend it. 18, 1916-100 years ago this weekend, after what TIME later called “the crudest ten months of World War I.” By that point, it had become the Great War’s longest fight. Fighting began at Verdun, named for the French town that was its focus point, on Feb. The 10 photographs seen here all bear the same basic place and date information: Verdun, 1916.īut that information hardly does justice to the battle they depict. ![]()
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