World
War 1
World War was a military
conflict wich lasted from 1914 to 1918, that began as
a local European war between Austria-Hungary
and Serbia on July 28, 1914;
was transformed into a general European struggle by declaration of war against Russia on August
1, 1914; and eventually became a global war involving 32 nations. Twenty-eight
of these nations, known as the Allies and the Associated Powers, and including Great Britain, France,
Russia, Italy, and the United
States, opposed the coalition known as the Central
Powers, consisting of Germany,
Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria. The immediate cause of
the war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia was the assassination on June 28,
1914, at Sarajevo in Bosnia (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; now in
Bosnia and Herzegovina), of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir-presumptive to the
Austrian and Hungarian thrones, by Gavrilo Princip, a Serb nationalist. The
fundamental causes of the conflict, however, were rooted deeply in the European
history of the previous century, particularly in the political and economic
policies that prevailed on the Continent after 1871, the year that marked the
emergence of Germany
as a great world power.
Causes of the War .The underlying causes of World
War I were the spirit of intense nationalism that permeated Europe throughout
the 19th and into the 20th century, the political and economic rivalry among
the nations, and the establishment and maintenance in Europe after 1871 of
large armaments and of two hostile military alliances. World War I provided a
great stimulus to the production and military use of aircraft, including the
airplane and airship, or dirigible balloon, and the tethered balloon. Aircraft
were used for two principal purposes: observation and bombing. For observation
of stationary battlefronts extensive use was made by both belligerents of small
tethered balloons; for scouting at sea, dirigible balloons were extensively
used, and airplanes were used for scouting coastal waters. In connection with
military operations on land, airplanes were used to observe the disposition of
the troops and defenses of the enemy and for bombing the enemy's lines or
troops in action. A special feature of the war was the raids conducted by means
of dirigibles or airplanes on important enemy centers far removed from the
battlefront.The first German airplane raid on Paris
took place on August 30, 1914; and the first German air raid on England was on Dover on December 21, 1914. During 1915 and
1916 the German type of dirigible known as the zeppelin raided eastern England and London 60 times.
