6 Little‑Known Pioneers of Aviation | HISTORY
Daredevil Glenn Curtiss was already the “fastest man on earth” before he ever piloted an airplane. The New York native owned a business that ...
World War I
Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman first caught the flying bug after hearing tales of <anchor>World War I</anchor> pilots. When American flight schools denied her entry because of her gender and race, the daughter of Texas sharecroppers traveled to France, enrolled in the Caudron Brothers School of Aviation and emerged several months later with an international pilot’s license—the first ever awarded to an African American woman.
World War I: Summary, Causes & Facts | HISTORY
World War I: Summary, Causes & Facts \| HISTORY

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4. World War I

# World War I

By: [History.com Editors](/author/history)

Updated: May 10, 2024 \| Original: October 29, 2009

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!["I Have a Rendevous with Death."FRANCE - CIRCA 1916: German troops advancing from their trenches. (Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images)](https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2009/10/world-war-one-gettyimages-90007631.jpg?width=3840&height=1920&crop=3840%3A1920%2Csmart&quality=75&auto=webp)[Buyenlarge/Getty Images](https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/german-troops-advancing-from-their-trenches-news-photo/90007631)

World War I, also known as the Great War, started in 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. His murder catapulted into a war across Europe that lasted until 1918. During the four-year conflict, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire (the Central Powers) fought against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Canada, Japan and the United States (the Allied Powers). Thanks to new military technologies and the horrors of trench warfare, World War I saw unprecedented levels of carnage and destruction. By the time the war was over and the Allied Powers had won, more than 16 million people—soldiers and civilians alike—were dead.

## Archduke Franz Ferdinand

How a Wrong Turn Started World War I

Tensions had been brewing throughout Europe—especially in the troubled Balkan region of southeast Europe—for years before World War I actually broke out.

A number of alliances involving European powers, the [Ottoman Empire](http://www.history.com/topics/ottoman-empire), Russia and other parties had existed for years, but political instability in the [Balkans](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-first-balkan-war-ends) (particularly Bosnia, Serbia and Herzegovina) threatened to destroy these agreements.

The spark that ignited World War I was struck in Sarajevo, Bosnia, where [Archduke Franz Ferdinand](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/archduke-franz-ferdinand-assassinated)—heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire—was shot to death along with his wife, Sophie, by the Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914. Princip and other nationalists were struggling to end Austro-Hungarian rule over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

![](data:image/svg+xml,%3csvg%20xmlns=%27http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%27%20version=%271.1%27%20width=%271024%27%20height=%27576%27/%3e)![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

### The Great War

Watch **The Great War**. Available to stream now.

[Watch NOW](https://play.history.com/shows/the-great-war)

The assassination of Franz Ferdinand set off a rapidly escalating chain of events: [Austria-Hungary](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/austria-hungary-declares-war-on-serbia), like many countries around the world, blamed the Serbian government for the attack and hoped to use the incident as justification for settling the question of Serbian nationalism once and for all.

## Kaiser Wilhelm II

Because mighty Russia supported Serbia, Austria-Hungary waited to declare war until its leaders received assurance from German leader [Kaiser Wilhelm II](http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/kaiser-wilhelm-ii) that Germany would support their cause. Austro-Hungarian leaders feared that a Russian intervention would involve Russia’s ally, France, and possibly Great Britain as well.

On July 5, Kaiser Wilhelm secretly pledged his support, giving Austria-Hungary a so-called carte blanche, or “blank check” assurance of Germany’s backing in the case of war. The Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary then sent an ultimatum to Serbia, with such harsh terms as to make it almost impossible to accept.

World War I History

## World War I Begins

Convinced that Austria-Hungary was readying for war, the Serbian government ordered the Serbian army to mobilize and appealed to Russia for assistance. On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and the tenuous peace between Europe’s great powers quickly collapsed.

Within a week, Russia, Belgium, France, Great Britain and Serbia had lined up against Austria-Hungary and Germany, and World War I had begun.

## The Western Front

According to an aggressive military strategy known as the [Schlieffen Plan](https://www.history.com/news/was-germany-doomed-in-world-war-i-by-the-schlieffen-plan) (named for its mastermind, German Field Marshal [Alfred von Schlieffen](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/alfred-von-schlieffen-dies)), Germany began fighting World War I on two fronts, invading France through neutral Belgium in the west and confronting Russia in the east.

On August 4, 1914, German troops crossed the border into Belgium. In the first battle of World War I, the Germans assaulted the heavily fortified city of [Liege](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/german-assault-on-liege-begins-first-battle-of-world-war-i), using the most powerful weapons in their arsenal—enormous siege cannons—to capture the city by August 15. The Germans left death and destruction in their wake as they advanced through Belgium toward France, shooting civilians and executing a Belgian priest they had accused of inciting civilian resistance.

## First Battle of the Marne

In the [First Battle of the Marne](http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/first-battle-of-marne), fought from September 6-9, 1914, French and British forces confronted the invading German army, which had by then penetrated deep into northeastern France, within 30 miles of Paris. The Allied troops checked the German advance and mounted a successful counterattack, driving the Germans back to the north of the Aisne River.

The defeat meant the end of German plans for a quick victory in France. Both sides dug into [trenches](https://www.history.com/news/life-in-the-trenches-of-world-war-i), and the Western Front was the setting for a hellish war of attrition that would last more than three years.

Particularly long and costly battles in this campaign were fought at [Verdun](http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/battle-of-verdun) (February-December 1916) and the [Battle of the Somme](http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/battle-of-the-somme) (July-November 1916). German and French troops suffered close to a million casualties in the [Battle of Verdun](https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/battle-of-verdun) alone.

![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

## HISTORY Vault: World War I Documentaries

Stream World War I videos commercial-free in HISTORY Vault.

[WATCH NOW](https://watch.historyvault.com/topics/world-war-i)

## World War I Books and Art

The bloodshed on the battlefields of the Western Front, and the difficulties its soldiers had for years after the fighting had ended, inspired such works of art as “ [All Quiet on the Western Front](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/remarque-publishes-all-quiet-on-the-western-front)” by [Erich Maria Remarque](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/erich-maria-remarque-born) and “ [In Flanders Fields](https://www.history.com/news/world-war-i-poppy-remembrance-symbol-veterans-day)”by Canadian doctor Lieutenant-Colonel [John McCrae](https://www.history.com/news/8-battlefield-poets-of-world-war-i). In the latter poem, McCrae writes from the perspective of the fallen soldiers:

Published in 1915, the poem inspired the use of the poppy as a symbol of remembrance.

Visual artists like Otto Dix of Germany and British painters Wyndham Lewis, Paul Nash and David Bomberg used their firsthand experience as soldiers in World War I to create their art, capturing the anguish of trench warfare and exploring the themes of technology, violence and landscapes decimated by war.

## The Eastern Front

On the Eastern Front of World War I, Russian forces invaded the German-held regions of East Prussia and Poland but were stopped short by German and Austrian forces at the [Battle of Tannenberg](http://www.history.com/topics/battle-of-tannenberg) in late August 1914.

Despite that victory, Russia’s assault forced Germany to move two corps from the Western Front to the Eastern, contributing to the German loss in the Battle of the Marne.

Combined with the fierce Allied resistance in France, the ability of Russia’s huge war machine to mobilize relatively quickly in the east ensured a longer, more grueling conflict instead of the quick victory Germany had hoped to win under the [Schlieffen Plan](https://www.history.com/news/was-germany-doomed-in-world-war-i-by-the-schlieffen-plan).

## Russian Revolution

From 1914 to 1916, Russia’s army mounted several offensives on World War I’s Eastern Front but was unable to break through German lines.

Defeat on the battlefield, combined with economic instability and the scarcity of food and other essentials, led to mounting discontent among the bulk of Russia’s population, especially the poverty-stricken workers and peasants. This increased hostility was directed toward the imperial regime of [Czar Nicholas II](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/czar-nicholas-ii-abdicates) and his unpopular German-born wife, Alexandra.

Russia’s simmering instability exploded in the [Russian Revolution](http://www.history.com/topics/russian-revolution) of 1917, spearheaded by [Vladimir Lenin](http://www.history.com/topics/vladimir-lenin) and the [Bolsheviks](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/bolsheviks-revolt-in-russia), which ended czarist rule and brought a halt to Russian participation in World War I.

Russia reached an [armistice with the Central Powers](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/russia-reaches-armistice-with-the-central-powers) in early December 1917, freeing German troops to face the remaining Allies on the Western Front.

## America Enters World War I

Lusitania

At the outbreak of fighting in 1914, the United States remained on the sidelines of World War I, adopting the policy of neutrality favored by President [Woodrow Wilson](https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/woodrow-wilson) while continuing to engage in commerce and shipping with European countries on both sides of the conflict.

Neutrality, however, it was increasingly difficult to maintain in the face of Germany’s unchecked submarine aggression against neutral ships, including those carrying passengers. In 1915, Germany declared the waters surrounding the British Isles to be a war zone, and [German U-boats](https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/deconstructing-history-u-boats-video) sunk several commercial and passenger vessels, including some U.S. ships.

Widespread protest over the sinking by U-boat of the British ocean liner [Lusitania](http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/lusitania)—traveling from [New York](https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/new-york) to Liverpool, England with hundreds of American passengers onboard—in May 1915 helped turn the tide of American public opinion against Germany. In February 1917, Congress passed a $250 million arms appropriations bill intended to make the United States ready for war.

Germany sunk four more U.S. merchant ships the following month, and on April 2 Woodrow Wilson appeared before Congress and called for a declaration of war against Germany.

## Gallipoli Campaign

Battle of Gallipoli

With World War I having effectively settled into a stalemate in Europe, the Allies attempted to score a victory against the Ottoman Empire, which entered the conflict on the side of the Central Powers in late 1914.

After a failed attack on the Dardanelles (the strait linking the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean Sea), Allied forces led by Britain launched a large-scale land invasion of the [Gallipoli](http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/battle-of-gallipoli) Peninsula in April 1915. The invasion also proved a dismal failure, and in January 1916 Allied forces staged a full retreat from the shores of the peninsula after suffering 250,000 casualties.

> _Did you know?_ The young Winston Churchill, then first lord of the British Admiralty, resigned his command after the failed Gallipoli campaign in 1916, accepting a commission with an infantry battalion in France.

British-led forces also combated the Ottoman Turks in Egypt and [Mesopotamia](https://www.history.com/topics/mesopotamia), while in northern Italy, Austrian and Italian troops faced off in a series of 12 battles along the Isonzo River, located at the border between the two nations.

## Battle of the Isonzo

The [First Battle of the Isonzo](http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/eleven-battles-of-isonzo) took place in the late spring of 1915, soon after Italy’s entrance into the war on the Allied side. In the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, also known as the [Battle of Caporetto](https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/battle-of-caporetto) (October 1917), German reinforcements helped Austria-Hungary win a decisive victory.

After Caporetto, Italy’s allies jumped in to offer increased assistance. British and French—and later, American—troops arrived in the region, and the Allies began to take back the Italian Front.

## World War I at Sea

In the years before World War I, the superiority of Britain’s Royal Navy was unchallenged by any other nation’s fleet, but the Imperial German Navy had made substantial strides in closing the gap between the two naval powers. Germany’s strength on the high seas was also aided by its lethal fleet of U-boat submarines.

After the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915, in which the British mounted a surprise attack on German ships in the North Sea, the German navy chose not to confront Britain’s mighty Royal Navy in a major battle for more than a year, preferring to rest the bulk of its naval strategy on its U-boats.

The biggest naval engagement of World War I, the [Battle of Jutland](http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/battle-of-jutland) (May 1916) left British naval superiority on the North Sea intact, and Germany would make no further attempts to break an Allied naval blockade for the remainder of the war.

[![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)](/news/world-war-i-causes)

[**8 Events that Led to World War I** \
Imperialism, nationalistic pride and mutual alliances all played a part in building tensions that would erupt into war.\
\
Read more](/news/world-war-i-causes)

[![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)](/topics/world-war-i/world-war-i-battles-timeline)

[**World War I Battles: Timeline** \
For four years, from 1914 to 1918, World War I raged across Europe’s western and eastern fronts after growing tensions and then the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria ignited the war. Trench warfare and the early use of tanks, submarines and airplanes meant the war’s battles were devastatingly bloody, claiming an estimated 40 \[…\]\
\
Read more](/topics/world-war-i/world-war-i-battles-timeline)

[![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)](/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-battle-of-verdun)

[**10 Things You May Not Know About the Battle of Verdun** \
Explore 10 surprising facts about one of the longest and most brutal campaigns of World War I. \
\
Read more](/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-battle-of-verdun)

## World War I Planes

World War I was the first major conflict to harness the power of planes. Though not as impactful as the British Royal Navy or Germany’s U-boats, the use of planes in World War I presaged their later, pivotal role in military conflicts around the globe.

At the dawn of World War I, aviation was a relatively new field; the [Wright brothers](https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/wright-brothers) took their first sustained flight just eleven years before, in 1903. Aircraft were initially used primarily for reconnaissance missions. During the First Battle of the Marne, information passed from pilots allowed the allies to exploit weak spots in the German lines, helping the Allies to push Germany out of France.

The first machine guns were successfully mounted on planes in June of 1912 in the United States, but were imperfect; if timed incorrectly, a bullet could easily destroy the propeller of the plane it came from. The Morane-Saulnier L, a French plane, provided a solution: The propeller was armored with deflector wedges that prevented bullets from hitting it. The Morane-Saulnier Type L was used by the French, the British Royal Flying Corps (part of the Army), the British Royal Navy Air Service and the Imperial Russian Air Service. The British Bristol Type 22 was another popular model used for both reconnaissance work and as a fighter plane.

Dutch inventor Anthony Fokker improved upon the French deflector system in 1915. His “interrupter” synchronized the firing of the guns with the plane’s propeller to avoid collisions. Though his most popular plane during WWI was the single-seat Fokker Eindecker, Fokker created over 40 kinds of airplanes for the Germans.

The Allies debuted the Handley-Page HP O/400, the first two-engine bomber, in 1915. As aerial technology progressed, long-range heavy bombers like Germany’s Gotha G.V. (first introduced in 1917) were used to strike cities like London. Their speed and maneuverability proved to be far deadlier than Germany’s earlier Zeppelin raids.

By the war’s end, the Allies were producing five times more aircraft than the Germans. On April 1, 1918, the British created the Royal Air Force, or RAF, the first air force to be a separate military branch independent from the navy or army.

## Second Battle of the Marne

With Germany able to build up its strength on the Western Front after the armistice with Russia, Allied troops struggled to hold off another German offensive until promised reinforcements from the United States were able to arrive.

On July 15, 1918, German troops launched what would become the last German offensive of the war, attacking French forces (joined by 85,000 American troops as well as some of the British Expeditionary Force) in the [Second Battle of the Marne](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/second-battle-of-the-marne-begins-with-final-german-offensive). The Allies successfully pushed back the German offensive and launched their own counteroffensive just three days later.

After suffering massive casualties, Germany was forced to call off a planned offensive further north, in the Flanders region stretching between France and Belgium, which was envisioned as Germany’s best hope of victory.

The Second Battle of the Marne turned the tide of war decisively towards the Allies, who were able to regain much of France and Belgium in the months that followed.

## The Harlem Hellfighters and Other All-Black Regiments

The Legendary Harlem Hellfighters

By the time World War I began, there were four all-Black regiments in the U.S. military: the 24th and 25th Infantry and the 9th and 10th Cavalry. All four regiments comprised of celebrated soldiers who fought in the [Spanish-American War](https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/spanish-american-war) and [American-Indian Wars](https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/american-indian-wars), and served in the American territories. But they were not deployed for overseas combat in World War I.

Blacks serving alongside white soldiers on the front lines in Europe was inconceivable to the U.S. military. Instead, the first African American troops sent overseas served in segregated labor battalions, restricted to menial roles in the Army and Navy, and shutout of the Marines, entirely. Their duties mostly included unloading ships, transporting materials from train depots, bases and ports, digging trenches, cooking and maintenance, removing barbed wire and inoperable equipment, and burying soldiers.

Facing criticism from the Black community and civil rights organizations for its quotas and treatment of African American soldiers in the war effort, the military formed two Black combat units in 1917, the [92nd and 93rd Divisions](https://unwritten-record.blogs.archives.gov/2017/02/13/a-brief-look-at-african-american-soldiers-in-the-great-war/). Trained separately and inadequately in the United States, the divisions fared differently in the war. The 92nd faced criticism for their performance in the Meuse-Argonne campaign in September 1918. The 93rd Division, however, had more success.

[![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)](/news/how-world-war-i-changed-literature)

[**How World War I Changed Literature** \
World War I altered the world for decades, and writers and poets reflected that shift in literature, novels and poetry.\
\
Read more](/news/how-world-war-i-changed-literature)

[![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)](/news/was-germany-doomed-in-world-war-i-by-the-schlieffen-plan)

[**Was Germany Doomed in World War I by the Schlieffen Plan?** \
The Schlieffen Plan, devised a decade before the start of World War I, was a failed strategy for Germany to win World War I.\
\
Read more](/news/was-germany-doomed-in-world-war-i-by-the-schlieffen-plan)

[![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)](/news/harlem-hellfighters-horace-pippin-tales-from-wwi-trenches)

[**A Harlem Hellfighter’s Searing Tales from the WWI Trenches** \
Blue clouds of poisonous gas. Relentless shelling and machine gun fire. Horace Pippin's art‑filled journals recorded life in ‘them lonely, cooty, muddy trenches.'\
\
Read more](/news/harlem-hellfighters-horace-pippin-tales-from-wwi-trenches)

With dwindling armies, France asked America for reinforcements, and General [John Pershing](https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/john-j-pershing), commander of the American Expeditionary Forces, sent regiments in the 93 Division to over, since France had experience fighting alongside Black soldiers from their Senegalese French Colonial army. The 93 Division’s 369 regiment, nicknamed the [Harlem Hellfighters](https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/the-harlem-hellfighters-video), fought so gallantly, with a total of 191 days on the front lines, longer than any AEF regiment, that France awarded them the Croix de Guerre for their heroism. More than 350,000 African American soldiers would serve in World War I in various capacities.

## Toward Armistice

By the fall of 1918, the Central Powers were unraveling on all fronts.

Despite the Turkish victory at Gallipoli, later defeats by invading forces and an Arab revolt that destroyed the Ottoman economy and devastated its land, and the Turks signed a treaty with the Allies in late October 1918.

Austria-Hungary, dissolving from within due to growing nationalist movements among its diverse population, reached an armistice on November 4. Facing dwindling resources on the battlefield, discontent on the homefront and the surrender of its allies, Germany was finally forced to seek an armistice on November 11, 1918, ending World War I.

## Treaty of Versailles

At the [Paris Peace Conference](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/post-world-war-i-peace-conference-begins-in-paris) in 1919, Allied leaders stated their desire to build a post-war world that would safeguard itself against future conflicts of such a devastating scale.

Some hopeful participants had even begun calling World War I “the War to End All Wars.” But the [Treaty of Versailles](http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/treaty-of-versailles), signed on June 28, 1919, would not achieve that lofty goal.

Saddled with war guilt, heavy reparations and denied entrance into the [League of Nations](https://www.history.com/topics/league-of-nations), Germany felt tricked into signing the treaty, having believed any peace would be a “peace without victory,” as put forward by President Wilson in his famous [Fourteen Points](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/wilson-delivers-fourteen-points-speech) speech of January 1918.

As the years passed, hatred of the Versailles treaty and its authors settled into a smoldering resentment in Germany that would, two decades later, be counted among the causes of [World War II](http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/world-war-ii-history).

## World War I Casualties

World War I took the lives of more than 9 million soldiers; 21 million more were wounded. Civilian casualties numbered close to 10 million. The two nations most affected were Germany and France, each of which sent some 80 percent of their male populations between the ages of 15 and 49 into battle.

The political disruption surrounding World War I also contributed to the fall of four venerable imperial dynasties: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia and Turkey.

## Legacy of World War I

The Spanish Flu Was Deadlier Than WWI

World War I brought about massive social upheaval, as millions of women entered the workforce to replace men who went to war and those who never came back. The first global war also helped to spread one of the world’s deadliest global pandemics, the [Spanish flu](http://www.history.com/topics/1918-flu-pandemic) epidemic of 1918, which killed an estimated 20 to 50 million people.

World War I has also been referred to as “the first modern war.” Many of the technologies now associated with military conflict—machine guns, [tanks](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/tanks-introduced-into-warfare-at-the-somme), aerial combat and radio communications—were introduced on a massive scale during World War I.

The severe effects that [chemical weapons](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-introduce-poison-gas) such as mustard gas and phosgene had on soldiers and civilians during World War I galvanized public and military attitudes against their continued use. The [Geneva Convention](https://www.history.com/topics/geneva-convention) agreements, signed in 1925, restricted the use of chemical and biological agents in warfare and remain in effect today.

## Photo Galleries

![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

French soldiers work together to camouflage a 370mm railway gun before battle.

![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

French machine gunners take their position in the ruins during the battle of Aisne, in 1917.

![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

French soldiers in Verdun endure the horrors of trench warfare, a strategy that led to rampant disease, shell shock and mass casualties during WWI.

![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Soldiers in France ready to charge into battle, in an Image titled "Fighting through the night at Mory."

![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Troops in Passchendaele, Belgium carry a wounded soldier to a medical post for treatment.

![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

A group of Swiss border guards pose behind a fence separating Switzerland and France.

![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Weathered troops gather behind the French line at Het Sas, near the village of Boezinge in Belgium, after it had been devastated by artillery fire.

![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Despite destruction all around, the towers of the Our Lady of Reims Cathedral in Reims, France can be seen through the damaged windows of a destroyed building.

![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Senegalese soldiers serving in the French Army as infantrymen take in a rare moment of rest.

![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

War is all around a little girl, as she plays with her doll in Reims, France, in 1917.

![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

George "Pop" Redding , an Australian soldier from the 8th Light Horse Regiment, is shown picking flowers during the war against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theater of World War I. 1918. Palestine.

![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Some cheerful wounded soldiers wear captured German helmets after the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. The British offensive from March 10-13, 1915 in the Artois region of France lasted only three days, but led to around 11,600 casualties for the British, Indian and Canadian troops, and 10,000 casualties on the German side.

**1 / 12:** Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images

![Battle of the Somme](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Men of the Royal Irish Rifles in the trenches during the opening hours of the Battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916.

![Battle of the Somme](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

British machine gunners firing during the Battle of the Somme. The battle was costly in terms of casualties, particularly for the British army who lost 57,470 soldiers on the first day of fighting alone.

![Battle of the Somme](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

An artillery shell is hoisted into position by French and English soldiers. Artillery weapons caused 70 percent of all battle causalities. Heavy artillery included the French 75mm gun and Germany’s devastating 420mm howitzer, which was nicknamed “Big Bertha.”

![Battle of the Somme](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

British troops during the Battle of the Somme, September 1916.

![Battle of the Somme](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

A British soldier gazes out of a dug-out as the body of a dead German soldier lies nearby.

![Battle of the Somme](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

British soldiers advancing under cover of gas and smoke. World War I saw the first use of chemical weapons in battle.

![Battle of the Somme](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

![Battle of the Somme](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

German soldiers lay dead in a shell hole between Montauban and Carnoy.

![Battle of the Somme](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

British and German soldiers wounded on their way to the dressing station near Bernafay Wood at the Battle of Bazentin Ridge.

![Battle of the Somme](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

A German soldier walking through the ruins of Peronne, in northern France, in November 1916.

**1 / 10:** Royal Engineers No 1 Printing Company/ IWM via Getty Images

![Sergeant Stubby](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Renowned World War I canine hero, Stubby, is photographed on the battlefield wearing a coat, hat and collar, with a gun at his side. Stubby once saved multiple soldiers when he roused them from their sleep after a German mustard gas attack.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

The phrase "war dog" is a technical one, and did not apply to U.S. dogs at this time, according to Kathleen Golden, curator of the National Museum of American History's Division of Armed Forces History. "It wasn't until World War II that the United States began using dogs officially," she says. Before then, they were considered "mascots."

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

In 1922, a bulldog named Jiggs was inducted into the U.S. Marine Corps by General Smedley Butler. He later was promoted to Sergeant Major Jiggs. Germans called the U.S. Marines "Teufel-Hunden," or "Devil Dogs," inspiring Jiggs and a succession of other decorated bulldog mascots.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Belgians decorated their dogs with the hats of German soldiers in 1914, after the dogs were used to move light artillery and machine guns on small carts. Ronald Aiello, president of the United States War Dogs Association, says that German shepherds, bulldogs, Airedale terriers and retrievers were the most commonly used dog breeds during World War I.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Terriers were a preferred breed during the war, Golden says, for their loyalty, rodent-hunting skills and friendly demeanors. New Zealander soldier W. J. Batt poses here with a regimental mascot at Walker's Ridge during the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey on April 30, 1915.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

A German Army dog is photographed wearing a hat and glasses, with a pair of binoculars around his neck. The Germans began using dogs in an official capacity during wartime in the late 19th century, not long before the start of World War I. The Allied Forces had at least 20,000 dogs on the battlefields of World War I, while the Central Powers—primarily Germany—had about 30,000.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Golden says that during World War I, "Dogs were primarily used as messengers." On July 5, 1916, this messenger dog used by the British Army in Flanders, Belgium runs to the front with urgent messages.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Message dogs were often outfitted with collars that had attached cylinders. Here, a sergeant of the Royal Engineers places a message into the cylinder on August 28, 1918, at Etaples, France.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Messenger dogs such as "Wolf," an Alsatian, often had to negotiate dangerous obstacles, including barbed wire entanglements. Here, Wolf clears a fence at the Western Front in Flanders, Belgium.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

While horses were often used to haul heavy guns and other equipment, teams of dogs would also be recruited for hauling weapons and other objects. Italian soldiers oversee dogs performing such work in 1917.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Dogs, with their keen sense of hearing, endured frequent exposure to gunfire and other loud sounds during World War I. This dog belonged to Captain Richardson of the U.K., who brought his canine companion with him to the trenches in 1914.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Visual cues were critical for dogs on missions during World War I. German soldiers in 1916 appear to point something important out to a dog serving as a messenger in the field.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

World War I dogs, especially terriers, proved to be productive rat hunters. That was an invaluable skill in the war's rat-infested trenches. Here, a terrier poses with some of his kill near the front lines of France in May 1916.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

In France in 1915, a dog is dressed up as a German soldier—complete with pipe and goggles—to the amusement of soldiers marching by.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Resting in a wooden building at an airfield, German military pilots smoke pipes and chat alongside their canine companion. Dogs were great "morale boosters" for troops on both sides of the battlefields during World War I, Golden says.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Mascots such as "Doreen," an Irish wolfhound, were often brought to memorial services. World War I was one of the deadliest conflicts in human history, with military and civilian casualties estimated at over 16 million. Doreen was a mascot of the 1st Battalion of the Irish Guards.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

These dogs are armed with first aid equipment and stimulants as they help search for wounded soldiers in no man's land.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Aiello explains that "dogs were trained to find the wounded or dying soldiers on the battlefield. This would let the medics know who was still alive so the injured could get immediate medical treatment." This dog finds a wounded soldier lying under a tree in Austria, July 1916.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

A French Red Cross dog demonstrates his climbing skills by scaling a 6-foot-high wall. Dogs often had to maneuver over comparable obstacles while searching for wounded soldiers.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

"I think that Red Cross dogs were the heroes of World War I," Aiello says. The dogs would not only locate wounded soldiers, as shown in this 1917 image, they would also help to transport them from the battlefield.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

A French sergeant and a dog, both wearing gas masks, marched to the front lines. Many dogs were injured by toxic gas. Still others died from exposure to chemical agents like chlorine and phosgene.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

During the spring of 1917 a French messenger dog wearing a gas mask runs through a cloud of poisonous gas.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

German soldiers and their dogs wore gas masks as well. The Germans were the first to use such chemical weapons during this war, releasing clouds of poisonous chlorine at Ypres, Belgium in April 1915.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

A German Army dog manages to leap over a trench in France while delivering a message from one outpost to another. Thousands of dogs died while serving in World War I, often while delivering messages. Once a message was delivered, the dog would be turned loose to move silently to a second handler.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Two soldiers captured a pair of German dogs during World War I. The canines were named Crown Prince and Kaiser Bill. The men, wounded in battle, posed with the dogs before returning with them to the United States.

![WWI Dogs](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

This dog, photographed in 1915 in a trench at Flanders, Belgium, and other military dogs have safeguarded and aided people on battlefields from before World War I to the present, says Aiello, who was deployed to Vietnam in 1966 with his own canine companion, Stormy. "They protect our troops and would die for us."

**1 / 26:** Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

![Dazzle Camouflage](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

One of Germany’s most feared weapons during World War I was its fleet of submarines that targeted ships with torpedoes. A Royal Navy volunteer reserve lieutenant, Norman Wilkinson, came up with a radical solution: Instead of trying to hide ships, make them conspicuous. Shown: British Gunboat HMS Kildangan, 1918

![Dazzle Camouflage](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Ships’ hulls were painted with startling stripes, swirls and irregular abstract shapes that made it more difficult to figure out the ship’s size, speed, distance and direction. Shown: 1st Aero Squadron

![Dazzle Camouflage](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Here is an exterior view of a wooden ship built for the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation, by the Pacific American Fisheries, in Bellingham, Washington, 1918.

![](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

When submerged, the Germans’ only way of sighting a target was through the periscope, which they could only poke through the water for a fleeting moment. Contrasting patterns helped throw off Germans' quick calculations when aiming a torpedo. Shown is the U.S.S. Minneapolis painted in dazzle camouflage, Hampton Roads, Virginia, 1917.

![Dazzle Camouflage](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

A U.S. warship with dazzle camouflage heading to Europe from the USA, circa 1914-1918.

![Dazzle Camouflage](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

The USS Nebraska (BB14) is shown with camouflage paint, 1918.

![Dazzle Camouflage](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

The USS Leviathan docked at Pier Number 4, Hoboken, New Jersey, April 1918.

![Dazzle Camouflage](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

British WWI transport, Osterle, camouflaged with zebra stripes, November 11, 1918 in New York Harbor. Studies have shown that zebra's stripes can serve the same purpose, making a herd appears to a predator as a chaotic mess of lines from a distance.

**1 / 8:** IWM/Getty Images

![WWI Trenchcoats](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Now a fashion icon, the trench coat first gained popularity among British officers during World War I because of its functionality. The water-resistant overcoats proved superior to the standard wool coats in repelling the rain and chill of the trenches—from which the garment gained its name.

![1918 Daylight Savings Bill Poster](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Although the idea of shifting time dated back centuries, Daylight Saving Time was first implemented in Germany in April 1916 as a wartime measure to conserve coal. Weeks later, the United Kingdom and other European countries followed suit.

![WWI Blood Transfusion Kit](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Doctors rarely performed blood transfusions prior to World War I. However, following the discovery of different blood types and the ability of refrigeration to extend shelf life, a U.S. Army doctor consulting with the British Army, established the first blood bank in 1917 on the Western Front.

![WWI Red Cross](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

During a European tour in 1914, Kimberly-Clark executives discovered a material made from processed wood pulp that was five times more absorbent than cotton and cost half as much to produce. With cotton in short supply during World War I, the company trademarked the creped wadding as Cellucotton and sold it to the American military for surgical dressing. Red Cross nurses, however, found another use for the cotton substitute as makeshift sanitary pads.

![Kleenex](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Kotex was not the only product that Kimberly-Clark developed from Cellucotton. After experimenting with a thin, flattened version, the company launched it in 1924 as a disposable makeup and cold-cream remover under the brand-name “Kleenex.” When women started complaining about their husbands blowing their noses in their Kleenex, Kimberly-Clark repositioned the tissues as handkerchief alternatives.

![Joseph Pilates](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Joseph Hubertus Pilates, a German bodybuilder, was interned as an enemy alien after the outbreak of World War I. During his more than three years at the internment camp, Pilates developed a regimen of muscle strengthening through slow and precise stretching and physical movements. He further aided rehabilitation of bed-ridden internees by rigging springs and straps to their headboards and footboards for resistance training.

![Harry Brearly Stainless Steal](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

During the war, the British military was in search of harder alloys for their guns so they would be less susceptible to distortion from the heat and friction of firing. English metallurgist Harry Brearley discovered that adding chromium to molten iron produced steel that wouldn’t rust.

![WWI Watch](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Prior to World War I, most men used pocket watches on chains as their time keepers, but they proved impractical in trench warfare. Wristwatches also proved necessary for aviators who needed both hands at all times. After proving their utility in warfare, wristwatches gained acceptance as a men’s fashion accessory.

![Kettering Bug](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)

Fewer than 15 years after Orville Wright soared over the dunes of Kitty Hawk, he participated in the American military’s first experiments with unmanned aircraft. Charles Kettering supervised the experiments and, in 1918, successfully tested an unmanned aerial torpedo that could strike a target at a distance of 75 miles.

**1 / 9:** Keystone/Getty Images

By: [History.com Editors](/author/history)

[HISTORY.com](http://history.com/) works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Articles with the “HISTORY.com Editors” byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including [Amanda Onion](https://www.history.com/author/amanda-onion), [Missy Sullivan](https://www.history.com/author/missy-sullivan), [Matt Mullen](https://www.history.com/author/matt-mullen) and Christian Zapata.

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## Citation Information

Article TitleWorld War I

Author[History.com Editors](/author/history)

Website NameHISTORY

URL[https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/world-war-i-history](https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/world-war-i-history)

Date AccessedSeptember 13, 2024

PublisherA&E Television Networks

Last UpdatedMay 10, 2024

Original Published DateOctober 29, 2009

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