World War I

Front 1

Allied Powers

Back 1

France, Great Britain, Russia and United States

Other Allied countries included Japan, Italy, Belgium, Brazil, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia.

Front 2

France

Back 2

Germany declared war on France on August 3, 1914. France had been preparing for war after Germany and Russia went to war. The majority of the fighting along the Western Front took place inside of France.

Front 3

Britain

Back 3

Britain entered the war when Germany invaded Belgium. They declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914. British troops joined French troops on the Western Front to stop the advance of Germany across Western Europe.

Front 4

Russia

Back 4

The Russian Empire was an early entry into the war. Germany declared war on Russia on July 31, 1914. They expected that Russia would defend Serbia against the invasion of Serbia by Germany's ally Austria-Hungary. The Russian Empire also included Poland and Finland. After the Russian Revolution, Russia left the Allied Powers and signed a peace treaty with Germany on March 3, 1918.

Front 5

United States

Back 5

The United States tried to remain neutral during the war. However, it entered the war on the side of the Allied Powers on April 6, 1917 when it declared war on Germany. Around 4,355,000 American troops were mobilized during the war with around 116,000 losing their lives.

Front 6

France: Georges Clemenceau

Back 6

Clemenceau was Prime Minister of France from 1917 to 1920. His leadership helped hold France together during the most difficult times of the war. His nickname was "The Tiger." Clemenceau represented the French at the peace talks and advocated for harsh punishment for Germany.

Front 7

David Lloyd George

Back 7

Lloyd George was the Prime Minister of Britain during much of the war. He was an advocate of Britain entering the war and kept the country together during the war.

Front 8

King George V

Back 8

King of Britain during the war, George V was a figurehead with little power, but often visited the front to inspire the British troops.

Front 9

Tsar Nicolas II

Back 9

Tsar Nicholas II was leader of Russia at the start of World War I. He entered the war in defense of Serbia. However, the war effort was disastrous in the eyes of the Russian people. The Russian Revolution occurred in 1917 and Nicolas II was removed from power. He was executed in 1918.

Front 10

President Woodrow Wilson

Back 10

President Woodrow Wilson was re-elected on the platform that he kept America out of the war. However, he was given little choice and declared war on Germany in 1917. After the war, Wilson advocated less harsh terms on Germany, knowing that a healthy German economy would be important for all of Europe.

Front 11

Central Powers

Back 11

Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria

Front 12

Germany

Back 12

Germany had the largest army and was the primary leader of the Central Powers. Germany's military strategy at the start of the war was called the Schlieffen Plan. This plan called for the quick takeover of France and Western Europe. Then Germany could concentrate its efforts on Eastern Europe and Russia.

Front 13

Austria-Hungary

Back 13

World War I essentially began when Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated. Austria-Hungary blamed the assassination on Serbia and subsequently invaded Serbia setting off a chain of events that resulted in the war.

Front 14

Ottoman Empire

Back 14

The Ottoman Empire had strong economic ties to Germany and signed a military alliance with Germany in 1914. The entrance into the war led to the eventual downfall of the Ottoman Empire and the formation of the country of Turkey in 1923.

Front 15

Bulgaria

Back 15

Bulgaria was the last major country to join the war on the side of the Central Powers in 1915. Bulgaria claimed land held by Serbia and was eager to invade Serbia as part of the war.

Front 16

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Back 16

Wilhelm II was the last Kaiser (emperor) of the German Empire. He was related to both the King of England (George V was his first cousin) and the Tsar of Russia (Nicholas II was his second cousin). His policies were largely the cause of World War I. He eventually lost the support of the army and held little power by the end of the war. He abdicated the throne in 1918 and fled the country.

Front 17

Emperor Franz Josef

Back 17

Franz Joseph ruled the Austrian Empire for 68 years. When the heir to his throne, Archduke Ferdinand, was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, he declared war on Serbia beginning World War I. Franz Joseph died during the war in 1916 and was succeeded by Charles I.

Front 18

Mehmed V

Back 18

Mehmed V was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire during World War I. He declared war on the Allies in 1914. He died just before the end of the war in 1918.

Front 19

Ferdinand I

Back 19

Ferdinand I was Tsar of Bulgaria during World War I. He gave up his throne at the end of the war to his son Boris III.

Front 20

Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand

Back 20

The Austria-Hungary government saw the assassination as a direct attack on the country. They believed that the Serbians had helped the Bosnian terrorists in the attack. They made harsh demands on the Serbians which the Serbians rejected. At the same time, Russia began to mobilize their army to help protect Serbia. When Serbia rejected the demands, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. A few days later, Germany declared war on Russia to help its ally Austria-Hungary. Then France began to mobilize to help its ally Russia, and Germany followed by declaring war on France. World War I had begun.

Front 21

Sinking of the Lusitania

Back 21

The killing of so many innocent people by the German u-boat caused outrage in many countries of the world. Support for the Allies against Germany grew in many countries including the United States, who later joined the Allies in the war against Germany.

This happened on On May 7, 1915.