2. • World War I, also known as the First World War or
the Great War by the people of its time, was a global
war that started in Europe and lasted from 28 July
1914 to 11 November 1918. It led to the mobilization
of more than 70 million military personnel, including
60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest
wars in history
3. • On 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb
Yugoslav nationalist, assassinated the Austro-
Hungarian heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his
wife in Sarajevo, leading to the July Crisis. In
response, on 23 July, Austria-Hungary issued an
ultimatum to Serbia. Serbia’s negative reply didn´t
satisfy the Austrians, and the two moved to a war.
4. A network of interlocking alliances
enlarged the crisis from a bilateral issue
in the Balkans to one involving most of
Europe. By July 1914, the great powers
of Europe were divided into two
coalitions: the Triple Entente, and the
Triple Alliance.
5. • Russia felt it necessary to support Serbia and,
after Austria-Hungary settled the Serbian capital of
Belgrade on the 28 July, approved partial
mobilisation. Full Russian mobilisation was
announced on the evening of 30 July; on the 31st,
Austria-Hungary and Germany did the same, while
Germany demanded Russia to demobilize within
twelve hours. When Russia didn´t do it, Germany
declared war on Russia on 1 August in support of
Austria-Hungary, with Austria-Hungary following on
6 August; France ordered full mobilization on 2nd
august.
6. In the end of the war, four empires
disappeared: the German, Austro-
Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian.
Numerous nations regained their
former independence, and new ones
were created. Four dynasties, together
with their aristocracies, fell as a result of
the war: the Romanovs, the Habsburgs,
and the Ottomans. Belgium and Serbia
were badly damaged, as was France,
with 1.4 million soldiers dead. Germany
and Russia were similarly affected.
7. • The Christmas truce was a series of widespread unofficial
ceasefires along the Western Front of the First World War
around Christmas 1914.
• The truce occurred during the relatively early period of the
war. In Christmas, French, German, and British soldiers crossed
trenches to exchange seasonal greetings and talk. In some
areas, men from both sides entered no man's land on Christmas
Eve and Christmas Day to exchange food and souvenirs. There
were joint burial ceremonies and prisoner swaps, while several
meetings ended in carol-singing. Men played football games
with one another, creating one of the most memorable images
of the truce. Fighting continued in some sectors, while in others
the sides settled on little more than arrangements to recover
bodies.
8. The truces were not unique to the
Christmas period, and reflected a mood
of "live and let live", where infantry
close together would stop aggressive
behaviour and often engage in small-
scale fraternisation. In some sectors,
there were occasional ceasefires to
allow soldiers to go between the lines
and recover wounded or dead
comrades; in others, there was a tacit
agreement not to shoot while men
rested, exercised or worked in view of
the enemy.
