WORLD WAR I

THE WAR TO END ALL WARS

WWI was a war without parallel - all previous wars were eclipsed by its scale of destruction. It was a struggle between Europe's great powers, which were grouped into two hostile alliances. The number of men mobilized by both sides totaled over 65 Million.

The catalyst for the war was the assassination of Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand while he was visiting Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. Other countries in turn were drawn into the conflict.

For the first time war involved the use of new technology such as aeroplanes, tanks, and submarines. Trench warfare remains as a lasting image of WWI. On the first day of the Battle of the Somme 60,000 British soldiers were killed or wounded. The war lasted from 1914 - 1918.

When the fighting was finally over, no one could accurately determine how many had been killed, bur historians estimate that up to 10 million men lost their lives on the battlefields and another 20 million were wounded.

85 years later it is perhaps best remembered for the staggering loss of human life. In the decade following The Great War many had the firm conviction that it should be " THE WAR TO END ALL WARS".

Source BBC NEWS