World War I begins
World War 1 Recruiting Post
Date: 28 July, 1914
19th century Europe had a complex system of political and military alliances in place. The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist threw this system off balance, resulting in a global war between the major powers of the European continent. These powers fought on two opposing sides: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance.
The Triple Entente was comprised of the United Kingdom, France and Russia who were victorious over the Triple Alliance, made up of Germany, Austria- Hungary and Italy.
With the defeat of the Triple Alliance came the Treaty of Versailles, which outlined the reparations to be made by Germany in particular. It also saw the establishment of the League of Nations, the forerunner of the United Nations, which hoped to prevent a conflict of this nature from reoccurring.
As one of the longest and deadliest conflicts in history, the loss of live in World War 1 amounted to over 15 million. Amongst these losses were South African soldiers, who entered the conflict on the side of the Triple Entente and fought their most noted battle at Delville Wood in France in 1916.
Related:
References:
- News 24 - July 28 [online] Available at: news24.com [Accessed 21 July 2009]
- Wallis, F. (2000) Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau.
- World War I [online] Available at: wikipedia.org [Accessed 21 July]