Description

World War I reshaped the modern world in ways few conflicts ever have. Sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, what began as a regional crisis quickly escalated into a global war involving Europe's great powers and their vast empires. From the muddy trenches of the Western Front to the brutal campaigns in Gallipoli and the Eastern Front, the Great War introduced industrialized slaughter on an unprecedented scale.

This book explores the political tensions, alliances, and nationalist movements that led to the outbreak of war, as well as the devastating human cost of trench warfare, chemical weapons, and total mobilization. It examines the collapse of long-standing empires—the German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian—and the revolutionary transformations that followed, including the Russian Revolution and the redrawing of Europe's borders.

Beyond the battlefield, this concise history analyzes the Treaty of Versailles and the fragile peace that laid the foundations for future global conflict. Clear, accessible, and engaging, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the causes, major events, and lasting consequences of World War I for readers seeking to understand how the twentieth century was forged in war.