World War I

World War I, or the Great War, was believed to be "the war to end all wars." Because of the incredible extent of destruction and the staggering number of wounded and dead, even those who lived through it could scarcely comprehend its horror. Beginning in 1914, alliances between powerful nations soon plunged the world into a global conflict. Fighting—including miserable trench warfare—broke out in practically every corner of Europe and spread around the world to Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

Even the peace treaty in 1919, which occurred during a deadly worldwide influenza pandemic, brought no relief; another world war, intricately connected to the first, would break out in only two short decades.