The Great War, 1914–1918

When war erupted in August 1914, two months after the assassination of the Austrian archduke and his wife at Sarajevo, there already existed long-standing alliances, well-defined strategies, and a stockpile of military technologies such as heavy artillery, machine guns, and airplanes. Most people felt that this would be a short, decisive conflict similar to Prussia’s rapid victories in the 1860s and 1870–1871. In fact, the war lasted for more than four long years. It was what historians call a total war, meaning one built on the full mobilization of entire societies—soldiers and civilians—and the industrial capacities of the nations involved. It was the war’s unexpected and unprecedented horror that made World War I “great.”