World War I began in 1914 and ended in 1918. This conflict involved many countries and territories (including Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan, and the United States). Over 16 million people died in the conflict. World War I was significant for restructuring national and social boundaries; for example, the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Revolution were direct consequences of the war, and World War II was sparked by the discontentment of the defeated parties after the conflict. World War I saw the rise of new and deadly weapons such a poison gases, which caused enormous carnage.
World War I began after the assassination of Austrian-Hungarian Archduke Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist. Germany supported the Austrian-Hungarian side while Russia supported the Serbian cause, leading these major powers into direct conflict with each other. Later, Belgium, France, and Great Britain would join the Serbian cause as well. The Ottoman Empire, before it dissolved from internal stress as a direct result of the war, joined the Germans and the Austro-Hungarians. America joined the war in 1917 when the Germans torpedoed several civilian ships. The war ended with the surrender of Germany on November 11, 1918.
As author Michael Morpurgo has noted, over 290 British soldiers were executed for cowardice and desertion—ambiguous crimes that may have had little grounding in reality. Moreover, these men endured extremely stressful conditions and likely had developed what we would now call PTSD. Still, these men were given a short trial by court-martial (if at all) before being executed by a firing squad likely made up of their fellow soldiers.
