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World War 1
World War was a military conflict wich lasted from 1914 to 1918, that began
as a local European war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia on July 28,
1914; was transformed into a general European struggle by declaration of
war against Russia on August 1, 1914; and eventually became a global war
involving 32 nations. Twenty-eight of these nations, known as the Allies
and the Associated Powers, and including Great Britain, France, Russia,
Italy, and the United States, opposed the coalition known as the Central
Powers, consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria. The
immediate cause of the war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia was the
assassination on June 28, 1914, at Sarajevo in Bosnia (then part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire; now in Bosnia and Herzegovina), of Archduke
Francis Ferdinand, heir-presumptive to the Austrian and Hungarian thrones,
by Gavrilo Princip, a Serb nationalist. The fundamental causes of the
conflict, however, were rooted deeply in the European history of the
previous century, particularly in the political and economic policies that
prevailed on the Continent after 1871, the year that marked the emergence
of Germany as a great world power.
Causes of the War .The underlying causes of World War I were the spirit of
intense nationalism that permeated Europe throughout the 19th and into the
20th century, the political and economic rivalry among the nations, and the
establishment and maintenance in Europe after 1871 of large armaments and
of two hostile military alliances. World War I provided a great stimulus to
the production and military use of aircraft, including the airplane and
airship, or dirigible balloon, and the tethered balloon. Aircraft were used
for two principal purposes: observation and bombing. For observation of
stationary battlefronts extensive use was made by both belligerents of
small tethered balloons; for scouting at sea, dirigible balloons were
extensively used, and airplanes were used for scouting coastal waters. In
connection with military operations on land, airplanes were used to observe
the disposition of the troops and defenses of the enemy and for bombing the
enemy's lines or troops in action. A special feature of the war was the
raids conducted by means of dirigibles or airplanes on important enemy
centers far removed from the battlefront.The first German airplane raid on
Paris took place on August 30, 1914; and the first German air raid on
England was on Dover on December 21, 1914. During 1915 and 1916 the German
type of dirigible known as the zeppelin raided eastern England and London
60 times.
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