Childrens Illustrated Encyclopedia

573

Allied countries are green,

Central Powers are pink, and neutral

countries are shown in beige.

countries at war

the war involved nearly

30 countries—more countries

than any previous war. there was

fighting in the Middle east, africa,

and the Pacific. However, most

of the war was fought in europe.

the western front in northern

France was a line of trenches that

stretched from switzerland to the

english channel. soldiers on the

eastern front fought in what is now

Poland. Fighting took place

on land, at sea, and in the air.

trencH warFare

the armies advanced as far

they could, then dug trenches

for shelter. Life in the trenches

was miserable. soldiers were

often up to their knees in mud.

Lice and rats added to their

discomfort. when soldiers left the

trenches to advance farther, the

enemy killed them by the millions

with machine guns. each side also

had artillery—guns that fired

huge shells—which killed many

more and churned up the

battlefield into a sea of mud.

arcHduke Ferdinand

on June 28, 1914, a serbian terrorist shot

Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of austria

and Hungary. Germany encouraged austria to

retaliate, or fight back, by declaring war on

serbia. a month after the assassination,

world war i had begun.

World War II 575-

Between 1914 and 1918, a terrible war engulfed europe. the war

was called the First world war, or the Great war, because it affected

almost every country in the world. it began because of the rivalry

between several powerful european countries. Fighting started when

the empire of austria and Hungary declared war on serbia. soon,

other countries joined the war. they formed two main groups: the

allies, composed of Britain, France, italy, russia, and the united

states, versus the central Powers—Germany, austria-Hungary, and

turkey. in the beginning, everyone thought the war would be short

and glorious. Young men rushed to join the armies and navies. But

it soon became clear that none of the opposing armies was strong

enough to win a clear victory. thousands of troops died, fighting

to gain just a few hundred feet of the battlefield. in the end, the

war, which some called the “war to end all wars,” had achieved

nothing. within a few years an even worse war broke out in europe.

Great

Britain

Montenegro

red Baron

world war i was the first

war in which airplanes were

used for fighting. Germany’s

Manfred von richthofen

(the red Baron) became

one of the first air aces.

YPres

the Belgian city of Ypres

was a battleground several

times during world war i.

it was here that the Germans

first used poison gas on the

western front. By 1918 the

town was devastated (left).

Norway

Denmark

Sweden Russia

Poland

Austria-Hungary

Romania

Bulgaria

Serbia

Italy

France

Spain

English

Channel

Belgium

Germany

Netherlands

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