At the end of the 19th century, the second technological revolution and a series of innovations (Einstein's theory of relativity, Röntgen-X-ray... The progress of human civilization cannot eliminate war.
The First World War of 1914-1918 was an imperialist war fought by the Allies led by Germany and Austria and the Allies headed by Britain, France and Russia for colonies and spheres of influence. Directly or indirectly involved in 33 countries at war, 10 million people died, affecting a population of 1.5 billion (2/3 of the population at that time).
The Balkan region, as the transportation hub of the three states of Europe, Asia and Africa, has an important strategic position. The iron hooves of Rome, Byzantium, Ottomanism, Russia, and Austria-Hungary trampled over the region. As a result of the constant division of spheres of influence, the ethnic groups of the Balkans were dismembered and their political forms were complex. At the beginning of the 20th century, various imperialists stepped up their infiltration into the Balkans, and various contradictions were intertwined, forming a hair-trigger trend.
In 1908, taking advantage of Russia's defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Montenegro and attempted to further annex Selvia. Serbia, on the other hand, wanted to annex Bosnia and Montenegro and establish a Greater Serbia. Austria-Hungary attempted to gain the support of Germany and Russia for the Yugoslav national unification movement in Serbia.
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated by Serbian youth after reviewing military exercises held in Bosnia after reviewing military exercises in Bosnia. This was seen as the trigger for World War I. (In fact, war is a continuation of politics)
On 23 July, after obtaining assurances from Germany, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Selvia, offering 15 demanding demands that Serbia could not accept, with a response of 48 hours. Although Serbia accepted most of the terms, Austria-Hungary (Vienna), at the instigation of Germany, declared war on Serbia on 28 July, and the next day Austro-Hungarian shells landed in the Serbian capital, Belgrade. In response, on July 30, Russia announced the implementation of a general mobilization in support of Serbia. Germany demanded that Russia withdraw the general mobilization within 12 hours, but Russia refused. On 1 August, Germany declared war on Russia and France announced a general mobilization. On 3 August, Germany declared war on France. On 4 August, Belgium refused german transit, and Germany declared war on Belgium. On the same day, Britain declared war on Germany. On 6 August, Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia, Serbia declared war on Germany, and Italy declared neutrality.
The flames of war quickly crossed the Balkans and formed a great battle. World War I, from July 1914 to November 1918, history 1565 days. The main fronts, 1, the Western Front, Britain, France, Belgium vs Germany, stretch from the North Sea to the Swiss border. 2. The Eastern Front, Russia vs Germany, Austria-Hungary, extends from the Baltic Sea to the Romanian border. 3. Southern Route, Serbia vs Austria-Hungary.
After Turkey and Japan entered the war, the Near and Far East battlefields were formed.
On the Western Front, Germany initially had the advantage, once approaching the outskirts of Paris, the French conquest was forced to move to Bordeaux to fly, and the German army took the lead. However, Germany overestimated the initial victory and divided its forces to support the Eastern Front, giving Britain and France the opportunity to counterattack. In September, Britain and France defeated Germany, shattering the German plan for a quick battle. At the end of 1914, it was converted to position warfare.
On the Eastern Front, the Germans also lost the Russian army at the beginning, and the Russian army lost 250,000 people in the Battle of Steuburg alone, and the German army expelled the Russian army from the border of East Prussia. However, in August and September, the Russian army fought the Austro-Hungarian army and annihilated 400,000 Austro-Hungarian troops. From September to November, in order to alleviate the pressure on Austria-Hungary, the German army advanced into Russia and won.
On the southern front, in 1914, the Austro-Hungarian army launched several unsuccessful attacks on Serbia, losing 227,000 men. Austria-Hungary halted its attack and waited for German support. In 1915, the German-Austrian high command decided to increase the number of troops in the Balkan battlefield, gathering 350,000 allied troops to carry out a devastating attack on Serbia. At the same time, in order to regain the land lost in 1913, Bulgaria joined the German-Austrian alliance and gathered 300,000 troops on the Bulgarian-Serbian border to form a pinch on Serbia. Serbia, with 200,000 poorly equipped troops, divided its troops to resist. At the end of November, the Allies occupied all of Serbia, and the Serbian elite went into exile in Greece.
Far East, on August 17, 1914, Japan issued an ultimatum to Germany, asking Germany to withdraw from the Far East and hand over Jiaodong, limited to 6 days of reply. Japan declared war on Germany on 23 August and sent 23,000 men to besiege Jiaozhou (the Germans were at their peak 5,000). On November 7, the Germans in Jiaozhou surrendered.