World War I has been called unnecessary because the original dispute that triggered the conflict was

limited, yet it triggered a massive, global war. The first World War lasted four years, from 1914 to 1918. It was the most destructive War that had ever happened in History. It killed about 8 million people and wounded 20 million more! It destroyed empires and economies and changed the whole of Europe. How had this happened? There are many reasons that contributed to the outbreak of War. In short, the conflict stemmed merely from Austria-Hungary and Serbias disagreement over how to handle the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand: the Austro-Hungarian government believed that the Serbian government was connected with the assassination and therefore demanded to be involved in the investigation and judicial process within Serbia. No other countries had a direct interest in the matter. Russia and Germany were the next to get involved, not because of animosity toward each other but because of their intentions to protect Serbia and AustriaHungary, respectively. France, Britain, and the Ottoman Empire had even less interest in the matter. Thus, one could argue that much of the war could have been avoided if Russia and Germany had simply kept out of the matter.
Some of the reasons were: Militarism, Nationalism, Alliances and the assassination of Archduke France Ferdinand.

On the other hand, real tensions existed among many of the principal nations prior to the war, and these conflicting ambitions contributed to the wars escalation. In particular, the naval arms race between Germany and Britain was intensifying, and growing German colonial ambitions raised the tension level further. Additionally, the spread of nationalism in southern Europe was destabilizing Austria-Hungary, making the country dangerously vulnerable to minority uprisings. Thus, many observers and strategists felt that an armed conflict between the European powers was inevitable; the disagreement over the archdukes assassination simply provided a spark and an outlet.

In many ways, World War I in mid-1 9 1 4 and World War I in mid-1 9 1 8 are unrelated. What started as a local conflict over a political assassination had become an unbelievable bloodbath: the Indian troops fighting in Mesopotamia, the Australians fighting in Gallipoli, and the Americans fighting in France had little invested in the conflict between AustriaHungary and Serbia. The same was largely true at the government level in many of the warring nations. For the Allied Powers, the fight was mostly about Germany, not AustriaHungary. By 1 9 1 8 , those who were still fighting were doing so because they could not find a way to stop without facing unacceptable losses.

On the other hand, some of the roots of the original conflict factors that predated Archduke Franz Ferdinands assassinationwere still present and still unresolved. Nationalism, which was spreading rapidly through southern and eastern Europe, became the major cause of mutinies in the Austro-Hungarian army. Ultimately, these mutinies caused AustriaHungarys collapse, isolating Germany and helping bring about the wars end. Thus, one could argue that the same problem that had started the war was at least partly responsible for ending it. Although diplomacy traditionally is used to prevent armed conflicts from happening, in the case of World War I, it in many ways played the opposite role, whether intended or not. Few of the combatant nations in World War I were directly interested in the disputes between Serbia and Austria-Hungary, and in many cases they became involved only because of treaties obligating them to defend other countries. Although some of these treaties were publicly known, many had been made in secret, preventing potential enemies from ascertaining the consequences of their actions.

France felt increasingly threatened by German industrialization; and although France ruled the second largest colonial empire in the world, French leaders realized that France could not protect itself on its own from the burgeoning power of Germany.
This opaqueness of diplomacy was arguably one of the main factors that led Germany to make such aggressive moves early in the war, as many German leaders believed that Britain would never enter the war against them. Russia likewise pursued a number of secret treaties and agreements both before and during the war. Italy even went so far as to shop around secretly when trying to decide which side offered the greatest potential benefits. Ultimately, these secret diplomatic maneuverings escalated the war to catastrophic levels. As a result, one of President Wilsons Fourteen Points policy was that henceforth, all treaties and trade agreements between nations be held with full public disclosure.

The Battle of Verdun, 1916

A major military engagement of World War I, the Battle of Verdun was a ten month long ordeal between the French and German armies. The battle was part of an unsuccessful German campaign to take the offensive on the western front. Both the French and German armies suffered incredibly with an estimated 540,000 French and 430,000 German casualties and no strategic advantages were gained for either side. The Battle of Verdun is considered to be one of the most brutal events of World War

I, and the site itself is remembered as the "battlefield with the highest density of dead per square yard." As a response to the German threat of invasion, France built a continuous line of sunken forts in the hopes that an invading army would not be able to go through it. Thus making Verdun a vital strong point for the French war effort. The German attack began on February 21, 1916 with an intense artillery bombardment of the forts surrounding Verdun. On February 25 1916, Fort Douaumont, near Verdun, surrendered to German forces. On March 6 1916, the German commanders ordered an attack, and on March 22, 1916, another French fort near Verdun, Harcourt, surrendered to the German army. A week later, on March 22 1916, Malancourt, a French fort near Verdun, had fallen to the Germans. Although three French forts near Verdun had capitulated to German forces, Verdun itself remained undefeated. French forts of Thiaumont and Vaux had fallen to the German army in June.an attack by Russia on Germany weakened it. By November of 1916, Fort Vaux, Fort Thiaumont, and Fort Douaumont had been reclaimed for France. By December, the French had advanced to their February 1916 lines, their original position. No new advantage had been gained for either side.

The Battles of the Marne, 1914, 1918

On September 4, 1914, the rapid advances of the German army through Belgium and northern France caused panic in the French army and troops were rushed from Paris in taxis to halt the advance. Combined with the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) the Germans were eventually halted and the War settled into the familiar defensive series of entrenchment's. Ironically, by the end of May, 1918, the Germans had again reached the Marne after the enormous successes of Ludendorff's offensives of that year. The intervening four years had cost hundreds of thousands of lives and the armies were still, literally, exactly where they had started.

The Battles of Ypres, 1914, 1915, 1917

There were in fact three battles fought around the Ypres salient during the War. The first, in 1914 was an attempt by the BEF to halt the rapid advances made by the Germans. The second, in 1915, was notable for the first use of poison gas by the Germans. However, it is the long-planned offensive of July 31, 1917, that holds the

most significance. Here, a combination of over-ambitious aims, appalling weather conditions, and misguided persistence by Haig led to horrific losses. By the time the offensive was called off total casualties for both sides had been approximately 250,000. The horrors of the battle, in which men drowned in liquid mud has become synonymous with the images of the War. One of the central objectives, the village of Passchendale (eventually taken on November 6 by the Canadians), lent its name to the whole conflict.

The Battle of the Somme, 1916

On 1st July, 1916, after weeklong artillery bombardment was launched the now infamous "Big Push" attack across the river Somme. The British intended to break through the German defenses in a matter of hours. The failure of the artillery led to one of the biggest slaughters in military history. When the attack began the Germans dragged themselves out of their dugouts, manned their posts and destroyed the oncoming waves of British infantry. After the first day, with a gain of only 1.5km, the British had suffered 57,470 casualties. Despite this, Haig pressed on with the attack until November 19th of the same year. For the meagre achievements, total losses on the British and Imperial side numbered 419,654 with German casualties between 450,000 and 680,000..

The Battle of Cambrai, 1917

On November 20, 1917, the British launched the first full-scale offensive that was designed exclusively to accommodate the British secret weapon, the tank. A surprise artillery barrage started the offensive and 476 tanks, packed tightly for a mass attack moved against the German lines. Supported by infantry the gains were dramatic, breaching the almost impregnable Hindenberg line to depths of 4-5 miles in some places. However, these gains seemed to surprise British High Command equally as much as the Germans, and the following cavalry failed to take advantage. Nevertheless, Cambrai demonstrated how a well-thought out attack, combining tanks and infantary with surprise, could be used to break the trench deadlock.