Before World War II, the events of 1914–1918 were generally known as the Great War or simply the World War. In August 1914, the magazine The Independent wrote "This is the Great War. It names itsel… See more

For much of the 19th century, the major European powers maintained a tenuous balance of power, known as the Concert of Europe. After 1848, this was challenged by Britain's withdrawal into so-called splendid isolation, … See more

On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, visited Sarajevo, the capital of the recently annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina. Cvjetko Popović… See more

Germany promised to support Austria-Hungary's invasion of Serbia, but interpretations of what this meant differed. Previously tested deployment plans had been replaced early in 1914, but those had never bee… See more

In the aftermath of the war, the German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian empires disappeared. Numerous nations regained their former independence, and new ones were created. Four dynasties fell as a result … See more