The First World War and Turkistan

The most terrible wars are world wars, because many of the world’s states take part in them. The First World War lasted from 1914 to 1918. Before 1914 the strong states, including Great Britain, France and the Russian Empire, had many colonies; Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy had fewer, and Germany began to demand a redivision of the world. Europe split into two alliances: Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy formed the “Triple Alliance”, and Great Britain, France and Russia the “Entente”. In June 1914, after the heir to the Austrian throne was assassinated, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and the allies were drawn in one after another. Italy later (1915) switched to the Entente side. More than 30 states in all joined the war. New weapons appeared: submarines, poison gas, tanks and aeroplanes. In 1917 the USA entered the war on the Entente side. The war ended on 11 November 1918 with the defeat of Germany and its allies. As a result the German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and Russian empires disappeared. About 10 million soldiers died in the war, nearly 20 million were wounded, and many civilians suffered too.