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Ctsy Arlington National Cemetery
WORLD WAR I
THE WAR TO END ALL WARS
WWI was a war without parallel - all previous
wars were eclipsed by its scale of destruction. It was
a struggle between Europe's great powers, which were
grouped into two hostile alliances. The number of men
mobilized by both sides totaled over 65 Million.
The catalyst for the war was the assassination
of Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand while he was visiting
Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. Other countries in
turn were drawn into the conflict.
For the first time war involved the use
of new technology such as aeroplanes, tanks, and submarines.
Trench warfare remains as a lasting image of WWI. On
the first day of the Battle of the Somme 60,000 British
soldiers were killed or wounded. The war lasted from
1914 - 1918.
When the fighting was finally over, no
one could accurately determine how many had been killed,
bur historians estimate that up to 10 million men lost
their lives on the battlefields and another 20 million
were wounded.
85 years later it is perhaps best remembered
for the staggering loss of human life. In the decade
following The Great War many had the firm conviction
that it should be " THE WAR TO END ALL WARS".
Source BBC NEWS
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