World War I
When Franz Ferdinand, the Archduke of Austria was assassinated on June 28, 1914 the First World War was about to begin. While the assassination was the single event that started the war, other factors helped to create the environment that made war inevitable. Several European powers including the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires had been … Keep Reading → flexing their muscles and were looking for foreign territories to expand into. There was both a military and economic competition between the powers. Ironically, it was the fear of war that led to some of the alliances that eventually led to the war. The United States tried hard to stay out of the war which was being fought far away. After repeated attacks on American ships by German submarines the U.S. entered the war on April 6, 1917. The war lasted four years and conservative estimates claim at least 15 million people were killed. The Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, officially ending the war. The result of the war was an almost complete realignment of Europe. Numerous Empires were eliminated, new countries were formed, and the look of Europe was changed forever.
