On the 11th of November, both in the US and in some European Countries the end of World War I is celebrated. Veterans day or Armistice day. I guess that generally World War II has overshadowed the first world conflict, probably because of the leading roles, where can you find anyone playing the role of the bad guy better than Hitler and his partner Mussolini, and nobody could have come up with a crazier goal as the genocide of the Jews.
A scene from Kubrick's Paths of Glory
How it started
In a nutshell (with Wikipedia's support), this is what happened. On 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian-Serb student and member of Young Bosnia, assassinated the heir to the Austro–Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo, Bosnia. This began a period of diplomatic manoeuvring between Austria–Hungary, Germany, Russia, France and Britain called the July Crisis. Wanting to end Serbian interference in Bosnia conclusively, Austria–Hungary delivered the July Ultimatum to Serbia, a series of ten demands which were deliberately unacceptable, made with the intention of deliberately initiating a war with Serbia.When Serbia acceded to only eight of the ten demands levied against it in the ultimatum, Austria–Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914. The Russian Empire, unwilling to allow Austria–Hungary to eliminate its influence in the Balkans, and in support of its long time Serb proteges, ordered a partial mobilization one day later.[10] When the German Empire began to mobilise on 30 July 1914, France—sporting significant animosity over the German conquest of Alsace-Lorraine during the Franco-Prussian War—ordered French mobilization on 1 August. Germany declared war on Russia on the same day.
The hostilities
The War way really complicated and it's very difficult to tell in a few words how it went and how it developed, including the involvement of all the countries, including Woodrow Wilson's USA.
So, looking at the statistics WWI caused 16,543,185 deaths and cost $125,690,477,000 (in 1914-1918 dollars!)
Thee BBC has a very well done website with short movies explaining the development of the conflict. Check it out here
The end of the War (on the Western Front)
The armistice treaty between the Allies and Germany was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918, and marked the end of the First World War on the Western Front. Principal signatories were Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the Allied Commander-in-chief, and Matthias Erzberger, Germany's representative.
The Armistice was agreed at 5 AM on 11 November, to come into effect at 11 AM Paris time (that is 10 AM GMT), for which reason the occasion is sometimes referred to as "the eleventh (hour) of the eleventh (day) of the eleventh (month)". It was the result of a hurried and desperate process.
Acting German commander Paul von Hindenburg had requested arrangements for a meeting from Ferdinand Foch via telegram on 7 November. He was under pressure of imminent revolution in Berlin, Munich, and elsewhere across Germany.
The German delegation headed by Matthias Erzberger crossed the front line in five cars and was escorted for ten hours across the devastated war zone of Northern France. They were then entrained and taken to the secret destination, Foch's railway siding in the forest of Compiègne.
Despite the incredible loss of lives and the efforts made to create international bodies that would prevent such kind of wars. Nevertheless, a second world war happened and, even after, we never stopped seeing wars around the globe. We didn't learn anything about how war is useless and pointless and how it benefits only a few.