Late June 1914, a time before civilization found the shape, a Serbian nationalist assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. The world had been marked with the search for power and supremacy. And with that event, the First World War was born.
What followed was a mass escalation of mobilization orders and threats. Germany, the Ottoman Empire, and Austria-Hungary formed the so-called Central Powers. The Great Britain, Japan, Italy, France and Russia, on the other hand, united as the Allied Powers, soon to be joined by the United States after 1917. The war that lasted for four years earned the name of The Great War by its unmatched levels of carnage and annihilation. The introduction of advanced weaponry and arduous trench warfare that ended with over 9 million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded took place in different areas. Here are seven of the most significant of the battles.
7. First Battle of the Marne
German troops had invaded Belgium, violating their neutrality in the war. After capturing the heavily fortified Belgian city of Liege, Germany hoped to smash France next before advancing towards the stronger Russian battalion. The intention was to avoid a double front fight.
France and Britain, however, launched a strong counter-offensive at the Marne, a battle that lasted between 6th and 10th of September 1914. The Germans that had an earlier success lost their ground and were eventually forced to retreat.
Meanwhile, the Russians mobilized their troops faster that the Germans had envisaged, and soon launched their first offensive. Germany won this one. A million men had died. The war had left heavy casualties and immense shock as had never been seen before. But the war was far from over.