ww1

Sgt. Alvin C. York - The Red Baron - Lone Wolf: Original Painting By: Rich Thistle

The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian June 28th 1914, was the pre-text for war. The system of alliances made the conflict Europe-Wide; Germany's invasion of Belgium to outflank France forced Britain to enter the war: Source: The World Almanac 1992

German forces were stopped in France in one month. The rival Armies dug trench networks. Artillery and improved machine-guns prevented either side from any lasting advance despite repeated assaults (600,000 dead at Verdum Feb. to July 1916) Poison gas, used by Germany in 1915 proved ineffective. Over one million U.S. Troops tipped the balance after mid-1917, forcing Germany to sue for peace: Source: The World Almanac 1992...

The British Navy successfully blockaded Germany, which responded with submarine u-boat attacks. After Jan. 1917 Germany began unrestricted submarine warfare against neutral countries. This ultimately brought the U.S. into the war.

Other battlefields included Palestine and Mesopotamia, both of which Britain wrested from the Turks in 1917, and the African and Pacific colonies of Germany, most of which fell to Britain, France, Australia, Japan and South Africa. From 1916, the civilian population and economy of both sides were mobilized to an unprecedented degree. Over 10 million soldiers died (May 1917 French mutiny crushed.) Source: World Almanac...

Source: World Almanac
The above information is not offered as totally accurate due to many factors

World War I (1917-1918)
Total Servicemembers (Worldwide)...............4,734,991
Battle Deaths.................................................53,402
Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater)..............63,114
Non-mortal Woundings..................................204,002
Living Veterans.......................................................3

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President George W. Bush welcomes Cpl. Frank Woodruff Buckles, the last known surviving American-born WWI veteran, to the Oval Office Thursday, March 6, 2008. The President told the 107-year-old, "...One way for me to honor the service of those who wear the uniform in the past and those who wear it today is to herald you, sir, and to thank you very much for your patriotism and your love for America." White House photo by Eric Draper

President George W. Bush visits with Cpl. Frank Woodruff Buckles in the Oval Office, Thursday, March 6, 2008. Said the President, "Sitting next to me is Mr. Frank Buckles, 107-years-young, and he is the last living Doughboy from World War I. And it has been my high honor to welcome Mr. Buckles, and his daughter, Susannah, here to the Oval Office." White House photo by Eric Draper...

A Battery of American Field Artillery heads for the Argonne front, passing through the shattered town of Malancourt in the Meuse. Battery E, 16th Fiedl Artillery - 26 September 1918. (SC023105) Photo CMH...

Overseas men welcomed home. Parade in honor of returned fighters passing the Public Library, New Y . . ., 1917 - ca. 1919. NARA Photo.

Officers and crew of the German submarine U.58, captured by the U.S.S. Fanning, entering the War Prison Camp at Fort McPherson, Georgia. Mathewson & Winn., 04/1918. NARA Photo.

Americans setting in position a French 37mm. gun known as a "one-pounder" on the parapet of a second line trench at Dieffmattch, Alsace, where their command (the 126th Infantry) was located - 26 June 1918. (SC019753) Photo CMH...

In the American trenches before Mulhouse, Hecken Sector, Germany; the men are armed with rifle grenades; 126th Infantry, 32d Division - 14 June 1918. (SC014868) Photo CMH...

First American Troops Dis-Embarking in Saint-Nazaire; 1917 (Collection Yves Buffetaut)
Battery A, 15th U.S. Field Artillery crossing the Rhine River; U.S. Army Military History Institute, WWI-382-Walsh,R.C.
German Prisoners in the Vauxaillon sector. 1917. (Collection Yves Buffetaut)

Troop Train France 4th Div. - U.S. Army Military History Institute; C.G. Krekel
Fleury Sous Douaumont The Patatoes Fatigue: (Collection Yves Buffetaut)
American Armor Going forward in the Argonne, France Sep. 26th 1918

Kaiser Wilhelm II in uniform of an Austrian Field Marshall
Left-Right Joseph H. Eastman, Jams A. Meissner, Ed V. Rickenbacker, Reed Chambers, and Thorn C. Taylor stand beside, Rickenbackers Spad. Alan F. Winslow Coll. 6 U.S. Army Military History Institute.
1st Div. in the trenches. Ansauville Sector 1917, U.S. Army Hist. Inst.; Karl Truesdell

General Pershing at the review of the 5th Div. U.S. Army Historical Institute; W.J. Lilley
The Ruins of St. Quentin
The USS Texas

Lt. Frank Luke Jr. was the Arizona Balloon Buster. He was presented his Medal of Honor posthumously. Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., is named in his honor. (Photo illustration/Virginia Reyes)

Lt. Frank Luke was the second-ranking ace during World War I. (U.S. Army photo)

A German Hannover C.L. I I I was brought down by American machine gunnners between Montfaucon and Cierges, France, October 4, 1918. German War Film, 1914–1918, shows a German bombing raid. NARA Photo.

Men drafted into the Army report for service at Camp Travis, San Antonio, Texas. Draft and Mobilization Activities, 1917–1918, documents the draftee's transition to Army life. NARA Photo.

German observation balloon; U.S. Army Hist. Institute; Mrs. Charles A. Payne