Why did the Great War happen?
The Great War was and still is one of the most important and significant events in history. First of all consisting of countries from Europe it eventually became a world war that ended in more than forty million deaths. Although it seems a harsh and unforgiving tale it was one that encouraged World War II which then went onto ending the Nazis’ reign and settling many cultural differences and tensions.
The alliances formed in The Great War are what influenced the eventual outcome of the subsequent events. The war was fought between two major alliances, the Entente Powers and the Central Powers. The Entente Powers initially consisted of the United Kingdom, France, Russia and their associated empires. Many others joined these allies, most noticeably Italy (April, 1915) and The United States (April 1917). The Central Powers mainly consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary and their associated empires. The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in October 1914, followed a year later by Bulgaria. By the end of the war few European countries were independent from alliances.