The Great War

### Location

Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands, China, Indian Ocean, and off the coast of South and North America

### Belligerents

Entente:* 3rd French Republic
* United Kingdom
* Russian Empire
* United States
* Empire of Japan

co-belligerents:

* Russian SFSR (1918-forward)

Central Powers:

* Austria-Hungary
* German Empire
* Ottoman Empire (1914-1918)
* Bulgaria (1915-forward)

### Result

Triple Entente Victory

The Great War was a war fought between the two major alliances in Europe, The Triple Entente and The Central Powers. It included all of the worlds major economic and military powers from across the globe, but the war was focused mainly in Europe. The war spread to Africa and the pacific due to German colonial presence.

The war was started after of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo. Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to Serbia which they rejected, within weeks the world's major powers were at war with each other.

## 1918

### Eastern Front:

#### Signing of the Treaty of Budapest

The Treaty of Budapest was a treaty signed on the 15th of March 1918 by Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, the Russian SFSR and The Ottoman Empire to end the war between between the newly forming Russia and four of the five members of the Central Powers. Originally the German Empire also intended to sign the treaty on the 3rd of march in Brest-Litovsk but delayed the signing and eventually pulled out at the last minute due to the Lenin-Milne Telegram, a purposefully misrepresented piece of intelligence that misinterpreted the Soviet war machine.

### Western Front:

#### The German offensive

After the Russian SFSR entered the war German military commanders were continuing to fight a war on two fronts, this would continue to be a bad run for the Germans. Not long after the Germans began their offensive into France and the remainder of Belgium. The French saw this and decided to move a majority of their forces back and save their manpower and supplies incase of a bigger German attack, the Germans took Belgium completely and continued moving into France. By January 1919 Paris was in sight of the oncoming forces.

#### The final German halt

In late 1918 German forces had pushed deep into France. French and American forces had held back the northern area of the front and Italian and British had held the southern area of the front. The Entente had dug in and this was the last place they could hold the German forces, Italian troops were still holding their own border with Austria-Hungary and couldn't contribute much more than they already were. This situation is where the French war story "the single Paris shell" originates from.

The German attack was successfully held back by the Entente, this was a major morale boost that was needed for their forces, this is where the tide changed in favour of the Entente during the war.

## 1919

Over 1919 the war would continue to turn in the favour of the Entente at every turn, the entente would win battle after battle. The Italian offensive into Austria would be the decisive point of the war for Austria-Hungary causing their eventual demise at the hands of the Entente.

#### Operation Praetorian Guard

On the 12th of February Emperor Charles was invited to Sarajevo by TBC to "...relax and discuss military strategy...". Charles accepted the offer and made his way to Sarajevo, when he was making his way to Sarajevo he was stopped approximately 5 kilometres north of Sarajevo, it was here that soldiers loyal to the cause stopped the Emperor and all began firing upon him, making sure that he and his wife were dead. Rudolf von Steinstätten then gained control of both the military and parliaments of the Dual-Monarchy.

### Italian-Austrian Front:

#### The Italian offensive

Due to Austria-Hungary's weak military toward the end of the war The combined efforts of the Supreme War Council planned to push into Austria and take large amounts of land and potentially push Austria out of the war entirely. Italy was the prime candidate for the offensive, due to the land border, the Council was weary because of Italy's loss against Austria-Hungary at the Battle of Caporetto, Italy was certain that they could handle the task.

The offensive began in June with little success from Italian troops, until the battle of TBC when Italian troops successfully held back an Austrian counter attack followed closely by an Italian offensive, this battle and subsequent battles would improve Italian army reputation and morale.

#### The continued Italian offence on Austria

As Italian forces moved in on Austria-Hungary it seemed that this was the end of the war for Austria-Hungary, after these unfortunate circumstances the Austro-Hungarian people overthrew their leader once more and installed a

### Western Front:

#### The 250 day offensive

The 250 day offensive was the decisive victory point for the entente in 1919. Planned by the Supreme War Council with the leadership of British representative John Monash. It began in June 1919 and

## 1920

### Western Front:

#### Death of the Kaiser and the end of the war

In April, Entente troops had reached the French-German border during the 250 day offensive, this was the first time Entente troops had entered Germany since 1914. The push continued into Germany and came to a slow halt just near the German-Austrian border, this gave the Entente enough time to raise a strategic air force that could permanently bomb/scout the area.

It was at this point that the Kaiser was determined to raise troop morale with a visit and plan a strategic overhaul of the war. The Kaiser stopped around Germany telling people the war would soon be over, eventually he made a stop in Munich, the Kaiser insisted he stay there even with the war lines so close. It was at this point the entente began a bombing of Munich, completely unaware that the Kaiser was even staying in Munich.