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By the end of the first decade of the 20th century, the major European powers were divided between the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance. The Triple Entente was made up of the United Kingdom, France, and Russia. The Triple Alliance was originally composed of Germany, Austria–Hungary, and Italy, but Italy remained neutral in 1914.
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires, [1] [notes 1] were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria; this was also known as the Quadruple Alliance. [2] [notes 2]
World War I – major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. It involved all the world's great powers , [ 1 ] which were assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies (centred on the Triple Entente of Britain , France and Russia ) and the Central Powers (originally centred on the Triple Alliance of ...
The United States was a major supplier of war material to the Allies but remained neutral in 1914, in large part due to domestic opposition. [168] The most significant factor in creating the support Wilson needed was the German submarine offensive, which not only cost American lives but paralysed trade as ships were reluctant to put to sea.
The major "Allies" grouping included Great Britain and its empire, France, Russia (until 1917), Italy (from 1915) and the United States (from 1917). Opposing the Allies, the major Central Powers included Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and Bulgaria. Other countries (Belgium and Japan, for example) also joined the Allies.
In 1900, the British had a 3.7:1 tonnage advantage over Germany; in 1910, the ratio was 2.3:1 and in 1914, it reached 2.1:1. Ferguson argues: "So decisive was the British victory in the naval arms race that it is hard to regard it as in any meaningful sense a cause of the First World War."
Alliances may be covert (as was common from 1870 to 1916) or public. [1] According to a 2002 dataset of military alliances, there have been 538 alliance treaties from 1815 to 2003. [2] The vast majority of the alliances involve commitments to come to the military support of one ally involved in war. [2] The vast majority are defensive in nature ...
The Allies' reply of December 30, 1916 spoke of an unconditional suggestion that was not a peace proposal, but rather a war maneuver. [ 9 ] In Berlin , it was thought that if the enemy refused the proposal, it would be they who would have to bear the consequences of continuing the war, especially the use of Unrestricted submarine warfare . [ 3 ]