s. The alliances were brought into action whenAustria declared war. It took a week for all Europe to be at war. (Bender) Germany won early victories in World War I on the main battlefields. The westernfront hardly moved for three and a half years in spite of fierce combat. The fighting wentback and forth until 1917 when a revolution broke out in Russia which resulted in Russiaasking for a truce. (World Book Encyclopedia) The United States remained neutral at first, but many Americans turned against theCentral Powers after Germany began sinking unarmed ships. In 1917 the United Statesjoined the Allies. As a result the Allies gained the manpower they needed to win the war. In 1918, the Central Powers surrendered. (World Book Encyclopedia) World War I grew into the greatest war the world had ever seen. The amount ofmoney spent was enormous. The war costed about two hundred billion dollars. TheUnited States alone spent as much money as it did on all the expenses of the governmentfrom 1791 to 1914. (World Book Encyclopedia) More than sixty-five million men were mobilized for the armies and navies. Over eightmillion lost their lives, and more that twenty-one million were wounded. Civilian populations worked as never before to produce enormous quantities of guns, Rollins 3ammunitions, and other supplies. Civilians suffered more in World War I than in anyprevious war. Because they played such an important part, this was called total war. The assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinard triggered World War I. But the warhad its origins in developments of the 1800s. During this time one force that sweptacross the continent that helped bring about World War I was nationalism. Differentgroups of people felt they should each have a separate national government in a countrywhere everyone spoke the same language. Another cause of the war was that the economic interest and rivalries played a ...
