World War I

World War I, also known as the First World War, The Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global conflict that took place in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, China and the Pacific Islands between 1914 and 1918., On 28 June 1914, in Sarajevo, Bosnia, a Bosnian Serb student shot and killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. The assassination set into motion a series of events that escalated into full-scale war. Within weeks, because of overlapping agreements of collective defense and the complex nature of international alliances, countries throughout the world were at war. , The Allied Powers consisting of France, Russia, the United Kingdom, Italy and the United States defeated the Central Powers, led by the German, Austria-Hungarian and Ottoman empires. , The United States originally pursued a policy of isolationism and assumed the role of a peace maker. It was only after Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare and continued to sink civilian passenger and merchant ships, and the discovery that Germany was trying to persuade Mexico to invade the United States, that the U.S. entered the War on 5 April 1917. , More than 10,000,000 soldiers and civilians died during this war. Nearly 5,000,000 American servicemen were involved in the war; of these, there were over 320,000 casualties. 116,516 American servicemen lost their lives serving their country during this war, of whom more than seventy were from Washington County, Virginia. , The United States' involvement was mostly in Europe on the Western Front. The Western Front stretched over 475 miles from the North Sea to the French-Swiss border and consisted of nearly 6,000 miles of trenches. Hundreds died for each yard gained or lost. The airplane, the tank, the aircraft carrier and poison gas were first used as military weapons during this war. Many of the deadliest battles in history occurred during World War I. The geopolitical and economic conditions created by the war were a prime factor in the outbreak of World War II and continue to affect the world today. , World War I ended at 11:00 a.m. on November 11, 1918, Armistice Day. November 11th of each year is now designated as Veterans Day in the United States to honor all American Veterans. At 11:00 a.m. of each November 11th, a moment of silence is traditionally observed in remembrance of all our fallen comrades. , On July 4, 1919, citizens of Washington County, Virginia, dedicated a Tiffany window memorial designed by the studios of the renowned artist, Louis Comfort Tiffany, to honor Washington County service men and women who served during World War I. Today, the Tiffany Window can be seen in the front portico of the Washington County, Virginia courthouse in Abingdon.