Four empires collapsed: the Russian Empire in 1917, the German and the Austro-Hungarian in 1918, and the Ottoman in 1922. 3. Independent republics were formed in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Turkey.
Four imperial dynasties—the Habsburgs of Austria-Hungary, the Hohenzollerns of Germany, the sultanate of the Ottoman Empire, and the Romanovs of Russia—collapsed as a direct result of the war, and the map of Europe was changed forever.
Germany lost the most land as a result of World War I. As a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, Germany was stripped of 13% of its European territory. All of the land Germany had acquired outside of Europe was lost.
The German army suffered the highest number of military losses, totaling at more than two million men. Turkey had the highest civilian death count, largely due to the mass extermination of Armenians, as well as Greeks and Assyrians.
The Roll of Honour records the number of Australian deaths during the First World War as 61,514. This includes deaths until the formal disbandment of the AIF on 31 March 1921. During the period 4 August 1914 to 11 November 1918, there were 59,357 deaths.
Following the armistice on 11 November 1918, a process of demobilisation began, with the last Australian personnel being repatriated in late 1919. In all, 416,809 Australians enlisted during the war and 334,000 served overseas.
Allied victors took a punitive approach to Germany at the end of World War I. Intense negotiation resulted in the Treaty of Versailles' “war guilt clause,” which identified Germany as the sole responsible party for the war and forced it to pay reparations.
The First World War brought about the collapse of four multinational empires – the Russian empire in 1917, and then the Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, and German empires in 1918. They collapsed in defeat and revolution.
Just two minutes before the Armistice ended hostilities at 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918, Pvt. Henry N. Gunther, of the 79th Infantry Division's 313th Infantry Regiment, was shot and killed in France as he charged a German roadblock in the village of Chaumont-devant-Damvillers near Meuse.
The treaty marked Russia's final withdrawal from World War I and resulted in Russia losing major territorial holdings. In the treaty, Bolshevik Russia ceded the Baltic States to Germany; they were meant to become German vassal states under German princelings.
Devastated lands in France and Belgium from the destruction of World War I are still evident. Examples of affected French towns and villages include Fleury-devant-Douaumont, Pozières, Ripont, Tahure, Regniéville, Flirey, Moussy-sur Aisne, Ailles and Courtecon.
Allied victors took a punitive approach to Germany at the end of World War I. Intense negotiation resulted in the Treaty of Versailles' “war guilt clause,” which identified Germany as the sole responsible party for the war and forced it to pay reparations.
By the fall of 1918, the tides had turned, and it became clear the Allies were going to win the war. Bulgaria was the first to surrender, followed by Turkey, bringing to an end the seven-centuries-old Ottoman Empire.
Just two minutes before the Armistice ended hostilities at 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918, Pvt. Henry N. Gunther, of the 79th Infantry Division's 313th Infantry Regiment, was shot and killed in France as he charged a German roadblock in the village of Chaumont-devant-Damvillers near Meuse.
The first World War was won by the Allies consisting of the United Kingdom, France, United States, Japan, Italy. They defeated the Central Powers consisting of Imperial Germany, Austro-Hungary Empire and the Ottoman Empire.
The last combat veteran was Claude Choules, who served in the British Royal Navy (and later the Royal Australian Navy) and died 5 May 2011, aged 110. The last veteran who served in the trenches was Harry Patch (British Army), who died on 25 July 2009, aged 111.
In 1995, following reunification, Germany began making the final payments towards the loans. A final installment of US$94 million was made on 3 October 2010, settling German loan debts in regard to reparations.
More than half of the total number of casualties are accounted for by the dead of the Republic of China and of the Soviet Union. The tables below give a detailed country-by-country count of human losses.
#1: The Holocaust
The Holocaust was just one of many despicable war crimes committed during World War II, but with the imprisonment, torture and execution of over six million Jews, the Holocaust truly stands above all others in the history of atrocities.
This book documents Japanese atrocities in World War II, including cannibalism, the slaughter and starvation of prisoners of war, rape and enforced prostitution, the murder of noncombatants, and biological warfare experiments.
The most frequently occurring crime in the nation has continued to be theft, making up the majority of the recorded cases.
The Axis powers (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan) were some of the most systematic perpetrators of war crimes in modern history.
The Soviet Union lost around 27 million people during the war, including 8.7 million military and 19 million civilians. This represents the most military deaths of any nation by a large margin. Germany sustained 5.3 million military losses, mostly on the Eastern Front and during the final battles in Germany.
That count includes hundreds of thousands of deaths due to drowning, disease and starvation after the Chinese nationalist army breached massive holes in dikes holding back the Yellow River to stymie the Japanese advance in 1938.