The Allies of World War I,
Entente Powers, or Allied Powers were a
coalition of countries led by
France, the
United Kingdom,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
,
Italy,
Japan, and the
United States against the
Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in W ...
of
Germany,
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1 ...
, the
Ottoman Empire,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Maced ...
, and their colonies during the
First World War (1914–1918).
By the end of the first decade of the 20th century, the major
European powers
A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power inf ...
were divided between the
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente (from French '' entente'' meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well a ...
and the
Triple Alliance. The Triple Entente was made up of France, Britain, and Russia. The Triple Alliance was originally composed of Germany, Austria–Hungary, and Italy, but Italy remained neutral in 1914. As the war progressed, each coalition added new members. Japan joined the Entente in 1914 and after proclaiming its neutrality at the beginning of the war, Italy also joined the Entente in 1915. The term "Allies" became more widely used than "Entente", although France, Britain, Russia, and Italy were also referred to as the Quadruple Entente and, together with Japan, as the Quintuple Entente. The colonies administered by the countries that fought for the allies were also part of the Entente Powers such as
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
,
French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...
, and
Japanese Korea.
The United States joined near the end of the war in 1917 (the same year in which Russia withdrew from the conflict) as an "associated power" rather than an official ally. Other "associated members" included
Serbia,
Belgium,
Montenegro,
Asir
The ʿAsir Region ( ar, عَسِيرٌ, ʿAsīr, lit=difficult) is a region of Saudi Arabia located in the southwest of the country that is named after the ʿAsīr tribe. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,211,875 (2017). It is ...
,
Nejd and Hasa,
Portugal,
Romania,
Hejaz,
Panama,
Cuba,
Greece,
China,
Siam (now
Thailand),
Brazil,
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
,
Luxembourg,
Guatemala,
Nicaragua,
Costa Rica,
Haiti,
Liberia,
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
,
Ecuador,
Uruguay, and
Honduras. The treaties signed at the
Paris Peace Conference recognised Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan and the United States as 'the Principal Allied and Associated Powers'.
Background
When the war began in 1914, the
Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in W ...
were opposed by the
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente (from French '' entente'' meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well a ...
, formed in 1907 when the agreement between Britain and the
Russian Empire complemented existing agreements between Britain, Russia, and France.
Fighting commenced when Austria invaded
Serbia on 28 July 1914, purportedly in response to the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated on 28 June 1914 by Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip. They were shot at close range whil ...
, heir to Emperor
Franz Joseph; this brought Serbia's ally
Montenegro into the war on 8 August and it attacked the Austrian naval base at
Cattaro
Kotor (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian: ), is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative ...
, modern Kotor. At the same time, German troops carried out the
Schlieffen Plan, entering neutral
Belgium and
Luxembourg; over 95% of Belgium was occupied but the Belgian Army held their lines on the
Yser Front
The Yser Front (french: Front de l'Yser, nl, Front aan de IJzer or ), sometimes termed the West Flemish Front in British writing, was a section of the Western Front during World War I held by Belgian troops from October 1914 until 1918. The fron ...
throughout the war. This allowed Belgium to be treated as an Ally, in contrast to Luxembourg which retained control over domestic affairs but was
occupied by the German military.
In the East, between 7 and 9 August the Russians entered German
East Prussia on 7 August, Austrian
Eastern Galicia.
Japan joined the Entente by declaring war on Germany on 23 August, then Austria on 25 August. On 2 September, Japanese forces surrounded the German
Treaty Port
Treaty ports (; ja, 条約港) were the port cities in China and Japan that were opened to foreign trade mainly by the unequal treaties forced upon them by Western powers, as well as cities in Korea opened up similarly by the Japanese Empire.
...
of
Tsingtao (now Qingdao) in China and occupied German colonies in the Pacific, including the
Mariana
Mariana may refer to:
Literature
* ''Mariana'' (Dickens novel), a 1940 novel by Monica Dickens
* ''Mariana'' (poem), a poem by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson
* ''Mariana'' (Vaz novel), a 1997 novel by Katherine Vaz
Music
*"Mariana", a so ...
,
Caroline
Caroline may refer to:
People
*Caroline (given name), a feminine given name
* J. C. Caroline (born 1933), American college and National Football League player
* Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American (men's) basketball player
Places Antarctica
* ...
, and
Marshall Islands.
Despite its membership of the
Triple Alliance,
Italy remained neutral until 23 May 1915 when it joined the Entente, declaring war on Austria but not Germany. On 17 January 1916,
Montenegro capitulated and left the Entente; this was offset when Germany declared war on
Portugal in March 1916, while
Romania commenced hostilities against Austria on 27 August.
On 6 April 1917, the United States entered the war as a co-belligerent, along with the associated allies of
Liberia,
Siam and
Greece. After the 1917
October Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
, Russia left the Entente and agreed to a separate peace with the Central Powers with the signing of the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russia and the Central Powers ( Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire), that ended Russi ...
on 3 March 1918. Romania was forced to do the same in the May 1918
Treaty of Bucharest but on 10 November, it repudiated the Treaty and once more declared war on the Central Powers.
These changes meant the Allies who negotiated the
Treaty of Versailles in 1919 included France, Britain, Italy, Japan and the US; Part One of the Treaty agreed to the establishment of the
League of Nations on 25 January 1919. This came into being on 16 January 1920 with Britain, France, Italy and Japan as permanent members of the Executive Council; the
US Senate voted against ratification of the treaty on 19 March, thus preventing the US from joining the League.
Statistics
Principal powers
Britain and its Empire
For much of the 19th century, Britain sought to maintain the European balance of power without formal alliances, a policy known as
splendid isolation
''Splendid isolation'' is a term used to describe the 19th-century British diplomatic practice of avoiding permanent alliances, particularly under the governments of Lord Salisbury between 1885 and 1902. The concept developed as early as 1822 ...
. This left it dangerously exposed as Europe divided into opposing power blocs and the
1895–1905 Conservative government negotiated first the 1902
Anglo-Japanese Alliance
The first was an alliance between Britain and Japan, signed in January 1902. The alliance was signed in London at Lansdowne House on 30 January 1902 by Lord Lansdowne, British Foreign Secretary, and Hayashi Tadasu, Japanese diplomat. A dipl ...
, then the 1904
Entente Cordiale
The Entente Cordiale (; ) comprised a series of agreements signed on 8 April 1904 between the United Kingdom and the French Republic which saw a significant improvement in Anglo-French relations. Beyond the immediate concerns of colonial de ...
with France. The first tangible result of this shift was British support for France against Germany in the
1905 Moroccan Crisis.
The
1905–1915 Liberal government continued this re-alignment with the 1907
Anglo-Russian Convention
The Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 (russian: Англо-Русская Конвенция 1907 г., translit=Anglo-Russkaya Konventsiya 1907 g.), or Convention between the United Kingdom and Russia relating to Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet (; ...
. Like the Anglo-Japanese and Entente agreements, it focused on settling colonial disputes but by doing so paved the way for wider co-operation and allowed Britain to refocus resources in response to
German naval expansion.
Since control of Belgium allowed an opponent to threaten invasion or blockade British trade, preventing it was a long-standing British strategic interest. Under Article VII of the 1839
Treaty of London, Britain guaranteed Belgian neutrality against aggression by any other state, by force if required. Chancellor
Bethmann Hollweg
Theobald Theodor Friedrich Alfred von Bethmann Hollweg (29 November 1856 – 1 January 1921) was a German politician who was the chancellor of the German Empire from 1909 to 1917. He oversaw the German entry into World War I. According to biog ...
later dismissed this as a 'scrap of paper,' but British law officers routinely confirmed it as a binding legal obligation and its importance was well understood by Germany.
The 1911
Agadir Crisis
The Agadir Crisis, Agadir Incident, or Second Moroccan Crisis was a brief crisis sparked by the deployment of a substantial force of French troops in the interior of Morocco in April 1911 and the deployment of the German gunboat to Agadir, a ...
led to secret discussions between France and Britain in case of war with Germany. These agreed that within two weeks of its outbreak, a
British Expeditionary Force of 100,000 men would be landed in France; in addition, the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
would be responsible for the
North Sea, the
Channel and protecting Northern France, with the French navy concentrated in the
Mediterranean. Britain was committed to support France in a war against Germany but this was not widely understood outside government or the upper ranks of the military.
As late as 1 August, a clear majority of the Liberal government and its supporters wanted to stay out of the war. While Liberal leaders
H. H. Asquith and
Edward Grey considered Britain legally and morally committed to support France regardless, waiting until Germany triggered the 1839 Treaty provided the best chance of preserving Liberal party unity.
The German high command was aware entering Belgium would lead to British intervention but decided the risk was acceptable; they expected a short war while their ambassador in London claimed troubles in Ireland would prevent Britain from assisting France. On 3 August, Germany demanded unimpeded progress through any part of Belgium and when this was refused, invaded early on the morning of 4 August.
This changed the situation; the invasion of Belgium consolidated political and public support for the war by presenting what appeared to be a simple moral and strategic choice. The Belgians asked for assistance under the 1839 Treaty and in response, Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914. Although Germany's violation of Belgium neutrality was not the only cause of British entry into the war, it was used extensively in government propaganda at home and abroad to make the case for British intervention. This confusion arguably persists today.
The declaration of war automatically involved all dominions and colonies and protectorates of the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
, many of whom made significant contributions to the Allied war effort, both in the provision of troops and civilian labourers. It was split into
Crown Colonies
A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Council ...
administered by the
Colonial Office in London, such as
Nigeria, and the self-governing
Dominions of
Canada,
Newfoundland,
New Zealand,
Australia and
South Africa. These controlled their own domestic policies and military expenditure but not foreign policy.
In terms of population, the largest component (after Britain herself) was the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
or British India, which included modern
India,
Pakistan,
Myanmar and
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
. Unlike other colonies which came under the
Colonial Office, it was governed directly by the
India Office or by
princes loyal to the British; it also controlled British interests in the
Persian Gulf, such as the
Trucial States and
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
. Over one million soldiers of the
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which cou ...
served in different theatres of the war, primarily France and the
Middle East.
From 1914 to 1916, overall Imperial diplomatic, political and military strategy was controlled by the
British War Cabinet
A war cabinet is a committee formed by a government in a time of war to efficiently and effectively conduct that war. It is usually a subset of the full executive cabinet of ministers, although it is quite common for a war cabinet to have senio ...
in London; in 1917 it was superseded by the
Imperial War Cabinet, which included representatives from the Dominions. Under the War Cabinet were the
Chief of the Imperial General Staff or CIGS, responsible for all Imperial ground forces, and the
Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
*Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
*Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
* Admiralty, Traf ...
that did the same for the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
. Theatre commanders like
Douglas Haig on the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
* Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...
or
Edmund Allenby
Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, (23 April 1861 – 14 May 1936) was a senior British Army officer and Imperial Governor. He fought in the Second Boer War and also in the First World War, in which he led th ...
in
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East J ...
then reported to the CIGS.
After the Indian Army, the largest individual units were the
Australian Corps
The Australian Corps was a World War I army corps that contained all five Australian infantry divisions serving on the Western Front. It was the largest corps fielded by the British Empire in France. At its peak the Australian Corps numbered 10 ...
and
Canadian Corps
The Canadian Corps was a World War I corps formed from the Canadian Expeditionary Force in September 1915 after the arrival of the 2nd Canadian Division in France. The corps was expanded by the addition of the 3rd Canadian Division in December ...
in France, which by 1918 were commanded by their own generals,
John Monash
General Sir John Monash, (; 27 June 1865 – 8 October 1931) was an Australian civil engineer and military commander of the First World War. He commanded the 13th Infantry Brigade before the war and then, shortly after its outbreak, became c ...
and
Arthur Currie
General Sir Arthur William Currie, (5 December 187530 November 1933) was a senior officer of the Canadian Army who fought during World War I. He had the unique distinction of starting his military career on the very bottom rung as a pre-war ...
. Contingents from South Africa, New Zealand and Newfoundland served in theatres including France,
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles s ...
,
German East Africa and the Middle East. Australian troops separately occupied
German New Guinea, with the South Africans doing the same in
German South West Africa
German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...
; this resulted in the
Maritz rebellion
The Maritz rebellion, also known as the Boer revolt or Five Shilling rebellion,General De Wet publicly unfurled the rebel banner in October, when he entered the town of Reitz at the head of an armed commando. He summoned all the town and dema ...
by former Boers, which was quickly suppressed. After the war, New Guinea and South-West Africa became
Protectorates, held until 1975 and 1990 respectively.
Russian Empire
Between 1873 and 1887, Russia was allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary in the
League of the Three Emperors, then with Germany in the 1887–1890
Reinsurance Treaty
The Reinsurance Treaty was a diplomatic agreement between the German Empire and the Russian Empire that was in effect from 1887 to 1890. Only a handful of top officials in Berlin and St. Petersburg knew of its existence since it was top secret. Th ...
; both collapsed due to the competing interests of Austria and Russia in the
Balkans. While France took advantage of this to agree the 1894
Franco-Russian Alliance
The Franco-Russian Alliance (french: Alliance Franco-Russe, russian: Франко-Русский Альянс, translit=Franko-Russkiy Al'yans), or Russo-French Rapprochement (''Rapprochement Russo-Français'', Русско-Французско� ...
, Britain viewed Russia with deep suspicion; in 1800, over 3,000 kilometres separated the Russian Empire and British India, by 1902, it was 30 km in some areas. This threatened to bring the two into direct conflict, as did the long-held Russian objective of gaining control of the
Bosporus Straits
The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...
and with it access to the British-dominated
Mediterranean Sea.
Defeat in the 1905 Russo-Japanese War and Britain's isolation during the 1899–1902
Second Boer War led both parties to seek allies. The
Anglo-Russian Convention
The Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 (russian: Англо-Русская Конвенция 1907 г., translit=Anglo-Russkaya Konventsiya 1907 g.), or Convention between the United Kingdom and Russia relating to Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet (; ...
of 1907 settled disputes in Asia and allowed the establishment of the Triple Entente with France, which at this stage was largely informal. In 1908, Austria annexed the former Ottoman province of
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
; Russia responded by creating the
Balkan League
The League of the Balkans was a quadruple alliance formed by a series of bilateral treaties concluded in 1912 between the Eastern Orthodox kingdoms of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, and directed against the Ottoman Empire, which a ...
in order to prevent further Austrian expansion.
In the 1912–1913
First Balkan War,
Serbia,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Maced ...
and
Greece captured most of the remaining Ottoman possessions in Europe; disputes over the division of these resulted in the
Second Balkan War, in which Bulgaria was comprehensively defeated by its former allies.
Russia's industrial base and railway network had significantly improved since 1905, although from a relatively low base; in 1913,
Tsar Nicholas approved an increase in the Russian Army of over 500,000 men. Although there was no formal alliance between Russia and Serbia, their close bilateral links provided Russia with a route into the crumbling Ottoman Empire, where Germany also had significant interests. Combined with the increase in Russian military strength, both Austria and Germany felt threatened by Serbian expansion; when Austria invaded Serbia on 28 July 1914, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Sazonov
Sergei Dmitryevich Sazonov GCB (Russian: Сергей Дмитриевич Сазонов; 10 August 1860 in Ryazan Governorate 11 December 1927) was a Russian statesman and diplomat who served as Foreign Minister from November 1910 to July 1916 ...
viewed it as an Austro-German conspiracy to end Russian influence in the Balkans.
In addition to its own territory, Russia viewed itself as the defender of its fellow
Slavs and on 30 July, mobilised in support of Serbia. In response, Germany declared war on Russia on 1 August, followed by Austria-Hungary on 6th; after Ottoman warships bombarded
Odessa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
in late October, the Entente declared war on the Ottoman Empire in November 1914.
French Republic
French defeat in the 1870–1871
Franco-Prussian War led to the loss of the two provinces of
Alsace-Lorraine and the establishment of the
Third Republic. The suppression of the
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871.
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...
by the new regime caused deep political divisions and led to a series of bitter political struggles, such as the
Dreyfus affair
The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...
. As a result, aggressive nationalism or
Revanchism was one of the few areas to unite the French.
The loss of Alsace-Lorraine deprived France of its natural defence line on the
Rhine, while it was weaker demographically than Germany, whose 1911 population was 64.9 million to 39.6 in France, which had the lowest birthrate in Europe. This meant that despite their very different political systems, when Germany allowed the Reinsurance Treaty to lapse, France seized the opportunity to agree the 1894
Franco-Russian Alliance
The Franco-Russian Alliance (french: Alliance Franco-Russe, russian: Франко-Русский Альянс, translit=Franko-Russkiy Al'yans), or Russo-French Rapprochement (''Rapprochement Russo-Français'', Русско-Французско� ...
. It also replaced Germany as the primary source of financing for Russian industry and the expansion of its railway network, particularly in border areas with Germany and Austria-Hungary.
However, Russian defeat in the 1904–1905
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
damaged its credibility, while Britain's isolation during the
Second Boer War meant both countries sought additional allies. This resulted in the 1904
Entente Cordiale
The Entente Cordiale (; ) comprised a series of agreements signed on 8 April 1904 between the United Kingdom and the French Republic which saw a significant improvement in Anglo-French relations. Beyond the immediate concerns of colonial de ...
with Britain; like the 1907
Anglo-Russian Convention
The Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 (russian: Англо-Русская Конвенция 1907 г., translit=Anglo-Russkaya Konventsiya 1907 g.), or Convention between the United Kingdom and Russia relating to Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet (; ...
, for domestic British consumption it focused on settling colonial disputes but led to informal co-operation in other areas. By 1914, both the British army and
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
were committed to support France in the event of war with Germany but even in the British government, very few were aware of the extent of these commitments.
In response to Germany's declaration of war on Russia, France issued a general mobilisation in expectation of war on 2 August and on 3 August, Germany also declared war on France. Germany's ultimatum to Belgium brought Britain into the war on 4 August, although France did not declare war on Austria-Hungary until 12 August.
As with Britain, France's
colonies
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
also became part of the war; pre-1914, French soldiers and politicians advocated using French African recruits to help compensate for France's demographic weakness. From August to December 1914, the French lost nearly 300,000 dead on the Western Front, more than Britain suffered in the whole of WWII and the gaps were partly filled by colonial troops, over 500,000 of whom served on the Western Front over the period 1914–1918. Colonial troops also fought at
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles s ...
, occupied
Togo and
Kamerun
Kamerun was an African colony of the German Empire from 1884 to 1916 in the region of today's Republic of Cameroon. Kamerun also included northern parts of Gabon and the Congo with western parts of the Central African Republic, southwestern ...
in West Africa and had a minor role in the Middle East, where France was the traditional protector of Christians in the Ottoman provinces of
Syria,
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East J ...
and
Lebanon.
Japanese Empire
Prior to the
Meiji Restoration in 1868, Japan was a semi-feudal, largely agrarian state with few natural resources and limited technology. By 1914, it had transformed itself into a modern industrial state, with a powerful military; by defeating China in the
First Sino-Japanese War during 1894–1895, it established itself as the primary power in East Asia and colonised the then-unified Korea and
Formosa, now modern Taiwan.
Concerned by Russian expansion in Korea and
Manchuria, Britain and Japan signed the
Anglo-Japanese Alliance
The first was an alliance between Britain and Japan, signed in January 1902. The alliance was signed in London at Lansdowne House on 30 January 1902 by Lord Lansdowne, British Foreign Secretary, and Hayashi Tadasu, Japanese diplomat. A dipl ...
on 30 January 1902, agreeing if either were attacked by a third party, the other would remain neutral and if attacked by two or more opponents, the other would come to its aid. This meant Japan could rely on British support in a war with Russia, if either France or Germany, which also had interests in China, decided to join them. This gave Japan the reassurance needed to take on Russia in the 1905
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
; victory established Japan in the Chinese province of
Manchuria.
With Japan as an ally in the Far East,
John Fisher,
First Sea Lord from 1904 to 1910, was able to refocus British naval resources in the
North Sea to counter the threat from the
Imperial German Navy. The Alliance was renewed in 1911; in 1914, Japan joined the Entente in return for German territories in the Pacific, greatly annoying the Australian government which also wanted them.
On 7 August, Britain officially asked for assistance in destroying German naval units in China and Japan formally declared war on Germany on 23 August, followed by Austria-Hungary on 25th. On 2 September 1914, Japanese forces surrounded the German
Treaty Port
Treaty ports (; ja, 条約港) were the port cities in China and Japan that were opened to foreign trade mainly by the unequal treaties forced upon them by Western powers, as well as cities in Korea opened up similarly by the Japanese Empire.
...
of
Qingdao, then known as Tsingtao, which surrendered on 7 November. The
Imperial Japanese Navy simultaneously occupied German colonies in the
Mariana
Mariana may refer to:
Literature
* ''Mariana'' (Dickens novel), a 1940 novel by Monica Dickens
* ''Mariana'' (poem), a poem by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson
* ''Mariana'' (Vaz novel), a 1997 novel by Katherine Vaz
Music
*"Mariana", a so ...
,
Caroline
Caroline may refer to:
People
*Caroline (given name), a feminine given name
* J. C. Caroline (born 1933), American college and National Football League player
* Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American (men's) basketball player
Places Antarctica
* ...
, and
Marshall Islands, while in 1917, a Japanese naval squadron was sent to support the Allies in the
Mediterranean.
Japan's primary interest was in China and in January 1915, the Chinese government was presented with a secret ultimatum of
Twenty-One Demands, demanding extensive economic and political concessions. While these were eventually modified, the result was a surge of anti-Japanese
nationalism in China and an economic boycott of Japanese goods. In addition, the other Allies now saw Japan as a threat, rather than a partner, lead to tensions first with Russia, then the US after it entered the war in April 1917. Despite protests from the other Allies, after the war Japan refused to return Qingdao and the province of
Shandong to China.
Kingdom of Italy
The 1882
Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy was renewed at regular intervals, but was compromised by conflicting objectives between Italy and Austria in the
Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...
and
Aegean seas. Italian nationalists referred to Austrian-held
Istria (including
Trieste and
Fiume
Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Prim ...
) and
Trento as
'the lost territories', making the Alliance so controversial that the terms were kept secret until it expired in 1915.
Alberto Pollio, the pro-Austrian
Chief of Staff of the Italian Army
The Chief of Staff of the Italian Army refers to the Chiefs of Staffs of the Royal Italian Army from 1882 to 1946 and the Italian Army from 1946 to the present.
List of chiefs of staff
Chiefs of Staff of the Royal Italian Army (1882–1946)
...
, died on 1 July 1914, taking many of the prospects for Italian support with him. The Italian Prime Minister
Antonio Salandra
Antonio Salandra (13 August 1853 – 9 December 1931) was a conservative Italian politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Italy between 1914 and 1916. He ensured the entry of Italy in World War I on the side of the Triple Entente (the ...
argued that as the Alliance was defensive in nature, Austria's aggression against Serbia and Italy's exclusion from the decision-making process meant it was not obliged to join them.
[Hamilton, Richard F; Herwig, Holger H. Decisions for War, 1914–1917. P194.]
His caution was understandable because France and Britain either supplied or controlled the import of most of Italy's raw materials, including 90% of its coal.
Salandra described the process of choosing a side as 'sacred egoism,' but as the war was expected to end before mid-1915 at the latest, making this decision became increasingly urgent. In line with Italy's obligations under the Triple Alliance, the bulk of the army was concentrated on Italy's border with France; in October, Pollio's replacement,
General Luigi Cadorna, was ordered to begin moving these troops to the North-Eastern one with Austria.
Under the April 1915
Treaty of London, Italy agreed to join the Entente in return for Italian-populated territories of Austria-Hungary and other concessions; in return, it declared war on Austria-Hungary in May 1915 as required, although not on Germany until 1916.
[Hamilton, Richard F; Herwig, Holger H. Decisions for War, 1914–1917. P194-198.] Italian resentment at the difference between the promises of 1915 and the actual results of the 1919
Treaty of Versailles would be powerful factors in the rise of
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
.
Affiliated state combatants
Kingdom of Serbia
In 1817, the
Principality of Serbia became an autonomous province within the
Ottoman Empire; with Russian support, it gained full independence after the 1877–1878
Russo-Turkish War
The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histor ...
. Many Serbs viewed Russia as protector of the
South Slavs
South Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austria, H ...
in general but also specifically against Bulgaria, where Russian objectives increasingly collided with
Bulgarian nationalism
Bulgarian irredentism is a term to identify the territory associated with a historical national state and a modern Bulgarian irredentist nationalist movement in the 19th and 20th centuries, which would include most of Macedonia, Thrace and ...
.
When Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, Russia responded by creating the
Balkan League
The League of the Balkans was a quadruple alliance formed by a series of bilateral treaties concluded in 1912 between the Eastern Orthodox kingdoms of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, and directed against the Ottoman Empire, which a ...
to prevent further Austrian expansion.
Austria viewed Serbia with hostility partly due to its links with Russia, whose claim to be the protector of South Slavs extended to those within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, such as the
Czechs
The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, c ...
and
Slovaks
The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak.
In Slovakia, 4.4 mi ...
. Serbia also potentially gave Russia the ability to achieve their long-held objective of capturing
Constantinople and the
Dardanelles.
Austria backed the
Albanian revolt of 1910 and the idea of a
Greater Albania
Greater Albania is an irredentist and nationalist concept that seeks to unify the lands that many Albanians consider to form their national homeland. It is based on claims on the present-day or historical presence of Albanian populations in th ...
, since this would prevent Serbian access to the Austrian-controlled
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...
. Another
Albanian revolt in 1912 exposed the weakness of the Ottoman Empire and led to the 1912–1913
First Balkan War, with
Serbia,
Montenegro,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Maced ...
and
Greece capturing most of the remaining Ottoman possessions in Europe. Disputes over the division of these resulted in the
Second Balkan War, in which Bulgaria was comprehensively defeated by its former allies.
As a result of the 1913
Treaty of Bucharest, Serbia increased its territory by 100% and its population by 64%. However, it now faced a hostile Austria-Hungary, a resentful Bulgaria and opposition by Albanian nationalists. Germany too had ambitions in the Ottoman Empire, the centrepiece being the planned
Berlin–Baghdad railway
The Baghdad railway, also known as the Berlin–Baghdad railway ( tr, Bağdat Demiryolu, german: Bagdadbahn, ar, سكة حديد بغداد, french: Chemin de Fer Impérial Ottoman de Bagdad), was started in 1903 to connect Berlin with the ...
, with Serbia the only section not controlled by a pro-German state.
The exact role played by Serbian officials in the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated on 28 June 1914 by Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip. They were shot at close range whil ...
is still debated but despite complying with most of their demands, Austria-Hungary invaded on 28 July 1914. While Serbia successfully repulsed the Austro-Hungarian army in 1914, it was exhausted by the two Balkan Wars and unable to replace its losses of men and equipment. In 1915, Bulgaria joined the Central Powers and by the end of the year, a combined Bulgar-Austrian-German army occupied most of Serbia. Between 1914 and 1918, Serbia suffered the greatest proportional losses of any combatant, with over 25% of all those mobilised becoming casualties; including civilians and deaths from disease, over 1.2 million died, nearly 30% of the entire population.
Kingdom of Belgium
In 1830, the southern provinces of the Netherlands broke away to form the
Kingdom of Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to t ...
and their independence was confirmed by the 1839
Treaty of London. Article VII of the Treaty required Belgium to remain perpetually neutral and committed Austria, France, Germany and Russia to guarantee that against aggression by any other state, including the signatories.
While the French and German militaries accepted Germany would almost certainly violate Belgian neutrality in the event of war, the extent of that was unclear. The original
Schlieffen Plan only required a limited incursion into the Belgian
Ardennes, rather than a full-scale invasion; in September 1911, the Belgian Foreign Minister told a British Embassy official they would not call for assistance if the Germans limited themselves to that.
While neither Britain or France could allow Germany to occupy Belgium unopposed, a Belgian refusal to ask for help would complicate matters for the
British Liberal government, which contained a significant isolationist element.
However, the key German objective was to avoid war on two fronts; France had to be defeated before Russia could fully mobilise and give time for German forces to be transferred to the East. The growth of the Russian railway network and increase in speed of mobilisation made rapid victory over France even more important; to accommodate the additional 170,000 troops approved by the 1913 Army Bill, the 'incursion' now became a full-scale invasion. The Germans accepted the risk of British intervention; in common with most of Europe, they expected it to be a short war while their London Ambassador claimed civil war in Ireland would prevent Britain from assisting its Entente partners.
On 3 August, a German ultimatum demanded unimpeded progress through any part of Belgium, which was refused. Early on the morning of 4 August, the Germans invaded and the Belgian government called for British assistance under the 1839 Treaty; by the end of 1914, over 95% of the country was occupied but the Belgian Army held their lines on the
Yser Front
The Yser Front (french: Front de l'Yser, nl, Front aan de IJzer or ), sometimes termed the West Flemish Front in British writing, was a section of the Western Front during World War I held by Belgian troops from October 1914 until 1918. The fron ...
throughout the war.
In the
Belgian Congo, 25,000 Congolese troops plus an estimated 260,000 porters joined British forces in the 1916
East African Campaign. By 1917, they controlled the western part of
German East Africa which would become the Belgian
League of Nations Mandate of
Ruanda-Urundi or modern-day
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equat ...
and
Burundi
Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Gr ...
.
Kingdom of Greece
Greece almost doubled in size as a result of the
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and def ...
of 1912 and 1913, but the success masked deep divisions within the political elite. In 1908, the island of
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...
, formally part of the
Ottoman Empire but administered by Greek officials, declared union with Greece, led by the charismatic nationalist
Eleftherios Venizelos. A year later, young army officers formed the Military League to advocate for an aggressive and expansionist foreign policy; with their backing, Venizelos won a majority in the 1910 Parliamentary elections, followed by another in 1912. He had effectively broken the power of the pre-1910 political class and his position was then further strengthened by success in the Balkan Wars.
In 1913, the Greek monarch
George I George I or 1 may refer to:
People
* Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631)
* George I of Constantinople (d. 686)
* George I of Antioch (d. 790)
* George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9)
* George I of Georgia (d. 1027)
* Yuri Dol ...
was assassinated; he was succeeded by his son
Constantine who had attended
Heidelberg University, served in a Prussian regiment and married
Sophia of Prussia, sister of Emperor
William II. These links and a belief the Central Powers would win the war combined to make Constantine pro-German.
Venizelos himself favoured the Entente, partly due to their ability to block the maritime trade routes required for Greek imports.
Other issues adding complexity to this decision included disputes with Bulgaria and Serbia over the regions of
Thrace and
Macedonia as well as control of the
Aegean Islands. Greece captured most of the islands during the Balkan Wars but Italy occupied the
Dodecanese
The Dodecanese (, ; el, Δωδεκάνησα, ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Turkey's Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. ...
in 1912 and was in no hurry to give them back, while the Ottomans demanded the return of many others. In general, the Triple Entente favoured Greece, the Triple Alliance backed the Ottomans; Greece ultimately gained the vast majority but Italy did not cede the Dodecanese until 1947, while others remain
disputed
Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...
even today.
As a result, Greece initially remained neutral but in March 1915, the Entente offered concessions to join the
Dardanelles campaign. Arguments over whether to accept led to the
National Schism
The National Schism ( el, Εθνικός Διχασμός, Ethnikós Dichasmós), also sometimes called The Great Division, was a series of disagreements between King Constantine I and Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos regarding the forei ...
, with an Entente-backed administration under Venizelos in Crete, and a Royalist one led by Constantine in
Athens that supported the Central Powers.
In September 1915, Bulgaria joined the Central Powers; in October, Venizelos allowed Entente forces to land at
Thessaloniki or Salonica to support the Serbs, although they were too late to prevent their defeat. In August 1916, Bulgarian troops advanced into Greek-held Macedonia and Constantine ordered the army not to resist; anger at this led to a coup and he was eventually forced into exile in June 1917. A new national government under Venizelos joined the Entente, while the Greek
National Defence Army Corps
The Army of National Defence ( el, Στρατός Εθνικής Αμύνης) was the military force of the Provisional Government of National Defence, a pro- Allied government led by Eleftherios Venizelos in Thessaloniki in 1916–17, against the ...
fought with the Allies on the
Macedonian front.
Kingdom of Montenegro
Unlike Serbia, with whom it shared close cultural and political connections, the
Kingdom of Montenegro gained little from its participation in the 1912–1913 Balkan Wars. The main Montenegrin offensive was in
Ottoman-controlled Albania, where it suffered heavy losses during the seven month
Siege of Scutari. Austria-Hungary opposed Serb or Montenegrin control of Albania, since it provided access to the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...
; despite Scutari's surrender, Montenegro was forced to relinquish it by the
1913 Treaty of London and it became capital of the short-lived
Principality of Albania
The Principality of Albania ( al, Principata e Shqipërisë or ) refers to the short-lived monarchy in Albania, headed by Wilhelm, Prince of Albania, that lasted from the Treaty of London of 1913 which ended the First Balkan War, through ...
. This was largely an Austrian creation; the new ruler,
William, Prince of Albania, was a German who was forced into exile in September, only seven months after taking up his new position and later served with the
Imperial German Army.
In addition to the lack of substantive gains from the Balkan Wars, there were long-running internal divisions between those who like
Nicholas I preferred an independent Montenegro and those who advocated union with Serbia. In July 1914, Montenegro was not only militarily and economically exhausted, but also faced a multitude of political, economic and social issues.
At meetings held in March 1914, Austria-Hungary and Germany agreed union with Serbia must be prevented; Montenegro could either remain independent or be divided, its coastal areas becoming part of Albania, while the rest could join Serbia.
Nicholas seriously considered neutrality as a way to preserve his dynasty and on 31 July notified the Russian Ambassador Montenegro would only respond to an Austrian attack. He also held discussions with Austria, proposing neutrality or even active support in return for territorial concessions in Albania.
However, close links between the Serbian and Montenegrin militaries as well as popular sentiment meant there was little support for remaining neutral, especially after Russia joined the war; on 1 August, the National Assembly declared war on Austria-Hungary in fulfilment of its obligations to Serbia. After some initial success, in January 1916, the Montenegrin Army was forced to surrender to an Austro-Hungarian force.
Beda Sultanate
The
Beda Sultanate The Beda Sultanate was a state in South Arabia.
History
With the Ottoman withdrawal from Yemen in 1636 AD, Yemen became independent, but the southern provinces, which were known in the past as the East, separated from Yemen after the Turkish with ...
was invaded by Ottoman forces in February 1915 and March 1916.
Britain assisted the Beda Sultanate in defeating the Ottoman invasions by sending arms and ammunition.
Idrisid Emirate of Asir
The
Idrisid Emirate of Asir
The Idrisid Emirate of Asir () was a state located in the Arabian Peninsula. The Emirate was located in the geographical region of Asir and Jizan in what is now southwestern Saudi Arabia, and extending to Hodeidah, northwest of Yemen.
History ...
participated in the
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية, ) or the Great Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية الكبرى, ) was a military uprising of Arab forces against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On t ...
. Its Emir,
Muhammad ibn Ali al-Idrisi, signed an agreement with the British and joined the Allies in May 1915.
Emirate of Nejd and Hasa
The
Emirate of Nejd and Hasa
The Emirate of Nejd and Hasa was the second iteration of the Third Saudi State from 1913 to 1921. It was a monarchy led by the House of Saud.Madawi Al-Rasheed. (2002). ''A History of Saudi Arabia''. Cambridge, England, UK: Cambridge University P ...
launched a failed offensive against the Ottoman aligned Emirate of Jabal Shammar in January 1915. It then agreed to enter the war as an ally of Britain in the
Treaty of Darin
The Treaty of Darin, or the Darin Pact, of 1915 was between Britain and Abdulaziz Al Saud (sometimes called ''Ibn Saud'') ruler of the Emirate of Nejd and Hasa, who would go on to found the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.
Signing
The Treaty was ...
on 26 December 1915.
Kingdom of Romania
Equal status with the main Entente Powers was one of the primary conditions for Romania's entry into the War. The Powers officially recognised this status through the
1916 Treaty of Bucharest. Romania fought on three of the four European Fronts:
Eastern
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
* Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
* Eastern Air ...
,
Balkan
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the wh ...
and
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional It ...
, fielding in total over 1,200,000 troops.
Romanian military industry was mainly focused on converting various fortification guns into field and anti-aircraft artillery. Up to 334 German 53 mm
Fahrpanzer
The Fahrpanzer was a mobile artillery piece made prior to World War I in Germany, implemented in several German fortifications from 1890 onwards and exported to several foreign military powers prior to the outbreak of hostilities.
Specificatio ...
guns, 93 French 57 mm Hotchkiss guns, 66 Krupp 150 mm guns, and dozens more 210 mm guns were mounted on Romanian-built
carriages
A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping a ...
and transformed into mobile field artillery, with 45 Krupp 75 mm guns and 132 Hotchkiss 57 mm guns being transformed into anti-aircraft artillery. The Romanians also
upgraded 120 German Krupp 105 mm howitzers, the result being the most effective field howitzer in Europe at that time. Romania even managed to design and build from scratch its own model of mortar, the 250 mm Negrei Model 1916.
Other Romanian technological assets include the building of
Vlaicu III, the world's first aircraft made of metal. The Romanian Navy possessed the largest warships on the Danube. They were a class of four river monitors, built locally at the
Galați shipyard using parts manufactured in Austria-Hungary. The first one launched was ''Lascăr Catargiu'', in 1907. The Romanian monitors displaced almost 700 tons, were armed with three 120 mm naval guns in three turrets, two 120 mm naval howitzers, four 47 mm anti-aircraft guns and two 6.5 machine guns. The monitors took part in the
Battle of Turtucaia
The Battle of Turtucaia ( ro, Bătălia de la Turtucaia; bg, Битка при Тутракан, ''Bitka pri Tutrakan''), also known as Tutrakan Epopee ( bg, Тутраканска епопея, ''Tutrakanska epopeya'') in Bulgaria, was the openi ...
and the
First Battle of Cobadin
The First Battle of Cobadin, also known as the First Battle of the Rasova–Cobadin–Tuzla Line, was a battle fought from 17 to 19 of September 1916 between the Bulgarian Third Army and the Romanian–Russian Army of the Dobruja. The battle end ...
. The Romanian-designed Schneider 150 mm Model 1912 howitzer was considered one of the most modern field guns on the Western Front.
Romania's entry into the War in August 1916 provoked major changes for the Germans. General
Erich von Falkenhayn
General Erich Georg Sebastian Anton von Falkenhayn (11 September 1861 – 8 April 1922) was the second Chief of the German General Staff of the First World War from September 1914 until 29 August 1916. He was removed on 29 August 1916 after ...
was dismissed and sent to command the Central Powers forces in Romania, which enabled
Hindenburg's subsequent ascension to power. Due to having to fight against all of the Central Powers on the longest front in Europe (1,600 km) and with little foreign help (only 50,000 Russians aided 650,000 Romanians in 1916),
the Romanian capital was conquered that December. Vlaicu III was also captured and shipped to Germany, being last seen in 1942. The Romanian administration established a new capital at
Iași and continued to fight on the Allied side in 1917. Despite being relatively short, the Romanian campaign of 1916 provided considerable respite for the Western Allies, as the Germans ceased all their other offensive operations in order to deal with Romania. After suffering a tactical defeat against the Romanians (aided by Russians) in July 1917 at
Mărăști, the Central Powers launched two counterattacks, at
Mărășești
Mărășești () is a small town in Vrancea County, Western Moldavia, Romania. It administers six villages: Călimănești, Haret, Modruzeni, Pădureni, Siretu and Tișița.
Geography
The town is located in the eastern part of the county, on the ...
and
Oituz. The German offensive at Mărășești was soundly defeated, with German prisoners later telling their Romanian captors that German casualties were extremely heavy, and that they "had not encountered such stiff resistance since the battles of Somme and Verdun". The Austro-Hungarian offensive at Oituz also failed. On 22 September, the Austro-Hungarian
''Enns''-class river monitor
SMS ''Inn'' was sunk by a Romanian mine near Brăila. After Russia signed the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russia and the Central Powers ( Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire), that ended Russi ...
and dropped out of the War, Romania was left surrounded by the Central Powers and eventually signed a
similar treaty on 7 May 1918. Despite being forced to cede land to Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria, Romania ended up with a net gain in territory due to the
Union with Bessarabia. On 10 November, Romania re-entered the War and fought a
war with Hungary that lasted until August 1919.
Republic of the United States of Brazil
Brazil entered the war in 1917 after the United States intervened on the basis of Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare sinking its merchant ships, which Brazil also cited as a reason to enter the war fighting against Germany and the Central Powers. The
First Brazilian Republic sent the Naval Division in War Operations that joined the British fleet in
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song = "Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gibra ...
and made the first Brazilian naval effort in international waters. In compliance with the commitments made at the
Inter-American Conference
The Conferences of American States, commonly referred to as the Pan-American Conferences, were meetings of the Pan-American Union, an international organization for cooperation on trade. James G. Blaine, a United States politician, Secretary o ...
, held in Paris from 20 November to 3 December 1917, the Brazilian Government sent a medical mission composed of civilian and military surgeons to work in field hospitals of the European theatre, a contingent of sergeants and officers to serve with the
French army; Airmen from the Army and Navy to join the
Royal Air Force, and the employment of part of the Fleet, primarily in the anti-submarine war.
Co-belligerents: the United States
The
United States declared war on Germany in April 1917 on the grounds that Germany violated US neutrality by attacking international shipping with its
unrestricted submarine warfare campaign.
The remotely connected
Zimmermann Telegram of the same period, within which the Germans promised to help Mexico regain some of its territory
lost to the U.S nearly seven decades before in the event of the United States entering the war, was
also a contributing factor.
The US entered the war as an "associated power", rather than a formal ally of
France and the
United Kingdom, in order to avoid "foreign entanglements".
[Tucker&Roberts pp. 1232, 1264, 1559] Although the
Ottoman Empire and
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Maced ...
severed relations with the United States, neither declared war,
[Tucker&Roberts p. 1559] nor did
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1 ...
. Eventually, however, the United States also
declared war on Austria-Hungary in December 1917, predominantly to help hard-pressed Italy.
Non-state combatants
Three non-state combatants, which voluntarily fought with the Allies and seceded from the constituent states of the Central Powers at the end of the war, were allowed to participate as winning nations to the peace treaties:
*
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
irregulars
Irregular military is any non-standard military component that is distinct from a country's national armed forces. Being defined by exclusion, there is significant variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military orga ...
and
volunteers
Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
: seceded from the Russian Empire in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution and fought against the Ottoman Empire.
*
Assyrian volunteers
The Assyrian volunteers was an ethnic Assyrian military force during WW1, led mainly by General Agha Petros Elia of Baz and several tribal leaders known as Maliks ( syr, ܡܠܟ) under the spiritual leadership of the Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Shi ...
under
Mar Shimun XIX Benyamin
Mar Shimun XIX Benyamin (1887– 3 March 1918) ( syr, ܡܪܝ ܒܢܝܡܝܢ ܫܡܥܘܢ ܥܣܪܝܢ ܘܩܕܡܝܐ) served as the 117th Catholicos-Patriarch of the Church of the East.
Life
He was born in 1887 in the village of Qochanis in the Hak ...
and the
Assyrian
Assyrian may refer to:
* Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia.
* Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
** Early Assyrian Period
** Old Assyrian Period
** Middle Assyrian Empire
** Neo-Assyrian Empire
* Assyri ...
tribal chiefs decided to side with the Allies, first with Russia, and next with the British, in the hope that they might secure after the victory, self-government for the Assyrians. The French also joined the alliance with the Assyrians, offering them 20,000 rifles, and the Assyrian army grew to 20,000 men co-led by
Agha Petros
Petros Elia of Baz ( syr, ܐܝܠܝܐ ܦܹܛܪܘܼܣ) (April 1880 – 2 February 1932), better known as Agha Petros, was an Assyrian military leader during World War I.
Early years
Petros Elia was from the Lower Baz village, Ottoman Empire in ...
of the Bit-
Bazi tribe, and
Malik Khoshaba
Malik Khoshaba Yousip ( syr, ܡܠܟ ܚܕܒܫܒܐ ܝܘܣܦ) was an Assyrian tribal leader (or "malik") of the Tyari tribe (''Bit Tyareh'') who played a significant role in the Assyrian independence movement during World War I.
Early life
Malik K ...
of the Bit-
Tiyari
Tyari ( syr, ܛܝܵܪܹܐ, Ṭyārē) is an Assyrian tribe and a historical district within Hakkari, Turkey. The area was traditionally divided into Upper (''Tyari Letha'') and Lower Tyari (''Tyari Khtetha'')–each consisting of several Assyrian ...
tribe
[Paul Bartrop, Encountering Genocide: Personal Accounts from Victims, Perpetrators, and Witnesses, ABC-CLIO, 2014]
*
Polish Legions
*
Czechoslovak Legion
, image = Coat of arms of the Czechoslovak Legion.svg
, image_size = 200px
, alt =
, caption = Czechoslovak Legion coat of arms
, start_date ...
s: armed by
France,
Italy and Russia
Additionally, there were also several
Kurdish rebellions during World War I. Most of these, except for the uprisings of August 1917, were not supported by any of the Allied powers.
Leaders
Serbia
*
Peter I Peter I may refer to:
Religious hierarchs
* Saint Peter (c. 1 AD – c. 64–88 AD), a.k.a. Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simon, apostle of Jesus
* Pope Peter I of Alexandria (died 311), revered as a saint
* Peter I of Armenia (died 1058), Catholicos ...
–
King of Serbia
This is an archontological list of Serbian monarchs, containing monarchs of the medieval principalities, to heads of state of modern Serbia.
The Serbian monarchy dates back to the Early Middle Ages. The Serbian royal titles used include Kny ...
*
Crown Prince Alexander –
Regent, Commander-in-Chief
*
Nikola Pašić
Nikola Pašić ( sr-Cyrl, Никола Пашић, ; 18 December 1845 – 10 December 1926) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and diplomat who was a leading political figure for almost 40 years. He was the leader of the People's Radical ...
–
Prime Minister of Serbia
The prime minister of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, премијерка Србије, premijerka Srbije; masculine: премијер/premijer), officially the president of the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, председница Влад ...
*
Field Marshal Radomir Putnik
Radomir Putnik ( sr, Радомир Путник; ; 24 January 1847 – 17 May 1917) was the first Serbian Field Marshal and Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian army in the Balkan Wars and in the First World War. He served in every war in ...
–
Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff.
List
* Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (United States)
* Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia)
* Chief of General Staff (Af ...
of the
Serbian Army (1914–1915)
* General/
Field Marshal Živojin Mišić
Field Marshal Živojin Mišić ( sr-cyrl, Живојин Мишић; 19 July 1855 in Struganik – 20 January 1921 in Belgrade) was a Field Marshal who participated in all of Serbia's wars from 1876 to 1918. He directly commanded the First Se ...
– Deputy Chief of General Staff (1914), Commander of
First Army (1914–1915; 1917), later Chief of General Staff (1918)
* General/
Field Marshal Petar Bojović
Petar Bojović (, ; 16 July 1858 – 19 January 1945) was a Serbian military commander who fought in the Serbo-Turkish War, the Serbo-Bulgarian War, the First Balkan War, the Second Balkan War, World War I and World War II. Following the ...
– Commander of
First Army (1914), Deputy Chief of General Staff (1915–1916), Chief of General Staff (1916–1917) later Commander of First Army (1918)
* General/
Field Marshal Stepa Stepanović
Stepan "Stepa" Stepanović ( sr-cyr, Степан Степа Степановић, ; – 29 April 1929) was a Serbian military commander who fought in the Serbo-Turkish War, the Serbo-Bulgarian War, the First Balkan War, the Second Balk ...
– Commander of
Second Army (1914–1918)
* General
Pavle Jurišić Šturm
Pavle Jurišić Šturm KCMG ( sr-cyr, Павле Јуришић Штурм; 8 August 1848 – 13 January 1922), born Paulus Eugen Sturm, was a Serbian general of Sorbian origin, best known for commanding the Serbian 3rd Army in World War I ...
– Commander of
Third Army (1914–1916)
* Colonel –
Minister of War (1914)
* Colonel – Minister of War (1914–1915)
* Colonel/General – Minister of War (1915–1918)
* General
Mihailo Rašić
Mihailo Rašić (Aleksinac, Principality of Serbia, 13 June 1858 - Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbia, 17 February 1932) was a Serbian military leader. He served as Royal Yugoslav Army general and Minister of War of the Kingdom of Serbia in World War I. ...
– Minister of War (1918)
* Colonel/General
Miloš Vasić – Commander of
First Army (1916; 1917), Commander of
Third Army (1916)
Montenegro
*
Nicholas I –
King of Montenegro, Commander-in-Chief
* General
Serdar Serdar may refer to
* Serdar (given name)
* Serdar (surname)
* SERDAR, a stabilized remote-controlled Ukrainian weapon station
* Serdar (city) in Turkmenistan, the capital of Serdar District
* Serdar (Ottoman rank), a military and noble rank of t ...
Janko Vukotić
Janko Vukotić ( sr-cyr, Јанко Вукотић; 18 February 1866 – 4 February 1927) was a Montenegrin serdar, general in the armies of the Principality and Kingdom of Montenegro in the Balkan Wars and World War I.
Biography
Vukotić was ...
–
Prime Minister, Commander of 1st Montenegrin Army
* General
Božidar Janković
Božidar Janković ( sr-Cyrl, Божидар Јанковић; 7 December 1849 – 7 July 1920) was a Serbian army general commander of the Serbian Third Army during the First Balkan War between the Balkan League and the Ottoman Empire. In 1901 h ...
– Chief of the General Staff of the Montenegrin Army (1914–1915)
* Colonel
Petar Pešić
Petar Pešić was a Serbian general and a Sardar of the Kingdom of Montenegro. During his military career, he was the Minister of War, the Chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and a senator.
Early career
He was bor ...
– Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Montenegrin Army (1914–1915), later Chief of the General Staff of the Montenegrin Army (1915–1916)
*
Crown Prince Danilo II Petrović-Njegoš – In the staff of the 1st Montenegrin Army
*
Brigadier
Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...
Krsto Popović – In the staff of the 1st Montenegrin Army,
Aide-de-camp to
Serdar Serdar may refer to
* Serdar (given name)
* Serdar (surname)
* SERDAR, a stabilized remote-controlled Ukrainian weapon station
* Serdar (city) in Turkmenistan, the capital of Serdar District
* Serdar (Ottoman rank), a military and noble rank of t ...
Janko Vukotić
Janko Vukotić ( sr-cyr, Јанко Вукотић; 18 February 1866 – 4 February 1927) was a Montenegrin serdar, general in the armies of the Principality and Kingdom of Montenegro in the Balkan Wars and World War I.
Biography
Vukotić was ...
* General
Anto Gvozdenović
Anto Gvozdenović (Serbian Cyrillic: Анто Гвозденовић; 26 January 1853 – 2 September 1935) was a Montenegrin, Russian, and French general, a member of the Imperial Russian Privy Council, and a diplomat and statesman. – King's
Aide-de-camp
* General
Mitar Martinović – Commander of several detachments in the Montenegrin army (Drina and Herzegovina detachments together in 1914–1915, Kotor detachment in 1916)
Russia (1914–1917)
*
Nicholas II –
Russian Emperor
The emperor or empress of all the Russias or All Russia, ''Imperator Vserossiyskiy'', ''Imperatritsa Vserossiyskaya'' (often titled Tsar or Tsarina/Tsaritsa) was the monarch of the Russian Empire.
The title originated in connection with Russi ...
,
King of Poland, and
Grand Prince of Finland (until 15 March 1917)
*
Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich – Commander-in-chief (1 August 1914 – 5 September 1916) and viceroy in the
Caucasus
*
Ivan Goremykin
Ivan Logginovich Goremykin (russian: Ива́н Лóггинович Горемы́кин, Iván Lógginovich Goremýkin) (8 November 183924 December 1917) was a Russian politician who served as the Prime Minister of Russia, prime minister of th ...
–
Chairmen of Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire (1 August 1914 – 2 February 1916)
*
Boris Stürmer
Baron Boris Vladimirovich Shturmer (russian: Бори́с Влади́мирович Штю́рмер) (27 July 1848 – 9 September 1917) was a Russian lawyer, a Master of Ceremonies at the Russian Court, and a district governor. He became a ...
–
Chairmen of Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire (2 February 1916 – 23 November 1916)
*
Alexander Trepov
Alexander Fyodorovich Trepov (; 30 September 1862, Kiev – 10 November 1928, Nice) was the Prime Minister of the Russian Empire from 23 November 1916 until 9 January 1917. He was conservative, a monarchist, a member of the Russian Assembly, a ...
–
Chairmen of Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire (23 November 1916 – 27 December 1916)
*
Nikolai Golitsyn
Prince Nikolai Dmitriyevich Golitsyn (russian: Никола́й Дми́триевич Голи́цын; 12 April 1850 – 2 July 1925) was a Russian aristocrat, monarchist and the last prime minister of Imperial Russia. He was in office from 2 ...
–
Chairmen of Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire (27 December 1916 – 9 January 1917)
*
General of the Cavalry General of the Cavalry (german: General der Kavallerie) was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers ...
Alexander Samsonov
Aleksandr Vasilyevich Samsonov (russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Самсо́нов, tr. ; ) was a career officer in the cavalry of the Imperial Russian Army and a general during the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. He ...
– Commander of the
Russian Second Army
The Russian 2nd Army (2-я армия, ''2А'') was an army-level command of the Imperial Russian Army in World War I. It was formed just prior to the outbreak of hostilities from the units of Warsaw Military District and was mobilized in August 1 ...
for the invasion of
East Prussia (1 August 1914 – 29 August 1914)
*
General of the Cavalry General of the Cavalry (german: General der Kavallerie) was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers ...
Paul von Rennenkampf – Commander of the
Russian First Army
The 1st Army (russian: 1-я армия, translit=1А) was an army-level command of the Russian Imperial Army created during World War I. The First Army, commanded by General Paul von Rennenkampf, invaded East Prussia at the outbreak of war in 1 ...
for the invasion of East Prussia (1 August 1914 – November 1914)
*
General of the Artillery General of the Artillery is/was a general officer of artillery, and may be:
*General of the Artillery (Germany) and Austria-Hungary
*General of the Artillery (Imperial Russia)
* General of the Artillery (Poland)
*Feldzeugmeister (OF-8) of the Austri ...
Nikolay Ivanov – Commander of the
Russian army
The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces.
The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces ...
on the Southwestern Front, (1 August 1914 – March 1916) responsible for much of the action in
Galicia
*
General Adjutant Aleksei Brusilov
Aleksei Alekseyevich Brusilov ( rus, Алексе́й Алексе́евич Бруси́лов, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪdʑ brʊˈsʲiɫəf; – 17 March 1926) was a Russian and later Soviet general most noted for the developme ...
– Commander of the South-West Front, then provisional
Commander-in-Chief after the Tsar's abdication (February 1917 – August 1917)
*
General of the Infantry Lavr Georgievich Kornilov – Commander of the South-West Front, then Commander-in-Chief (August 1917)
*
General of the Infantry Aleksey Kuropatkin
Aleksey Nikolayevich Kuropatkin (russian: Алексе́й Никола́евич Куропа́ткин; March 29, 1848January 16, 1925) served as the Russian Imperial Minister of War from January 1898 to February 1904 and as a field command ...
– Commander of the Northern Front (October 1915 – 1917)
*
General of the Infantry Nikolai Yudenich
Nikolai Nikolayevich Yudenich ( – 5 October 1933) was a commander of the Russian Imperial Army during World War I. He was a leader of the anti-communist White movement in Northwestern Russia during the Civil War.
Biography
Early life
Yude ...
– Commander of the Caucasus (January 1915 – May 1917)
*
Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
Andrei Eberhardt
Andrei Avgustovich Ebergard (russian: Андрей Августович Эбергард; 9 November 1856 – 19 April 1919), better known as Andrei Eberhardt, was an admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy of German ancestry.
Biography
Eberhardt w ...
– Commander of Black Sea Fleet (1914–16)
*
Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
Alexander Kolchak
Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (russian: link=no, Александр Васильевич Колчак; – 7 February 1920) was an Imperial Russian admiral, military leader and polar explorer who served in the Imperial Russian Navy and fought ...
– Commander of Black Sea Fleet (1916–17)
*
Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
Nikolai Essen
Nikolai Ottovich von Essen (russian: Никола́й О́ттович Э́ссен, Romanization of Russian, tr. ; – ) was a Russian Empire, Russian naval commander and admiral descended from the Baltic nobility, Baltic German noble Essen f ...
– Commander of Baltic Fleet (1913 – May 1915)
Belgium
*
Albert I of Belgium
Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934.
Born in Brussels as the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Si ...
–
King of the Belgians (23 December 1909 – 17 February 1934) and Commander-in-chief of the Belgian army
*
Charles de Broqueville
Charles Marie Pierre Albert, 1st Count de Broqueville (4 December 1860 – 5 September 1940) was the prime minister of Belgium, serving during World War I.
Before 1914
Charles de Broqueville was born into an old noble family with its roots in ...
–
Prime Minister (1912–1918); replaced by
Gérard Cooreman
Gérard (Gerard) François Marie Cooreman (25 March 1852 – 2 December 1926) was a Belgian Catholic Party politician.
Born in Ghent, Cooreman was trained in law, and practised as a lawyer, but was more active as a businessman and financier, ...
in June 1918 shortly before the end of the war.
*
Félix Wielemans
Lieutenant-General Félix Maximilien Eugène Wielemans (10 January 1863 – 5 January 1917) was the Chief of Staff of the Belgian Army during the First World War.
After serving as the Chief of the Military Cabinet to the War Office under Charles ...
– Chief of Staff of the Belgian Army
*
Gérard Leman
Gerard Mathieu Joseph Georges, count Leman (8 January 1851 – 17 October 1920) was a Belgian general. He was responsible for the military education of King Albert I of Belgium. During World War I he was the commander of the forts surrounding ...
– general commanding the
defense of Liège
*
Charles Tombeur
Lieutenant General Charles Tombeur, 1st Baron of Tabora (4 May 1867 – 2 December 1947) was a Belgian military officer and colonial civil servant. As well as holding several major administrative positions in the Belgian Congo, he is particularl ...
– commander of the colonial ''
Force Publique
The ''Force Publique'' (, "Public Force"; nl, Openbare Weermacht) was a gendarmerie and military force in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1885 (when the territory was known as the Congo Free State), through the period of Be ...
'' in the
East African theatre
France
*
Raymond Poincaré
Raymond Nicolas Landry Poincaré (, ; 20 August 1860 – 15 October 1934) was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1913 to 1920, and three times as Prime Minister of France.
Trained in law, Poincaré was elected deputy in 1 ...
–
President of France
*
René Viviani
Jean Raphaël Adrien René Viviani (; 8 November 18637 September 1925) was a French politician of the Third Republic, who served as Prime Minister for the first year of World War I. He was born in Sidi Bel Abbès, in French Algeria. In France ...
–
Prime Minister of France (13 June 1914 – 29 October 1915)
*
Aristide Briand
Aristide Pierre Henri Briand (; 28 March 18627 March 1932) was a French statesman who served eleven terms as Prime Minister of France during the French Third Republic. He is mainly remembered for his focus on international issues and reconcili ...
– Prime Minister of France (29 October 1915 – 20 March 1917)
*
Alexandre Ribot
Alexandre-Félix-Joseph Ribot (; 7 February 184213 January 1923) was a French politician, four times Prime Minister.
Early career
Ribot was born in Saint-Omer, Pas-de-Calais. After a brilliant academic career at the University of Paris, where he ...
– Prime Minister of France (20 March 1917 – 12 September 1917)
*
Paul Painlevé
Paul Painlevé (; 5 December 1863 – 29 October 1933) was a French mathematician and statesman. He served twice as Prime Minister of the Third Republic: 12 September – 13 November 1917 and 17 April – 22 November 1925. His entry into politic ...
– Prime Minister of France (12 September 1917 – 16 November 1917)
*
Georges Clemenceau – Prime Minister of France (from 16 November 1917)
*
Divisional General/
Marshal Joseph Joffre
Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre (12 January 1852 – 3 January 1931) was a French general who served as Commander-in-Chief of French forces on the Western Front from the start of World War I until the end of 1916. He is best known for regroup ...
– Commander-in-Chief of the
French Army (3 August 1914 – 13 December 1916)
*
Divisional General Robert Nivelle
Robert Georges Nivelle (15 October 1856 – 22 March 1924) was a French artillery general officer who served in the Boxer Rebellion and the First World War. In May 1916, he succeeded Philippe Pétain as commander of the French Second Army in t ...
– Commander-in-Chief of the French Army (13 December 1916 – April 1917)
*
Divisional General/
Marshal Philippe Pétain – Commander-in-Chief of the French Army (April 1917 – 11 November 1918)
*
Divisional General/
Marshal Ferdinand Foch – Supreme Allied Commander (26 March 1918 – 11 November 1918)
*
Divisional General Maurice Sarrail
Maurice Paul Emmanuel Sarrail (6 April 1856 – 23 March 1929) was a French general of the First World War. Sarrail's openly socialist political connections made him a rarity amongst the Catholics, conservatives and monarchists who dominated t ...
– Commander of the Allied armies at
Salonika front
The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of German ...
(1915–1917)
*
Army General
Army general is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System.
In countries that adopt the general officer four rank system, it is rank of general commanding an army in the field, but in coun ...
Adolphe Guillaumat
Marie Louis Adolphe Guillaumat (4 January 1863 – 18 May 1940) was a French Army general during World War I.
Early years
Adolphe Guillaumat was born in Bourgneuf, Charente-Maritime. He graduated first from his class of 1884 at the Saint-Cyr ...
– Commander of the Allied armies at Salonika front (1917–1918)
*
Divisional General/
Marshal Louis Franchet d'Espèrey – Commander of the Allied armies at Salonika front (1918)
*
Brigadier General
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to ...
Milan Rastislav Štefánik
Milan Rastislav Štefánik (; 21 July 1880 – 4 May 1919) was a Slovak politician, diplomat, aviator and astronomer. During World War I, he served at the same time as a general in the French Army and as Minister of War for Czechoslovakia. ...
– General of French Army, Commander of Czechoslovak Legions
Britain and the British Empire
United Kingdom
*
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Quee ...
–
King of the United Kingdom, and the British Dominions,
Emperor of India
Emperor or Empress of India was a title used by British monarchs from 1 May 1876 (with the Royal Titles Act 1876) to 22 June 1948, that was used to signify their rule over British India, as its imperial head of state. Royal Proclamation of 22 ...
*
H. H. Asquith –
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (until 5 December 1916)
*
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...
– Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (from 7 December 1916)
*
Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener –
Secretary of State for War
The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office a ...
(5 August 1914 – 5 June 1916)
*
Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby – Secretary of State for War (1916– )
*
General William Robertson –
Chief of the Imperial General Staff
The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board. Prior to 1964, the title was Chief of the Imperial G ...
(23 December 1915 – February 1918)
* General
Henry Wilson
Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was an American politician who was the 18th vice president of the United States from 1873 until his death in 1875 and a senator from Massachusetts from 1855 ...
– Chief of the Imperial General Staff (February 1918 – February 1922)
*
Field Marshal John French – Commander-in-Chief of the
British Expeditionary Force (4 August 1914 – 15 December 1915)
* General /
Field Marshal Douglas Haig – Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force (15 December 1915 – 11 November 1918)
* General
Sir David Henderson – Director-General of Military Aeronautics
* General
Hugh Trenchard
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard, (3 February 1873 – 10 February 1956) was a British officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force. He has been described as the "Father of the ...
– Commander of
Royal Flying Corps – (August 1915 – January 1918) and
Chief of the Air Staff of the combined
Royal Air Force – 1 April 1918 – 13 April 1918
*
Brigadier General
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to ...
Sir
Frederick Sykes
Air Vice Marshal Sir Frederick Hugh Sykes, (23 July 1877 – 30 September 1954) was a British military officer and politician.
Sykes was a junior officer in the 15th Hussars before becoming interested in military aviation. He was the first Of ...
–
Chief of the Air Staff – 13 April 1918 through 11 November 1918 (post-war to 31 March 1919)
*
Winston Churchill –
First Lord of the Admiralty
The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...
– (1911 – May 1915)
*
Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, (, ; 25 July 184819 March 1930), also known as Lord Balfour, was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As foreign secretary in the L ...
- First Lord of the Admiralty – (May 1915 – December 1916)
*
Edward Carson – First Lord of the Admiralty – (10 December 1916 – 17 July 1917)
*
Eric Geddes
Sir Eric Campbell Geddes (26 September 1875 – 22 June 1937) was a British businessman and Conservative politician. With a background in railways, he served as head of Military Transportation on the Western Front, with the rank of major-ge ...
– First Lord of the Admiralty – (July 1917 – January 1919)
*
Admiral of the Fleet John "Jackie" Fisher –
First Sea Lord – (1914 – May 1915)
*
Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
Henry Jackson – First Sea Lord – (May 1915 – November 1916)
* Admiral
John Jellicoe
Admiral of the Fleet John Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, (5 December 1859 – 20 November 1935) was a Royal Navy officer. He fought in the Anglo-Egyptian War and the Boxer Rebellion and commanded the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland ...
– Commander of the
Grand Fleet (August 1914 – November 1916); First Sea Lord (November 1916 – December 1917)
* Admiral
Rosslyn Wemyss
Admiral of the Fleet Rosslyn Erskine Wemyss, 1st Baron Wester Wemyss, (12 April 1864 – 24 May 1933), known as Sir Rosslyn Wemyss between 1916 and 1919, was a Royal Navy officer. During the First World War he served as commander of the 12th C ...
– First Sea Lord (December 1917 – November 1919)
* Admiral
David Beatty – Commander of the Grand Fleet (November 1916 – April 1919)
* General
Archibald Murray
General Sir Archibald James Murray, (23 April 1860 – 21 January 1945) was a British Army officer who served in the Second Boer War and the First World War. He was Chief of Staff to the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in August 1914 but ap ...
– Commander of the
Egyptian Expeditionary Force
The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–15), at the beginning o ...
(January 1916 – June 1917)
* General
Edmund Allenby
Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, (23 April 1861 – 14 May 1936) was a senior British Army officer and Imperial Governor. He fought in the Second Boer War and also in the First World War, in which he led th ...
– Commander of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (June 1917 – November 1918)
*
Eric John Eagles Swayne
Sir Eric John Eagles Swayne (14 May 1863 – 9 September 1929) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. He served in British Somaliland, where he was appointed Commissioner, and as Governor of British Honduras, now Belize.
Early ...
– Commander of the British forces in the
Somaliland Campaign
*
William Peyton
General Sir William Eliot Peyton, (7 May 1866 – 14 November 1931) was a British Army officer who served as Military Secretary to the British Expeditionary Force from 1916 to 1918. He was Delhi Herald of Arms Extraordinary at the time of th ...
– commander and military secretary to the British Expeditionary Force
* Colonel
T. E. Lawrence
Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...
- A main leader of the
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية, ) or the Great Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية الكبرى, ) was a military uprising of Arab forces against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On t ...
Dominion of Canada
*
Robert Borden –
Prime Minister of Canada (1914–18)
*
Sam Hughes
Sir Samuel Hughes, (January 8, 1853 – August 23, 1921) was the Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence during World War I. He was notable for being the last Liberal-Conservative cabinet minister, until he was dismissed from his cabinet pos ...
–
Minister of Militia and Defence
The Minister of Militia and Defence was the federal government minister in charge of the volunteer army units in Canada, the Canadian Militia.
From 1855 to 1906, the minister was responsible for Canada, Canadian militia units only, as the British ...
(1914 – January 1915)
*
Joseph Flavelle – Chairman of
Imperial Munitions Board
The Imperial Munitions Board (IMB) was the Canadian branch of the British Ministry of Munitions, set up in Canada under the chairmanship of Joseph Wesley Flavelle. It was formed by the British War Cabinet to alleviate the Shell Crisis of 1915 du ...
(1915–19)
*
Lieutenant-General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
Edwin Alderson
Lieutenant General Sir Edwin Alfred Hervey Alderson, KCB (8 April 1859 – 14 December 1927) was a senior British Army officer who served in several campaigns of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. From 1915 to 1916 during the F ...
– Commander of the unified
Canadian Corps
The Canadian Corps was a World War I corps formed from the Canadian Expeditionary Force in September 1915 after the arrival of the 2nd Canadian Division in France. The corps was expanded by the addition of the 3rd Canadian Division in December ...
of the
Canadian Expeditionary Force
The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 15 August 1914, with an initial strength of one infantry divis ...
(26 January 1915 – September 1915)
*
General Julian Byng – Commander of the unified
Canadian Corps
The Canadian Corps was a World War I corps formed from the Canadian Expeditionary Force in September 1915 after the arrival of the 2nd Canadian Division in France. The corps was expanded by the addition of the 3rd Canadian Division in December ...
of the
Canadian Expeditionary Force
The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 15 August 1914, with an initial strength of one infantry divis ...
(June 1916 – June 1917)
*
General Arthur Currie
General Sir Arthur William Currie, (5 December 187530 November 1933) was a senior officer of the Canadian Army who fought during World War I. He had the unique distinction of starting his military career on the very bottom rung as a pre-war ...
– Commander of the unified
Canadian Corps
The Canadian Corps was a World War I corps formed from the Canadian Expeditionary Force in September 1915 after the arrival of the 2nd Canadian Division in France. The corps was expanded by the addition of the 3rd Canadian Division in December ...
of the
Canadian Expeditionary Force
The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 15 August 1914, with an initial strength of one infantry divis ...
(June 1917 – August 1919)
[first Canadian to attain the rank of full general]
Commonwealth of Australia
*
Joseph Cook
Sir Joseph Cook, (7 December 1860 – 30 July 1947) was an Australian politician who served as the sixth Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1913 to 1914. He was the leader of the Liberal Party from 1913 to 1917, after earlier servin ...
–
Prime Minister of Australia (until 17 September 1914)
*
Andrew Fisher
Andrew Fisher (29 August 186222 October 1928) was an Australian politician who served three terms as prime minister of Australia – from 1908 to 1909, from 1910 to 1913, and from 1914 to 1915. He was the leader of the Australian Labor Part ...
– Prime Minister of Australia (17 September 1914 – 27 October 1915)
*
Billy Hughes
William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia, in office from 1915 to 1923. He is best known for leading the country Military history of Austra ...
– Prime Minister of Australia (from 27 October 1915)
*
General William Birdwood
Field Marshal William Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, (13 September 1865 – 17 May 1951) was a British Army officer. He saw active service in the Second Boer War on the staff of Lord Kitchener. He saw action again in the First World War ...
– Commander of the
Australian Corps
The Australian Corps was a World War I army corps that contained all five Australian infantry divisions serving on the Western Front. It was the largest corps fielded by the British Empire in France. At its peak the Australian Corps numbered 10 ...
(all five Australian infantry divisions serving on the Western Front) (November 1917 – May 1918)
*
Lieutenant General Sir
John Monash
General Sir John Monash, (; 27 June 1865 – 8 October 1931) was an Australian civil engineer and military commander of the First World War. He commanded the 13th Infantry Brigade before the war and then, shortly after its outbreak, became c ...
– Commander of the
Australian Corps
The Australian Corps was a World War I army corps that contained all five Australian infantry divisions serving on the Western Front. It was the largest corps fielded by the British Empire in France. At its peak the Australian Corps numbered 10 ...
(May 1918 –)
*
Major General William Holmes – Commander of the
Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force
The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) was a small volunteer force of approximately 2,000 men, raised in Australia shortly after the outbreak of World War I to seize and destroy German wireless stations in German New Gui ...
(August 1914 – February 1915)
*
Lieutenant General Sir
Harry Chauvel
General Sir Henry George Chauvel, (16 April 1865 – 4 March 1945) was a senior officer of the Australian Imperial Force who fought at Gallipoli and during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of the First World War ...
– Commander of
Desert Mounted Corps
The Desert Mounted Corps was an army corps of the British Army during the First World War, of three mounted divisions renamed in August 1917 by General Edmund Allenby, from Desert Column. These divisions which served in the Sinai and Palestin ...
(Sinai and Palestine) (August 1917 –)
British India
*
Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst
Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst, (20 June 1858 – 2 August 1944) was a British diplomat and statesman who served as Viceroy and Governor-General of India from 1910 to 1916.
Background and education
Hardinge was the second ...
–
Viceroy of India 1910–1916
*
Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford
Frederic John Napier Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford, (12 August 1868 – 1 April 1933) was a British statesman. He served as Governor of Queensland from 1905 to 1909, Governor of New South Wales from 1909 to 1913, and Viceroy of India from 1 ...
– Viceroy of India 1916–1921
*
Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe
Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe, (12 January 185820 June 1945), known as The Honourable Robert Milnes from 1863 to 1885, The Lord Houghton from 1885 to 1895 and as The Earl of Crewe from 1895 to 1911, was a British L ...
–
Secretary of State for India
His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...
(May 1911 – May 1915)
*
Austen Chamberlain
Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain (16 October 1863 – 16 March 1937) was a British statesman, son of Joseph Chamberlain and older half-brother of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer (twice) and was briefly ...
–
Secretary of State for India
His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...
(May 1915 – July 1917)
*
Edwin Samuel Montagu
Edwin Samuel Montagu PC (6 February 1879 – 15 November 1924) was a British Liberal politician who served as Secretary of State for India between 1917 and 1922. Montagu was a "radical" Liberal and the third practising Jew (after Sir Herbe ...
–
Secretary of State for India
His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...
(July 1917 – March 1922)
*
Beauchamp Duff
General Sir Beauchamp Duff, (17 February 1855 – 20 January 1918) was a Scottish officer with a distinguished career in the British Indian Army. He served as Commander-in-Chief of India during the First World War. His role in the disastrous ex ...
–
Commander-in-Chief, India (March 1914 – October 1916)
*
Charles Monro Charles Monro may refer to:
* Sir Charles Monro, 1st Baronet (1860–1929), Governor of Gibraltar
* Charles Monro (rugby union) (1851–1933), initiator of rugby union in New Zealand
* Charles Henry Monro (1835–1908), English author, jurist and be ...
–
Commander-in-Chief, India (October 1916 – November 1920)
*
Lieutenant-General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
John Nixon commander of the
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which cou ...
(active in the Middle East)
Union of South Africa
*
General Louis Botha –
Prime Minister of South Africa
*
General Jan Smuts – Led forces in
South-West Africa Campaign
The South West Africa campaign was the conquest and occupation of German South West Africa by forces from the Union of South Africa acting on behalf of the British imperial government at the beginning of the First World War.
Background
The ...
and
East African Campaign, later member of the
Imperial War Cabinet
Dominion of New Zealand
*
William Massey
William Ferguson Massey (26 March 1856 – 10 May 1925), commonly known as Bill Massey, was a politician who served as the 19th prime minister of New Zealand from May 1912 to May 1925. He was the founding leader of the Reform Party, New Ze ...
–
Prime Minister of New Zealand
*
General Sir
Alexander Godley
General Sir Alexander John Godley, (4 February 1867 – 6 March 1957) was a senior British Army officer. He is best known for his role as commander of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and II Anzac Corps during the First World War.
Born in G ...
– Commandant of New Zealand Military Forces (to October 1914); Commander of the
New Zealand Expeditionary Force
*
Major General Sir
Alfred William Robin
Major General Sir Alfred William Robin, (12 August 1860 – 2 June 1935) was a New Zealand military leader.
Born in Australia, Robin's family moved to New Zealand in 1861. A coachbuilder by trade, he was active in the local militia, before beco ...
– Quartermaster-General and Commandant of New Zealand Military Forces (from October 1914)
*
Major General Sir
Andrew Hamilton Russell
Major General Sir Andrew Hamilton Russell (23 February 1868 – 29 November 1960) was a senior officer of the New Zealand Military Forces who served during the First World War.
Born in Napier, New Zealand, Russell spent most of his youth in Engl ...
– Commander of the
New Zealand Division
Dominion of Newfoundland
*
Sir Edward Morris –
Prime Minister of Newfoundland
The premier of Newfoundland and Labrador is current title of the first minister for the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, which was at certain points in its history a colony, dominion, and province. The province had a system of resp ...
(1909–1917)
*
Sir John Crosbie – Prime Minister of Newfoundland (1917–1918)
*
Sir William Lloyd – Prime Minister of Newfoundland (1918–1919)
Japan
*
Emperor Taishō –
Emperor of Japan
The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the wi ...
*
Ōkuma Shigenobu
Marquess was a Japanese statesman and a prominent member of the Meiji oligarchy. He served as Prime Minister of the Empire of Japan in 1898 and from 1914 to 1916. Ōkuma was also an early advocate of Western science and culture in Japan, ...
–
Prime Minister of Japan
The prime minister of Japan ( Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...
(16 April 1914 – 9 October 1916)
*
Terauchi Masatake
Gensui Count Terauchi Masatake ( ja, 寺内 正毅), GCB (5 February 1852 – 3 November 1919), was a Japanese military officer, proconsul and politician. He was a '' Gensui'' (or Marshal) in the Imperial Japanese Army and the Prime Minister ...
– Prime minister of Japan (9 October 1916 – 29 September 1918)
*
Hara Takashi – Prime minister of Japan (29 September 1918 – 4 November 1921)
*
Katō Sadakichi
Baron was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War I. His brother, Katō Yasuhisa, was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, and his adoptive son was the biological son of Admiral Dewa Shigetō.
Biography
Katō was born ...
– Commander-in-chief of the
Second Fleet deployed to the
Siege of Tsingtao
The siege of Tsingtao (or Tsingtau) was the attack on the German port of Tsingtao (now Qingdao) in China during World War I by Japan and the United Kingdom. The siege was waged against Imperial Germany between 27 August and 7 November 1914. T ...
*
Kōzō Satō – Commander of the Second Special Task Fleet
*
Kamio Mitsuomi
was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army, who commanded the Allied land forces during the Siege of Tsingtao in World War I.
Biography
Kamio was the younger son of Kamio Heizaburō, a samurai retainer of the Suwa clan in Shinan ...
– Commander of Allied land forces
at Tsingtao
Italy (1915–1918)
*
Victor Emmanuel III –
King of Italy
King of Italy ( it, links=no, Re d'Italia; la, links=no, Rex Italiae) was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a barbarian military leader, ...
*
Antonio Salandra
Antonio Salandra (13 August 1853 – 9 December 1931) was a conservative Italian politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Italy between 1914 and 1916. He ensured the entry of Italy in World War I on the side of the Triple Entente (the ...
–
Prime Minister (until 18 June 1916)
*
Paolo Boselli
Paolo Boselli (8 June 1838 – 10 March 1932) was an Italian politician who served as the 34th prime minister of Italy during World War I.
Biography
Boselli was born in Savona, Liguria.
Boselli was the first professor of science at the Uni ...
–
Prime Minister (18 June 1916 – 29 October 1917)
*
Vittorio Emanuele Orlando –
Prime Minister (from 29 October 1917)
*
Luigi Cadorna
Marshal of Italy Luigi Cadorna, (4 September 1850 – 21 December 1928) was an Italian general, Marshal of Italy and Count most famous for being the Chief of Staff of the Italian Army from 1914-1917 of World War I.
Early career
Luigi Cado ...
– Commander-in-Chief of the
Royal Italian Army
*
Armando Diaz
Armando Diaz, 1st Duke della Vittoria, (5 December 1861 – 28 February 1928) was an Italian general and a Marshal of Italy. He is mostly known for his role as Chief of Staff of the Regio Esercito during World War I from November 1917. H ...
– Chief of General Staff of the Royal Italian army
*
Luigi, Duke of Abruzzi – Commander-in-Chief of the Adriatic Fleet of Italy (1914–17)
*
Paolo Thaon di Revel
Paolo Camillo Thaon, Marquess of Revel (10 June 1859 – 24 March 1948), latterly titled with the honorary title of 1st Duke of the Sea, was an Italian admiral of the ''Regia Marina'' during World War I and later a politician.
Early life a ...
– Admiral of the Royal Italian Navy
Romania (1916–1918)
*
Ferdinand I –
King of Romania
The King of Romania ( Romanian: ''Regele României'') or King of the Romanians (Romanian: ''Regele Românilor''), was the title of the monarch of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when the Romanian Workers' Party proclaimed the Roman ...
*
General Constantin Prezan
Constantin Prezan (January 27, 1861 – August 27, 1943) was a Romanian general during World War I. In 1930 he was given the honorary title of Marshal of Romania, as a recognition of his merits during his command of the Northern Army and of the ...
– Chief of the General Staff of Romania
*
Ion I. C. Brătianu – Prime Minister of Romania
*
Vintilă Brătianu
Vintilă Ion Constantin Brătianu (16 September 1867 – 22 December 1930) was a Romanian politician who served as Prime Minister of Romania between 24 November 1927 and 9 November 1928. He and his brothers Ion I. C. Brătianu and Dinu Brătianu ...
– Secretary of War
*
Field Marshal Alexandru Averescu
Alexandru Averescu (; 9 March 1859 – 2 October 1938) was a Romanian marshal, diplomat and populist politician. A Romanian Armed Forces Commander during World War I, he served as Prime Minister of three separate cabinets (as well as being ''inte ...
– Commander of the
2nd Army, 3rd Army, then Army Group South
*
General Eremia Grigorescu
Eremia Teofil Grigorescu (28 November 1863 – 21 July 1919) was a Romanian artillery general during World War I, and Minister of War in the Constantin Coandă cabinet (October–November 1918).
Early life
Born in 1863 in the village Golășe ...
– Commander of the
1st Army
Portugal (1916–1918)
*
Bernardino Machado
Bernardino Luís Machado Guimarães, GCTE, GCL (; 28 March 1851, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 29 April 1944, Porto, Portugal), was a Portuguese political figure, the third and eighth president of Portugal (1915–17, 1925–26).
In 1917, ...
–
President of Portugal (until 12 December 1917)
*
Afonso Costa
Afonso Augusto da Costa, GCTE, GCL (; born in Seia, 6 March 1871; died in Paris, 11 May 1937) was a Portuguese lawyer, professor and republican politician.
Political career
Costa was the leader of the Portuguese Republican Party and he was ...
–
Prime Minister of Portugal
The prime minister of Portugal ( pt, primeiro-ministro; ) is the head of government of Portugal. As head of government, the prime minister coordinates the actions of ministers, represents the Government of Portugal to the other bodies of state, ...
(until 15 March 1916; then again 25 April 1917 – 10 December 1917)
*
António José de Almeida –
Prime Minister of Portugal
The prime minister of Portugal ( pt, primeiro-ministro; ) is the head of government of Portugal. As head of government, the prime minister coordinates the actions of ministers, represents the Government of Portugal to the other bodies of state, ...
(15 March 1916 – 25 April 1917)
*
Sidónio Pais
Sidónio Bernardino Cardoso da Silva Pais (; 1 May 1872 – 14 December 1918) was a Portuguese politician, military officer, and diplomat, who served as the fourth president of the First Portuguese Republic in 1918. One of the most div ...
–
Prime Minister of Portugal
The prime minister of Portugal ( pt, primeiro-ministro; ) is the head of government of Portugal. As head of government, the prime minister coordinates the actions of ministers, represents the Government of Portugal to the other bodies of state, ...
and War Minister (11 December 1917 – 9 May 1918) and
President of Portugal (from 9 May 1918)
*
José Norton de Matos
José Maria Mendes Ribeiro Norton de Matos, GCTE, GCL (March 23, 1867 in Ponte de Lima, Portugal – January 3, 1955 in Ponte de Lima) was a Portuguese general and politician.
1880s
After attending college in Braga, and attending the Escola ...
– War Minister (until 10 December 1917)
*
João Tamagnini Barbosa
João Tamagnini de Sousa Barbosa (30 December 1883 – 15 December 1948), commonly known as João Tamagnini Barbosa (), or Tamagnini Barbosa, was a Portuguese military officer and politician of the Portuguese First Republic (1910–1926). He ...
– Interim War Minister (9 May 1918 – 15 May 1918)
* Amílcar Mota – Secretary of State for War (15 May 1918 – 8 October 1918)
* Álvaro de Mendonça – Secretary of State for War (from 8 October 1918)
*
Fernando Tamagnini de Abreu – Commander of the
Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (CEP)
*
José Augusto Alves Roçadas
José Augusto Alves Roçadas (Vila Real, 6 April 1865 – Lisbon, 28 April 1926) was an officer of the Portuguese Army and a colonial administrator.
In 1907 troops under his command in Portuguese Angola put down a revolt by the Ovambo at the Ba ...
– Commander of the Portuguese Forces in Southern Angola
* José Luís de Moura Mendes – Commander of the Portuguese Forces in Eastern Africa (until June 1916)
*
José César Ferreira Gil
José César Ferreira Gil (1 November 1858 in Celorico da Beira, Portugal - 15 August 1922 in Lisbon, Portugal) was a Portuguese Army general and a military historian.
During World War I, Ferreira Gil served as the Commander of the Portuguese Fo ...
– Commander of the Portuguese Forces in Eastern Africa (from June 1916)
* Sousa Rosa – Commander of the Portuguese Forces in Eastern Africa (from 1917)
Greece (1916/17–1918)
*
Constantine I
Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterrane ...
: King of Greece, he retired from the throne in June 1917, due to Allied pressure, without formally abdicating.
*
Alexander
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
: King of Greece, he became King in 1917 after his father and brother retired from the throne
*
Eleftherios Venizelos: Prime minister of Greece after 13 June 1917
*
Panagiotis Danglis
Panagiotis Danglis ( el, Παναγιώτης Δαγκλής; – 9 March 1924) was a Greek Army general and politician. He is particularly notable for his invention of the Schneider-Danglis mountain gun, his service as chief of staff in the Balk ...
: Greek general of the Hellenic Army
United States (1916–1918)
*
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
–
President of the United States/Commander-In-Chief of the US armed forces
*
Newton D. Baker
Newton Diehl Baker Jr. (December 3, 1871 – December 25, 1937) was an American lawyer, Georgist,Noble, Ransom E. "Henry George and the Progressive Movement." The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 8, no. 3, 1949, pp. 259–269. w ...
–
US Secretary of War
*
Josephus Daniels
Josephus Daniels (May 18, 1862 – January 15, 1948) was an American newspaper editor and publisher from the 1880s until his death, who controlled Raleigh's ''News & Observer'', at the time North Carolina's largest newspaper, for decades. A ...
–
United States Secretary of the Navy
*
Major General/
General John J. Pershing – Commander of the
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...
*
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regard ...
/
Vice Admiral William Sims
William Sowden Sims (October 15, 1858 – September 28, 1936) was an admiral in the United States Navy who fought during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to modernize the navy. During World War I, he commanded all United States naval force ...
– Commander of
US Naval Forces in European Waters
*
Brigadier General
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to ...
Mason Patrick – Commander of the
United States Army Air Service
The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...
Siam (Thailand) (1917–1918)
*
Rama VI
Vajiravudh ( th, วชิราวุธ, , 1 January 188126 November 1925) was the sixth monarch of Siam under the Chakri dynasty as Rama VI. He ruled from 23 October 1910 until his death in 1925. King Vajiravudh is best known for his efforts ...
–
King of Siam
The monarchy of Thailand (whose monarch is referred to as the king of Thailand; th, พระมหากษัตริย์ไทย, or historically, king of Siam; th, พระมหากษัตริย์สยาม) refers to the c ...
*
Field Marshal Chao Phraya Bodindechanuchit –
Minister of Defence
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in so ...
*
Prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanath – Supreme Commander of the Siamese Expeditionary Forces in
World War I
* General Phraya Bijai Janriddhi – Commander of the
Siamese Expeditionary Forces
The Siamese Expeditionary Force ( th, กองทหารอาสาสยาม) (also known as Siamese Volunteer Corps) consisted of the Royal Siamese Army sent to Europe under the command of Major General Phraya Pichai Charnyarit in 1917 to ...
in the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
* Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...
Brazil (1917–1918)
*
Venceslau Brás
Venceslau Brás Pereira Gomes (; 26 February 1868 – 15 May 1966) was a Brazilian politician who served as ninth president of Brazil between 1914 and 1918, during the First Brazilian Republic. Brás was born in Brasópolis (formerly São Ca ...
–
President of Brazil
*
Pedro Frontin, Chief of the ''Divisão Naval em Operações de Guerra'' (Naval Division in War Operations)
*
José Pessoa Cavalcanti de Albuquerque
José Pessoa Cavalcanti de Albuquerque (13 September 1885 in Cabaceiras – 16 August 1959 in Rio de Janeiro) was a military officer, who became a Marshal in the Brazilian Army. Son of Cândido Albuquerque and Maria Albuquerque, he was the ...
, Lieutenant of the Brazilian Army in France
* Napoleão Felipe Aché, Chief of Brazilian Military Mission in France (1918–1919)
*
M.D.
Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...
Nabuco Gouveia – Chief of Brazilian Military Medical Commission
Armenia (1917–1918)
*
Hovhannes Kajaznuni
Hovhannes Kajaznuni or Katchaznouni (; 14 February 1868 – 15 January 1938) was an Armenian architect and politician who served as the first Prime Minister of the First Republic of Armenia from June 6, 1918 to August 7, 1919. He was a member of ...
– first
Prime Minister of the
First Republic of Armenia
The First Republic of Armenia, officially known at the time of its existence as the Republic of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետութիւն), was the first modern Armenian state since the loss of Armenian statehood in the Middle ...
*
General Andranik – military commander and statesman of the
Caucasus Campaign
The Caucasus campaign comprised armed conflicts between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, later including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, the German Empire, the Central Caspian Dict ...
*
Aram Manukian
Aram Manukian, reformed spelling: Արամ Մանուկյան, and he is also referred to as simply Aram. (19 March 187929 January 1919), was an Armenian revolutionary, statesman, and a leading member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (D ...
–
Minister of Internal Affairs
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
of the
First Republic of Armenia
The First Republic of Armenia, officially known at the time of its existence as the Republic of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետութիւն), was the first modern Armenian state since the loss of Armenian statehood in the Middle ...
*
Drastamat Kanayan
Drastamat Kanayan (; 31 May 1884 8 March 1956), better known as Dro (Դրօ), was an Armenian military commander and politician. He was a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. He briefly served as Defence Minister of the First Republic ...
– Military commander and member of the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenia ...
*
Tovmas Nazarbekian
Tovmas Nazarbekian ( Armenian: Թովմաս Նազարբէկեան; 4 April 1855 – 19 February 1931), also known as Foma Nazarbekov (russian: Фома Назарбеков), was an Armenian general in the Russian Caucasus Army and later promot ...
– Commander-in-chief of the
First Republic of Armenia
The First Republic of Armenia, officially known at the time of its existence as the Republic of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետութիւն), was the first modern Armenian state since the loss of Armenian statehood in the Middle ...
*
Movses Silikyan
Movses Silikyan or Silikov (, ; 14 September 1862 – 22 November 1937) was an Armenian general who served in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and later in the army of the First Republic of Armenia. He is regarded as a national hero ...
– Army general and National hero
Czechoslovakia (1918)
*
Tomáš Masaryk
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (7 March 185014 September 1937) was a Czechoslovak politician, statesman, sociologist, and philosopher. Until 1914, he advocated restructuring the Austro-Hungarian Empire into a federal state. With the help of ...
– first
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
of
Czechoslovakia
*
Milan Rastislav Štefánik
Milan Rastislav Štefánik (; 21 July 1880 – 4 May 1919) was a Slovak politician, diplomat, aviator and astronomer. During World War I, he served at the same time as a general in the French Army and as Minister of War for Czechoslovakia. ...
– Commander of the
Czechoslovak Legion
, image = Coat of arms of the Czechoslovak Legion.svg
, image_size = 200px
, alt =
, caption = Czechoslovak Legion coat of arms
, start_date ...
*
Edvard Beneš –
Minister of Foreign Affairs and
the Interior
Personnel and casualties
These are estimates of the cumulative number of different personnel in uniform 1914–1918, including army, navy and auxiliary forces. At any one time, the various forces were much smaller. Only a fraction of them were frontline combat troops. The numbers do not reflect the length of time each country was involved.
See also
*
Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War
Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War or Allied Powers intervention in the Russian Civil War consisted of a series of multi-national military expeditions which began in 1918. The Allies first had the goal of helping the Czechoslovak Legi ...
*
Causes of World War I
The identification of the causes of World War I remains controversial. World War I began in the Balkans on July 28, 1914, and hostilities ended on November 11, 1918, leaving 17 million dead and 25 million wounded. Moreover, the Russian Civil ...
*
Color books
In diplomatic history, a colour book is an officially sanctioned collection of diplomatic correspondence and other documents published by a government for educational or political reasons, or to promote the government position on current or pas ...
, transcripts of official documents released by each nation early in the war
*
Diplomatic history of World War I
**
British entry into World War I
Britain entered World War I on 4 August 1914 when the King declared war after the expiration of an ultimatum to Germany. The official explanation focused on protecting Belgium as a neutral country; the main reason, however, was to prevent a Frenc ...
**
French entry into World War I
France entered World War I when Germany declared war on 3 August 1914.
World War I largely arose from a conflict between two alliances: the Triple Alliance ( Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) and the Triple Entente ( France, Russia, and B ...
*
Historiography of the causes of World War I
Historians writing about the origins of World War I have differed over the relative emphasis they place upon the factors involved. Changes in historical arguments over time are in part related to the delayed availability of classified historical ...
*
Home front during World War I
The home front during World War I covers the domestic, economic, social and political histories of countries involved in that conflict. It covers the mobilization of armed forces and war supplies, lives of others, but does not include the military ...
**
Belgium in World War I
The history of Belgium in World War I traces Belgium's role between the German invasion in 1914, through the continued military resistance and occupation of the territory by German forces to the armistice in 1918, as well as the role it played i ...
**
France in World War I
**
Germany in World War I
During World War I, the German Empire was one of the Central Powers. It began participation in the conflict after the declaration of war against Serbia by its ally, Austria-Hungary. German forces fought the Allies on both the eastern and wester ...
**
Italy in World War I
**
Romania in World War I
The Kingdom of Romania was neutral for the first two years of World War I, entering on the side of the Allied powers from 27 August 1916 until Central Power occupation led to the Treaty of Bucharest in May 1918, before reentering the war on ...
**
United Kingdom in World War I
The United Kingdom was a leading Allied Power during the First World War of 1914–1918. They fought against the Central Powers, mainly Germany. The armed forces were greatly expanded and reorganised—the war marked the founding of the ...
**
United States in World War I
**
Japan in World War I
*
International relations of the Great Powers (1814–1919)
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* ''International'' (New Order album), 2002
* ''International'' (The T ...
*
July Crisis
Footnotes
References
Bibliography
* Ellis, John and Mike Cox. ''The World War I Databook: The Essential Facts and Figures for All the Combatants'' (2002)
* Esposito, Vincent J. ''The West Point Atlas of American Wars: 1900–1918'' (1997); despite the title covers entire war
online maps from this atlas* Falls, Cyril. ''The Great War'' (1960), general military history
*
* Gooch, G. P. ''Recent Revelations Of European Diplomacy'' (1940), 475pp; summarises memoirs of major participants
* Higham, Robin and Dennis E. Showalter, eds. ''Researching World War I: A Handbook'' (2003); historiography, stressing military themes
* Pope, Stephen and Wheal, Elizabeth-Anne, eds. ''The Macmillan Dictionary of the First World War'' (1995)
* Strachan, Hew. ''The First World War: Volume I: To Arms'' (2004)
* Trask, David F. ''The United States in the Supreme War Council: American War Aims and Inter-Allied Strategy, 1917–1918'' (1961)
*
* Tucker, Spencer, ed. ''The Encyclopedia of World War I: A Political, Social, and Military History'' (5 volumes) (2005); online at eBook.com
* United States. War Dept. General Staff. ''Strength and organisation of the armies of France, Germany, Austria, Russia, England, Italy, Mexico and Japan (showing conditions in July, 1914)'' (1916
online*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allies Of World War I
1919 in law
20th-century military alliances
Aftermath of World War I
Military alliances involving Australia
Military alliances involving Canada
Military alliances involving France
Military alliances involving New Zealand
Military alliances involving South Africa
Military alliances involving the United Kingdom
Military alliances involving the United States
World War I by country
History of diplomacy