<P> World War I (often abbreviated as WWI or WW1), also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918 . Contemporaneously described as the "war to end all wars", more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history . Over nine million combatants and seven million civilians died as a result of the war (including the victims of a number of genocides), a casualty rate exacerbated by the belligerents' technological and industrial sophistication, and the tactical stalemate caused by gruelling trench warfare . It was one of the deadliest conflicts in history and precipitated major political change, including the Revolutions of 1917--1923 in many of the nations involved . Unresolved rivalries at the end of the conflict contributed to the start of the Second World War twenty - one years later . </P> <P> The conflict initially involved two opposing coalitions: France, Russia and Britain, in the Triple Entente, against the Dual Alliance of Germany and Austria - Hungary . These two had combined with Italy in the 1882 Triple Alliance but as it was primarily defensive in nature, Italy was able to remain neutral in 1914 . In reality, many of the terms were informal or secret and sometimes contradicted by other agreements; shortly after renewing the Triple Alliance in 1902, Italy secretly agreed with France to remain neutral if it was attacked by Germany . The coalitions expanded as the war widened: the Entente added Italy, Japan and the United States to form the Allied Powers, while the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria joined Germany and Austria as the Central Powers . </P> <P> On 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb supporter of Yugoslav nationalism, assassinated the Austro - Hungarian heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand while he was visiting Sarajevo . The instability caused by competing Russian and Austro - Hungarian objectives in the Balkans meant this led to a diplomatic crisis, which ended with Austria - Hungary issuing an ultimatum to Serbia . Interlocking alliances meant the crisis ultimately involved all the major European powers as well as their respective colonial empires and the conflict rapidly spread across the globe . </P> <P> The Russian government ordered a partial and secret mobilisation on 24--25 July, then general mobilisation on 30 July after Austria - Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28th . Germany demanded Russia demobilise and when this was refused, declared war on 1 August, with Austria - Hungary following on 6 August . In military discussions held with France in 1911, Russia committed to attack Germany within 15 days of mobilisation and accordingly two armies entered East Prussia on 17 August . This took the Germans by surprise, since their war plans assumed Russia could not mobilise sufficient troops in that time . </P>

What happened at the beginning of world war 1
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