World War I broke out in 1914, and it was the first global war in human history. It had produced more than 40 million casualties by the time it ended in 1918; this included 21 million wounded and 20 million killed. Over 60 million European soldiers participated in the war.. The war resulted from changes in the balance of power in Europe. Germany became a unified country in 1871, and its expanding power began to threaten established European powers such as Great Britain, France, and Russia. When an assassination in Bosnia forced Russia to come to the assistance of one of its allies, the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary) declared war on the Entente Powers France, Britain, and Russia) and World War I erupted.. Within weeks, most European countries had entered the war. Italy joined the Entente Powers' side in 1915, and then the United States joined in 1917. On the side of the Central Powers, the Ottoman Empire entered in 1914, followed by Bulgaria in 1915.. "World War I," "The Great War," "The War to End Wars"— no matter what name it goes by, it was a horrible conflict. At the start of the war, military tactics had not evolved to include new inventions like heavy artillery and the machine gun. The end result was trench warfare, where both sides dug long trenches that were often only a few hundred meters apart. Soldiers spent months in the trenches, suffering from disease, rats, lice in their hair, and rotten food. They lived like this until their commanding officer announced that it was time to attack the enemy trench. Then they would climb out and charge into "no man's land," stepping on land mines and getting tangled up in barbed wire, all while being shot at by enemy machine guns.. Eventually, new inventions such as tanks and airplanes helped to break the stalemate of trench warfare, and World War I came to an end in 1918. Although the Entente Powers won the war, they lost the peace. It would only be 20 short years before the outbreak of World War II.
第一次世界大戰於1914年爆發，是人類歷史上第一場全球性的戰爭。1918年戰爭結束時，傷亡人數超過4千萬人（傷亡者比例幾乎各半），並有超過6千萬名歐洲軍人參戰。. 一戰起因在於歐洲政權的牽制關係產生了變化。德國於1871年統一，逐漸擴大的勢力開始威脅到英國、法國與俄國等既有的歐洲巨頭。當波斯尼亞的暗殺事件迫使俄國不得不協助盟國的時候，同盟國（德國與奧匈帝國）進而向協約國（法國、英國與俄國）宣戰，就此引爆第一次世界大戰。. 數週之內，多數歐洲國家紛紛參戰。義大利與美國分別於1915年和1917年加入協約國。鄂圖曼帝國和保加利亞則先後於1914年與1915年加入同盟國的行列。. 「第一次世界大戰」、「一戰」、「歐戰」 （World War I; The Great War; The War to EndWars），這場戰役無論有多少別稱，都是一場可怕的衝突。戰爭初始之際，軍事戰略尚未使用後期所引進的重砲與機關槍等新發明，導致後來演變為壕溝戰，也就是雙方交戰人馬各自開挖深長戰壕，且相距不過數百公尺遠。士兵花上數月時間待在壕溝中，飽受疾病、鼠害、頭蝨與食物腐敗之苦，等到指揮官下令開始攻擊敵軍戰壕，士兵會爬出壕溝，衝到兩軍交戰的「無人區」，隨時可能因為踩到地雷、被拒馬上的有刺鐵絲網纏住，或是被敵軍機關槍掃射而喪命。. 坦克車與戰機等新發明問世後，即打破壕溝戰的僵局，讓第一次世界大戰於1918年落幕。協約國雖然贏得戰爭，卻失去了和平。而戰後短短20年的時間，第二次世界大戰再度爆發。. | 
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