The side called the Allies, which included France, the United Kingdom, Russia until 1917, Italy after 1915, and the United States after 1917, won World War 1.

The other side, called the Central Powers, which included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire, lost. This was a big deal because the official peace agreement, the Treaty of Versailles, caused a lot of problems in Germany. It led to a lot of social and economic issues, and it set the stage for Nazism to come into power.

The War

World War 1 started on June 28, 1914, when Franz Ferdinand, the leader of Austria-Hungary, was killed in Sarajevo. This made the major European countries start fighting each other. The next four years were very violent. In the Western part, fighting happened in trenches, and it became a deadlock where many people died for tiny bits of land.

The situation was similar in Eastern Europe, where the Russian Army, not well-prepared, had a lot of casualties. In the Middle East, the Ottomans fought on four sides, winning against the British in Gallipoli and the Russians in the Caucasus. But they couldn’t win against the British in Iraq, Palestine, and Egypt. In total, between 15 to 23 million people died in World War 1, and about 23 million got hurt.

The War’s Conclusion

By 1917, both the Allies and the Central Powers were having big problems. Russia, a key ally for the Allies, left the war because of a new government called the Bolsheviks. This left the United Kingdom and France without an important friend. On the other side, the Central Powers, especially Germany, knew they had to do something big because the United States was going to join the Allies soon. So, the Germans tried a major attack called the German Spring Offensive in the spring of 1918.

Even though they made some progress at first, they had problems with getting supplies, and when the United States joined the war, it made things harder for them. Later, from August to November, the Allies fought back during the Hundred Days Offensive. With trouble inside Germany and problems for the Ottomans, they agreed to stop fighting and signed an armistice on November 11, 1918. This made the Allies the winners and the Central Powers the losers.

The Peace Agreement After World War 1

As the chaos of the war ended, the big European countries talked about a formal peace deal. They began discussing it in January 1919, and five months later, they showed the Treaty of Versailles to the German representatives.

It was very harsh, making Germany lose all its colonies and a big part of its European land. They had to reduce their military to only 100,000 soldiers and pay a lot of money in reparations. Even though many thought it was unfair, Germany still signed the treaty on June 28 because the Allies said they would invade if they didn’t.

For the Ottomans, the war’s end was really bad. The big European countries divided the empire, and it ended in 1922. The French took modern-day Lebanon and Syria, and the British got Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine. They also wanted a say in Turkey. But the Turkish nationalists fought back, and the European countries had to accept that Turkey became independent.

The Aftermath of the War

The Treaty of Versailles caused significant problems in Germany. It led to hyperinflation in the 1920s as the government printed money to pay reparations. This economic instability, along with political turmoil, allowed the Nazis to attempt a coup in Munich in 1923. Although the German economy improved in the late 1920s, the 1929 stock market crash brought economic hardship again. Combined with the memories of hyperinflation, this fueled anger and discontent, paving the way for Hitler’s rise to power in 1933.

conclusion

In summary, the Allies won World War One, but the aftermath, marked by unfair punishments in the peace process, contributed to the rise of fascism in Germany and Hitler becoming chancellor.