World War 1, also known as the First World War or the Great War, took place between the years 1914 and 1918. It was a global conflict that involved many nations from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The war was primarily fought between two major alliances: the Allied Powers, which included countries such as France, Russia, and the United Kingdom, and the Central Powers, which consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. The immediate cause of the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in June 1914, which led to a series of diplomatic and military escalations. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, which imposed severe conditions on Germany and marked the beginning of a tumultuous post-war era.
