What were the three major empires shattered by the end of first world war
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In late July and early August 1914, the great powers of Europe embarked on a course of action that claimed millions of lives, toppled empires, and reshaped the political structure of the continent. The 2014 centennial of the beginning of World War I was, fittingly, commemorated with events in countries throughout the world. Projects included symposia, exhibits, theatrical presentations, reenactments, and concerts. The Flanders region of Belgium, especially Ypres (where three battles took place), was a particular focus of such efforts, which included the newly reopened In Flanders Fields Museum. Leaders of several countries attended ceremonies in Liège and Mons on August 4. Commemorations of particular battles were scheduled to take place over the next four years, as each centenary arrived. Britain, France, and Italy each planned hundreds of different events, many of them intended to be educational. Although all of Europe was convulsed and scarred by the war, other countries also fought in the war and planned events to focus on that history. Australia and New Zealand, which contributed nearly 40% of their young men as soldiers, celebrated the ANZAC Centenary (marking the involvement of the joint force in that war). The U.S., which entered the war only in 1917, focused on educational outreach. All hoped that over the next four years, citizens would gain a greater understanding of the Great War, which, though it failed to end all wars, nonetheless wrought vast changes in every place it touched.
World War I saw the debut of the tank and chemical weapons, the widespread use of machine guns and aircraft, improvements in artillery, and the pinnacle of the age of battleships. Military aircraft technology advanced rapidly during the war. Fighters such as the Fokker Eindecker, the Spad, and the Sopwith Camel captured the popular imagination, and their dogfighting pilots won fame far beyond the battlefield. Artillery literally shaped the battlefield. It ranged in size from the French 75-mm field gun to the massive 420-mm Big Bertha and the 210-mm Paris Gun. Infantry weapons included many repeating rifles. Machine guns were an especially lethal addition to the battlefield. Heavy guns such as the Maxim and Hotchkiss made “no-man’s-land” a killing zone, and Isaac Lewis’s light machine gun saw widespread use at the squad level and as an aircraft armament.