World Beyond Borders

WAR World War I, also known as the Great War, started in 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. His murder catapulted into a war across Europe that lasted until 1918. During the four-year conflict, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire (the Central Powers) fought against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Canada, Japan and the United States (the Allied Powers). Thanks to new military technologies and the horrors of trench warfare, World War I saw unprecedented levels of carnage and destruction. By the time the war was over and the Allied Powers had won, more than 16 million people—soldiers and civilians alike—were dead.

Treaty of Versailles At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Allied leaders stated their desire to build a post-war world that would safeguard itself against future conflicts of such a devastating scale. Some hopeful participants had even begun calling World War I “the War to End All Wars.” But the Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, would not achieve that lofty goal. Saddled with war guilt, heavy reparations and denied entrance into the League of Nations, Germany felt tricked into signing the treaty, having believed any peace would be a “peace without victory,” as put forward by President Wilson in his famous Fourteen Points speech of January 1918. As the years passed, hatred of the Versailles treaty and its authors settled into a smoldering resentment in Germany that would, two decades later, be counted among the causes of World War II.

What is war and what causes it? War is caused by many different things, including competition over land, religious conflicts, and nationalism. Imperialism, racism, and slavery have also been causes of armed conflict.

The cause of the war and dispute: Greed Selfishness Self-centered Prejudice Lack of understanding Lack of tolerance Disagreement

Antidote: Effective communication Understanding that Differences are Blessings Agree to Disagree Respectful and Be Kind Cultivate kindness and Positive thinking Believe that everyone has a kind conscience

Glossary: Catapulted: Launched, started Unprecedented: Not seen before Carnage: Massive Killing, massacre Lofty: Ideal Saddled with: Burdened with Smoldering: burning without flame, just smoke Resentment: Hatred

'What unites us is far greater than what divides us'