World War I

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

Related to World War I: World War II

World War I

n. Abbr. WWI

A war fought from 1914 to 1918, in which Great Britain, France, Russia, Belgium, Italy, Japan, the United States, and other allies defeated Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

World War I

(Historical Terms) the war (1914–18), fought mainly in Europe and the Middle East, in which the Allies (principally France, Russia, Britain, Italy after 1915, and the US after 1917) defeated the Central Powers (principally Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey). The war was precipitated by the assassination of Austria's crown prince (Archduke Franz Ferdinand) at Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 and swiftly developed its major front in E France, where millions died in static trench warfare. After the October Revolution (1917) the Bolsheviks ended Russian participation in the war (Dec 15, 1917). The exhausted Central Powers agreed to an armistice on Nov 11, 1918 and quickly succumbed to internal revolution, before being forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles (June 28, 1919) and other treaties. Also called: First World War or Great War

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

World War I

the war fought mainly in Europe and the Middle East, between the Central Powers and the Allies, beginning on July 28, 1914, and ending on Nov. 11, 1918, with the collapse of the Central Powers.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

World War I - a war between the allies (Russia, France, British Empire, Italy, United States, Japan, Rumania, Serbia, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Montenegro) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria) from 1914 to 1918

First World War, Great War, War to End War, World War 1

Battle of the Marne, Belleau Wood, Chateau-Thierry, Marne River - a World War I battle in northwestern France where the Allies defeated the Germans in 1918

battle of Caporetto, Caporetto - battle of World War I (1917); Italians were defeated by the Austrian and German forces

Dardanelles campaign, Dardanelles - the unsuccessful campaign in World War I (1915) by the English and French to open a passage for aid to Russia; defeated by the Turks

battle of Jutland, Jutland - an indecisive naval battle in World War I (1916); fought between the British and German fleets off the northwestern coast of Denmark

Argonne, Argonne Forest, Meuse-Argonne, Meuse-Argonne operation, Meuse, Meuse River - an American operation in World War I (1918); American troops under Pershing drove back the German armies which were saved only by the armistice on November 11

battle of Soissons-Reims, battle of the Aisne, battle of the Chemin-des-Dames, Soissons - a battle in World War I (May 1918); the Germans tried to attack before the American numbers were too great to defeat; the tactical success of the Germans proved to be a strategic failure

Battle of the Somme, Somme, Somme River - battle in World War I (1916)

battle of Tannenberg, Tannenberg - a battle in World War I (1914); decisive German victory over the Russians

battle of Verdun, Verdun - a battle in World War I (1916); in some of the bloodiest fighting in World War I the German offensive was stopped

first battle of Ypres, Ypres, battle of Ypres - battle in World War I (1914); heavy but indecisive fighting as the Allies and the Germans both tried to break through the lines of the others

second battle of Ypres, Ypres, battle of Ypres - battle in World War I (1915); Germans wanted to try chlorine (a toxic yellow gas) as a weapon and succeeded in taking considerable territory from the Allied salient

battle of Ypres, third battle of Ypres, Ypres - battle in World War I (1917); an Allied offensive which eventually failed because tanks bogged down in the waterlogged soil of Flanders; Germans introduced mustard gas which interfered with the Allied artillery

Translations

Eerste Wêreldoorlog

první světová válka

Erster Weltkrieg

ensimmäinen maailmansota

Première Guerre mondiale

első világháború

første verdenskrig

Primul Război Mondial

World War I

n → la prima guerra mondiale

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

References in periodicals archive ?

If we can locate the origins of modern human rights in the Eastern (and Central) European Jewish experience of World War I, so, too, might we locate the transition to the postwar regime in the Jewish experience of World War II.

Rights Protection Has a Geography

As I research NDIA's foundation, I'm struck by the work done after World War I to identify and correct shortfalls that hampered Allied success.

NDIA at 100: Building on a Strong Foundation

It was two Revolutions that brought the carnage of World War I to an end: the Russian Revolution of 1917; and the German Revolution of 1918.

Dreadful fate for brave Institute boys tribute; Get in touch - tell us what you think Email: letters@liverpoolecho.co.uk Phone: 0151 227 2000 Twitter: @LIVECHONEWS Facebook: facebook.com/theliverpoolecho Post: Liverpool ECHO, PO Box 48, Old Hall Street, Liverpool L69 3EB

The push to include funeral and memorial sites in Belgium and France for those killed on World War I's Western Front has sparked debate over how to treat locations associated with recent conflicts.

Dubai Creek in race for Unesco World heritage tag among 30 other sites

The only book missing is Dirk Bonker's Militarism in a Global Age: Naval Ambitions in Germany and the United States Before World War I (Cornell University Press, 2012).

America's First General Staff: A Short History of the Rise and Fall of the General Board of the Navy, 1900-1950

With support from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), theatre company Avant Cymru has worked with communities in Pontypridd and the Rhondda Valley to research and discover the stories from World War I - particularly about the effect it had on those who left for war and the people who were left behind.

The Great War in the Valleys... and beyond; World War I had a major effect not just on life in Wales' cities, but also on towns and villages across the South Wales Valleys. A brand new theatre piece will next month explore exactly what war meant for those living in such communities, as Tom Houghton reports..

To listen to Shahrudi, one would think there was no Kurdish independence movement dating back a century to World War I's end.

Iran, Iraq, Turkey all oppose Kurdish independence, but only US takes action

British soldiers go 'over the top' from a trench in France in 1916 during World War I's Battle of the Somme

Tragic stories behind Lindley men lost at the Somme; FIVE MEN WERE KILLED ON THE SAME DAY AFTER ATTACK WENT DISASTROUSLY WRONG

THE North Wales Rugby Choir sang in the world's largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces yesterday as commemorations to mark one of World War I's bloodiest battles got underway.

Rugby choir marks one of World War I's bloodiest battles; SINGERS PERFORMING AT WEEKEND OF PASSCHENDAELE COMMEMORATIONS

Set during the tumult leading up to and through World War I's carnage, the book is an over-the-top romp that skewers the glorification of war.

The Asylum of Dr. Caligari

This is Mary Rose as she needed to be seen, taking pride of place in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard alongside Nelson's HMS Victory, recently restored to her Georgian heyday, and other ships including the remarkable 1860 warship HMS Warrior - the nuclear deterrent of her day as she patrolled the Channel - and World War I's HMS M.33.

Shiver me timbers! It's not Halloween until Monday but PAUL COLE is haunted by the ghosts of a maritime tragedy more than 450 years ago

WORLD War I's most horrific day has never been forgotten on either side of the Channel.