1 In 1914, a war broke out in Europe that would be the biggest armed conflict the world had ever seen. It came to be known as World War I. Dozens of countries fought the war in battles across Europe, Asia, and Africa. World War II began in 1939. It was even bigger and more widespread than World War I. Millions of people died in World War I, and tens of millions of people died in World War II. But World War I was not the first conflict that involved all of the world’s most powerful nations, in battlefields all over the world. The first world war actually happened in 1756. Countries still fight against each other in warfare, but World War II was the last world war. The three world wars caused horrible casualties and great destruction, but they are three of the most important events in the history of the world.

 

2 World War I started with an assassination. In 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated. Archduke Ferdinand was from Austria, and his assassin was from Serbia. Austria joined with the country of Hungary during World War I. After the assassination, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Soon, many other countries joined in the conflict. The bloody war lasted until 1918. Because of how devastating and deadly the war had been, it was called “The War to End All Wars.” That name turned out to be very inaccurate.

 

3 The main cause that led to the start of World War II, in 1939 was German aggression. Adolph Hitler, who led Germany at the time, thought that he had the right to take land from other countries and make that land part of Germany. In 1938, Hitler invaded Austria, then he invaded Poland. Britain and France joined together in the war against Germany. Soon after, scores of other countries joined the war on both sides. It is hard to determine exactly how many casualties resulted from World War II, but most estimates say that nearly 100 million people died.

 

4 The Seven Years War happened one and a half centuries before World War I. The Seven Years War was a battle between the most powerful countries in Europe. Countries fought battles on almost every continent. France and Britain even battled in the American colonies during the Seven Years War. The colonists called it the French and Indian War. But no matter what it was called, the Seven Years War was the first conflict between the most powerful countries on Earth that was fought all across the globe.

 

5 Each of these World Wars had lasting effects on the entire World. World War I introduced deadly battlefield technology. Soldiers during World War I used machine guns, tanks, poison gas, and even airplanes. World War II was the deadliest war in history. It was also the only time that nuclear weapons have ever been used in war. The Seven Years War actually contributed to building America. After the Seven Years War, Britain became more powerful than any country in the world. Even with their important contributions to history, these were horrible wars. Hopefully there will never be a World War III. A fourth World War would definitely be the most devastating war yet.