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World War One, also known as The Great War and the War to End All Wars, was a massive global conflict that began on June 28, 1914 and lasted until November 11, 1918. The war was fought between the Allied Powers, including France, Great Britain, Russia, and beginning in 1917, the United States, and the Central Powers, including Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. While it was not the first global conflict, it was the first conflict to be totally and completely global in its fighting.
Even today, the total number of casualties is unknown. The best estimates from official sources give the total death toll of 19,769,102. France and Germany lost roughly 4% of their population in 4 years. Romania lost just over 9%. The Ottoman Empire's population dropped by over 23%. During the war, the United States lost 117,465 lives.
The war was precipitated by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary while visiting Serbia. This set off a series of disputes between the complex alliances that had formed prior to the war. In just over a month, almost all of Europe was at war. The United States, while supportive of the Allied Powers, remained isolationist, even in the face of events such as Germany's sinking of the HMS Lusitania, which killed 126 Americans.
The war occurred on many different fronts, with many other conflicts occurring simultaneously. After 3 years, the war had become one of attrition, with neither side advancing. Trench warfare was widely used, and resulted in widespread disease and death. In an effort to keep the United States out of the war, Germany offered assistance to Mexico to retake lands ceded during the Mexican War of 1846-48. Mexico did not accept the offer, but the telegram was discovered. This discovery, combined with ongoing attacks by German U-Boats against American merchant ships, drove the US to enter the war on April 6, 1917.
By 1918, the United States Army had grown from a small force to a massive army by drafting 4 million. Germany had miscalculated the U.S.'s resolve. After a massive final push in March of 1918, Germany began a final push that was repelled by July of that year. Beginning in August, the Allies began their own major offensive, and by October, Germany and the Central Powers were incapable of fighting the war any further. Hostilities ceased on November 11, 1918.
There are 96 names on the memorial from World War I. |
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Allen - Clark
Coe - Fowler
Garrison - Lashley
Lassiter - Murray
Murray - Simpson
Storey - Winningham, Later Additions
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Return to the War Memorial
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