Great War
Pre-WWII global conflict
Great War refers to World War I (1914–1918), the name used before a second world war made numbering necessary.
The term captures how contemporaries experienced it—as the war to end all wars, unprecedented in scale and devastation.
My grandfather fought in the Great War.
Now largely historical or literary, replaced by World War I or WWI.
First worldwide military conflict
- Allied PowersCoalition against fascist aggressors
- Central PowersWWI German-led alliance
- Treaty of Versailles1919 settlement ending WWI
- Western FrontFranco-Belgian combat zone
Eastern Front · Archduke Franz Ferdinand · Sarajevo · Zimmermann Telegram · Kaiser Wilhelm II · Lusitania · Somme · Verdun
Those killed or wounded
- fatalitiesLosses of life
- carnageWidespread violent death
- devastationSevere widespread destruction
- sufferingSustained experience of distress
sacrifice · mourning · remembrance · widows · orphans · shell shock · cenotaph · poppy
Elongated ground excavations
- artilleryLarge-caliber battlefield weapons
- battlesMilitary combat events
- frontlineCombat's forward position
- infantryGround combat troops
combat · siege · offensive · defensive · barrage · stalemate · bombardment · shelling
Extending dominion over others
- colonialismDomination through foreign settlement
- nationalismDevotion to one's country
- alliancesFormal unions for cooperation
- ententeInformal international understanding
diplomacy · treaties · balance of power · hegemony · annexation · sovereignty · neutrality · reparations
Mid-sized military unit
- divisionSplitting into parts
- regimentColonel-led military unit
- cavalryMounted military force
- infantryGround combat troops
conscription · mobilization · enlistment · dreadnought · dogfight · reconnaissance · camouflage · fortifications
1914-1918
First worldwide military conflict
- Allied PowersCoalition against fascist aggressors
- Central PowersWWI German-led alliance
- Treaty of Versailles1919 settlement ending WWI
Western Front · Eastern Front · Archduke Franz Ferdinand · Sarajevo · Zimmermann Telegram · Kaiser Wilhelm II · Lusitania · Somme · Verdun · Gallipoli
casualties
Those killed or wounded
- fatalitiesLosses of life
- carnageWidespread violent death
- devastationSevere widespread destruction
suffering · sacrifice · mourning · remembrance · widows · orphans · shell shock · cenotaph · poppy · Flanders fields
trenches
Elongated ground excavations
- artilleryLarge-caliber battlefield weapons
- battlesMilitary combat events
- frontlineCombat's forward position
infantry · combat · siege · offensive · defensive · barrage · stalemate · bombardment · shelling · assault
imperialism
Extending dominion over others
- colonialismDomination through foreign settlement
- nationalismDevotion to one's country
- alliancesFormal unions for cooperation
entente · diplomacy · treaties · balance of power · hegemony · annexation · sovereignty · neutrality · reparations · Versailles
battalion
Mid-sized military unit
infantry · conscription · mobilization · enlistment · dreadnought · dogfight · reconnaissance · camouflage · fortifications · ammunition
- World War Itrenches, eastern front, Western Front, soldiers, battlefields
- American WWIdoughboys, General Pershing, Argonne, Western Front, over there
- transformerstransformer, Optimus Prime, Megatron, power transformer, Starscream
- Texas WWI
- SommeBattle of the Somme, 1916, big push, Albert, Picardy
- Verdunforts, French Army, German Army
Great Warpeace
Freedom from disturbance
peacetime · armistice · interwar period · Pax Romana · ceasefire
Great Warskirmish
Brief, limited combat
proxy war · regional conflict · border dispute · police action · cold war
war, great, greatly, greatest, warfare, greater, greatness, warring, warlike