Milestone·Modern
World War I Begins
- Date
- 28 July 1914 CE1332 AH112 years ago
- Place
- Europe and the Middle East
- People
- Enver Pasha, Mehmed V
World War I began in July 1914 CE, when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The Ottoman Empire entered the war in late October 1914 on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary. In November 1914, Sultan Mehmed V declared jihad, hoping to rally Muslims under British, French and Russian rule. The Ottoman state was defeated in 1918.
Why it matters
The war led to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and its Arab territories were later divided by Britain and France.