How did the war begin?The First World War began with the assassination of the Austrian Emperor's nephew, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife, on June 18, 1914, while visiting Sarajevo, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire province of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The assassination by a Serbian nationalist caused the Austro-Hungarian Empire to plan a war against Serbia. Instead of reacting quickly to the incident, Austria-Hungary made sure to conclude a treaty with Germany. This allowed Serbia to conclude a treaty with Russia. Russia also had a treaty with France and Great Britain. Austria-Hungary declared war on July 28, 1914, more than a month after the assassination. By this time most of Europe was involved. The two main sides in this war were the Allied Forces and the Central Powers. The Allied forces consisted of France, Great Britain, and Russia, and the Central Powers were Germany and Austria-Hungary. The First World War lasted from 1914 to 1919, leaving 10 million military personnel dead and 20 million wounded. The Allied forces originally wanted the United States to join the war, but the United States was neutral. However, two events changed this opinion. In 1915, a German submarine sank the British liner RMS Lusitania. It was a neutral passenger ship, and the Americans were furious when it was sunk, as 159 of the passengers were Americans. Additionally, in 1917, Mexico received a coded message from Germany, which was intercepted by the British and shown to the United States. The message promised sections of American land in exchange for the German side entering the war. On April 6, 1917, the United States entered the war. Russia, at this time, was considering exiting the war. In 1917, a revolution broke out and chased the tsar from power. The new communist government wanted to focus on trainees... middle of newspaper... Australians died in the war and many were injured and unable to work. This discouraged many potential recruits from enlisting. .kingston.vic.gov.au/htm/article/264.htm http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/conscription/ww1/ http://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/site/ page.cfm?u=1022 http://www.1914-1918.net/recruitment.htm http://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-14_u-42_t-47_c-139/propaganda/nsw/propaganda/ Australia-and-first-world-war/recruitment-and-conscription http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/enlistment/ww1/ http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets /fs161.aspx http://spartacus-educational.com/FWWarmies1914.htm?menu=FWWstatistics http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/ww1/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Australia_during_World_War_I