World War I Quiz

World War I Quiz: 1914–1918 in 89 Questions

From the shot fired in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, to the armistice signed at Rethondes on November 11, 1918, World War I redrew the map of Europe: roughly 18 to 19 million dead, the collapse of four empires (German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian), 1.4 million French soldiers killed, and the emergence of the United States on the world stage. This World War I quiz offers 89 fact-checked questions to help you review, test yourself, or dig deeper. It's a natural extension of our history quiz category.

The Origins: European Alliances and the Slide Toward War in Summer 1914

The Triple Entente (France, the United Kingdom, and Russia) versus the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy), an arms race, and recurring crises in the Balkans: Europe was sitting on a powder keg. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, lit the fuse. An ultimatum to Serbia, general mobilizations, and the assassination of Jean Jaurès on July 31, 1914 — within a few weeks, the continent was plunged into war. Our easy level covers these key milestones.

1914: The War of Movement and the Battle of the Marne

Germany invaded neutral Belgium on August 4, 1914, following the Schlieffen Plan. The French army fell back to the Marne, where Joffre and Gallieni — aided by the famous taxis of the Marne — halted the German advance in early September 1914. On the Eastern Front, Hindenburg crushed two Russian armies at Tannenberg. The subsequent "race to the sea" locked the front lines in place, marking the start of trench warfare.

1915–1917: Verdun, the Somme, and the Chemin des Dames

Verdun (February 21 – December 18, 1916), with roughly 300,000 dead and more than 30 million shells fired, became the symbol of the hell of the trenches. Pétain organized the defense with the "Sacred Way" supply route from Bar-le-Duc to Verdun. On the British side, the Somme (July 1 – November 18, 1916) cost the Commonwealth army 19,240 dead on the first day alone. In the spring of 1917, the Nivelle Offensive on the Chemin des Dames failed at a bloody cost and triggered widespread mutinies. Our medium level explores these operations.

1917–1918: The Turning Point — the Russian Revolution, US Entry, and Germany's Last Offensive

1917 was a pivotal year: the United States entered the war on April 6, Russia descended into revolution (Lenin, October 1917), and signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918. Germany made one last attempt with the Spring Offensive (Kaiserschlacht), launched on March 21, 1918. Foch, named Allied Supreme Commander at Doullens on March 26, 1918, organized the counteroffensive. On November 11, 1918, at 5:15 a.m., the armistice was signed in Foch's railway carriage at Rethondes; the ceasefire took effect at 11:00 a.m.

The Toll: 19 Million Dead, a World Redrawn

Our hard level covers the aftermath: the Armenian Genocide (1915–1916, roughly 1.2 to 1.5 million victims), the Spanish flu pandemic (1918–1919, more than 25 million deaths worldwide), the Treaty of Versailles signed on June 28, 1919, in the Hall of Mirrors, and the treaties of Saint-Germain (Austria), Trianon (Hungary), and Sèvres, later replaced by Lausanne (Turkey). The League of Nations was founded in Geneva in 1920. War memorials, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe (1920–1921), and the disfigured veterans known as "gueules cassées" — the war left a lasting mark on memory.

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