World War I also called the Great War or World War prior to 1939, and First World War interchangeably since then, was a global military conflict fought around the world but centered in Europe between July 28, 1914 and November 11, 1918. It involved a large number of the world's great powers who fought in two opposing alliances, the Allies with Great Britain, France and Russia, and the Central Powers, composed mainly of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire. Ultimately almost all of Europe was drawn into the war and in total around 70 million soldiers were mobilized in one of the largest wars in history. More than nine million combatants were killed with significant civilian casualties also suffered on both sides due to atrocities committed by the combating nations. The hi