At head of title: DK, Smithsonian.

Includes index.

World War I was a conflict on an epic scale which left an indelible mark on the collective memory of countries that lost a generation of young men. This visually stunning book recounts the course of the war in vivid detail, re-creating the experience of titanic battles such as Gallipoli, the Somme, and Verdun, and documenting the firsthand accounts of combatants and civilians. Authoritative and packed with compelling images, it offers a true understanding of a war that changed the course of history.--From publisher description.

The troubled continent, 1870-1914. Europe's high noon ; Crises and conflicts ; Kaiser Wilhelm II ; Planning for war ; Evolving military technology ; Rifles ; Assassination at Sarajevo ; The slide to war ; Pulling together ; The declaration of war -- Not over by Christmas, 1914. The invasion of Belgium ; The French offensive ; The British go into action ; Battle of Mons ; Artillery ; The great retreat ; The battle of the Marne ; Joseph Joffre ; The race to the sea ; Fighting to a standstill ; The Christmas truce ; The battle of Tannenberg ; Paul von Hindenburg ; Austro-Hungarian failures ; The battle for Poland ; Cavalry ; Turkey enters the war ; African diversions ; Confrontation at sea ; Warships at sea ; Coronel and the Falklands ; War in the East -- Stalemate, 1915. Mobilizing resources ; Trench warfare ; Life in the trenches ; Failure on the western front ; Trench fighting equipment ; Second Ypres ; Chemical warfare ; Italy enters the war ; Anzac troops ; The Gallipoli campaign ; Battle of Lone Pine ; The Armenian massacre ; In service of the empire ; Colonial troops ; Disaster in Mesopotamia ; The battle at Dogger Bank ; The sinking of the Lusitania ; Wartime posters ; America and the European war ; The zeppelin raids ; Campaigns on the eastern front ; Animals at war ; Machine guns ; Serbia crushed ; The Artois-Loos offensive ; Reconnaissance and communication -- Year of battles, 1916. Facing deadlock ; The German offensive at Verdun ; Verdun ; Philippe Pâetain ; The French fight back at Verdun ; Fort Douaumont ; The Easter rising ; Intelligence and espionage ; Slav nationalism ; The battle of Jutland ; On board the SMS Derfflinger ; The Brusilov offensive ; Kitchener's armies ; Douglas Haig ; The Somme offensive ; The first day of the Somme ; Attrition on the Somme ; Medical treatment ; Dogfights and aces ; Dogfight ; Warplanes ; The Romanian campaign ; The Arab revolt ; The strains of war ; David Lloyd George ; Germany's new order -- Revolution and disillusion, 1917. The Tsar overthrown ; America enters the war ; Woodrow Wilson ; Organizing America for war ; Peace initiatives and war aims ; The u-boat onslaught ; Eric Ludendorff ; The Nivelle offensive ; The battle of Arras ; Shell casings ; Canadians in the war ; The German bomber offensive ; TTheKerensky offensive ; The revolutionary army ; Messines Ridge ; Third Ypres ; Passchendaele ; Italian disaster at Caporetto ; False dawn at Cambrai ; Tank warfare ; The Bolshevik revolution ; Guerilla war in east Africa ; Naval war in the Mediterranean ; From Gaza to Jerusalem ; Recording the war -- Victory and defeat, 1918. Home fronts ; The German home front ; Trench warfare transformed ; Stormtrooper equipment ; German victory in the east ; The Michael offensive ; The opening of the MIchael offensive ; The German search for victory ; The battle of Belleau Wood ; The second battle of the Marne ; Gas attack ; Ferdinand Foch ; The Zeebrugge raid ; Climax of the air war ; Aerial combat ; Manfred von Richthofen ; Allied intervention is Russia ; Writers at war ; Turning point at Amiens ; Taking the St. Mihiel salient ; The Meuse-Argonne offensive ; John Pershing ; Attacking the Hindenburg line ; St. Quentin Canal ; Turkey and Bulgaria defeated ; Italy victorious ; Mutiny and revolution ; The armistice ; Celebrations -- Aftermath, 1919-1923. Devastated world ; The Paris peace conference ; Georges Clemenceau ; The Versailles Treaty ; Signing the Versailles Treaty ; Postwar conflicts ; Never again ; Monument to the fallen ; In memoriam.