Editing Treaty of Versailles (section)

===First World War===
{{main|World War&nbsp;I}}
[[File:The signing of the peace treaty of Versailles.webm|thumb|thumbtime=00:01:45|Newsreel footage of the signing of the peace treaty at Versailles]]

War broke out following the [[July Crisis]] in 1914. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, followed quickly by Germany declaring war on Russia on 1 August, and on Belgium and France on 3 August. The German invasion of Belgium on 3 August led to a declaration of war by Britain on Germany on 4 August, creating the conflict that became the [[World War I|First World War]].{{sfn|Tucker|Roberts|2005|p=1078}} Two alliances faced off, the [[Central Powers]] (led by Germany) and the [[Triple Entente]] (led by Britain, France and Russia). Other countries entered as fighting raged widely across [[European theatre of World War I|Europe]], as well as the [[Middle Eastern theatre of World War I|Middle East]], [[African theatre of World War I|Africa]] and [[Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I|Asia]]. Having seen the overthrow of the Tsarist regime in the [[February Revolution]] and the Kerensky government in the [[October Revolution]], the new [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] under [[Vladimir Lenin]] in March 1918 signed the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]], amounting to a surrender that was highly favourable to Germany. Sensing victory before the [[American Expeditionary Forces]] could be ready, Germany now shifted forces to the Western Front and tried to overwhelm the Allies. It failed. Instead, the Allies won decisively on the battlefield, overwhelmed Germany's Turkish, Austrian, and Bulgarian allies, and forced an armistice in November 1918 that resembled a surrender.{{sfn|Wiest|2012|pp=126, 168, 200}}