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Preface This encyclopedia focuses primarily on the key nations involved in World War I. All told, some 263,000 words of the maximum permitted of 350,000 are devoted to 22 participating nations. Of course, more than this number declared war and were thus belligerents, but given space and format I have restricted this study to those nations playing major roles. I have also excluded nations such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, and those in the Middle East, which—while their territories saw considerable fighting—were not established as nation states until after the war. The Introduction provides an overview of the events leading up to the war, its course, and the peace settlement (not covered in the individual country entries as these were concluded post–November 1918). Each of the country entries contains some background information, the reasons behind its entry into the war, its com- bat effort in the war, discussion of the home front experience, and the war’s impact. There are also sections on each nation’s military (army, navy, and air service), as well as entries treating key government and military leaders. Sometimes, as in the case of the Ottoman Empire, government leaders were also military officers who commanded in the field. Military leaders may also include individuals of other nations who happened to command troops from that nation, such as British gener- als commanding the Canadian Corps and Indian Army units, and the German commanders of Ottoman army and navy forces. Each of the aforementioned entries has references for further reading. Finally, there is a timeline for each nation, restricted to the period July 1914–November 1918. If the timeline refer- ences a battle, that nation’s forces participated in it. In addition to the country entries, there is a battles section covering 18 of the war’s most important engagements, and a section treating weapons and tactical changes. Space limitations led me to include here only weapons either introduced in the war or reaching their potential in it. This section also discusses the tactical changes in warfare brought about by the weapons. Finally, there are 22 sidebars. Distinguished military historians Colonel Jerry Morelock, USA Rtd., and Major General David Zabecki, USA Rtd., both with earned doctorates, reviewed my initial entry list and made many helpful suggestions. I am also grateful to General Zabecki for taking the time from his own busy scholarly schedule to write the entry on Artillery, of which he is expert.