Japan entered the First World War to remove Germany’s presence in Asia and expand its regional influence. This chapter follows the capture of Qingdao, the occupation of German Pacific islands, and Japanese naval patrols in the Mediterranean. It also examines the Twenty-One Demands imposed on China and an industrial boom that enriched business owners while inflation burdened workers and families. In 1918, the Rice Riots and the intervention in Siberia exposed the contradictions of a victorious power. The fighting remained geographically distant for most Japanese citizens, yet the war profoundly transformed Japan’s economy, politics, navy, diplomacy, and colonial empire.

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The United States spent almost three years defending its neutrality, even as trade and finance drew it closer to the Allies. This chapter explains how the Lusitania, unrestricted submarine warfare, and the Zimmermann Telegram transformed the national debate before the declaration of war in April 1917. It also explores mass conscription, propaganda, political repression, women’s wartime labor, and African American soldiers serving in a segregated military. In 1918, American forces fought at Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne, providing troops, resources, and confidence that significantly strengthened the Allied war effort without winning the conflict on their own.

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Italy began the conflict as a neutral member of the Triple Alliance and ended up fighting Austria-Hungary. This chapter explores the secret negotiations, the Treaty of London, and the struggle between neutralists and interventionists that led Italy into the war in 1915. It follows the Isonzo offensives, mountain warfare, Cadorna’s severe discipline, and the disaster at Caporetto. It also examines food shortages, women’s wartime labor, protests, occupation, and civilian displacement. After rebuilding its army along the Piave, Italy resisted the final Austro-Hungarian attack and won at Vittorio Veneto, emerging victorious but deeply divided and economically exhausted.

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