This article looks at the 7 most powerful countries before World War 2 and dives into one of the deadliest conflicts in human history. You can skip our detailed analysis and go directly to the 5 ...

When World War I began in 1914 ... Germany and Russia were the only countries to report more than 1.5 million troops killed. These two countries also had the largest armies during the war.

When Germany and Austria-Hungary took control of small countries like Bosnia and Morocco, the rest of the world thought they were being aggressive. Many countries had made alliances with one other.