The Conduct of British Generals in World War One In 1914 the First World War, or the Great War, broke out in Europe. It involved the two main alliances of Europe at the time; one alliance was the triple entente with Germany, Austro-Hungary and Serbia, the other alliance, the triple alliances, had Britain, France and Russia creating a ring of steel around Germany. This war of attrition was to take the lives of 8.5 million combatants and would change the way warfare was conducted and portrayed