The First World War took place in Europe between 1914 and 1918. In this war, the Allied Powers defeated the Central Powers. France, Russia, the British Empire, Italy and the United States led the Allied Powers while the Central Powers comprised of Austria-Hungary, the German Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria. Nonetheless, France did not choose to join World War I. Through a complicated mess, Germany declared war on Russia and given that France was also allies with Russia due to the Franco-Russian Alliance, Germany would have to get in a war with France as well. France’s role during the war, was to block German attack using their ideal strategy called Plan XVII, which emphasized a thrust into Germany's industrial Ruhr Valley. However, although fighting occurred worldwide, the bulk of the fighting in Europe occurred in the Lowlands, Belgium, and France, which came to be known as the Western Front.
As soon as World War one ended, France annexed the Independent Republic of Alsace-Lorraine, the country which had been established by Kaiser Wilhelm II's abdication. The destruction of the war brought upon the French territory was terrible, along with 1.5 million French soldiers losing their lives and major financial issues that dominated France. Finally, the socialists’ support of the National Union government marked a shift towards social democracy.
France’s input during World War 1 was much larger than their output due to the fact that the war mostly fought in the western front which included France. They offered many men in the war and served as more of a defensive nation. They were dragged in the war due to Russia and in a way they took the hit for Russia.