The war to end all wars drove a lot of innovation. When the First World War began in August 1914—some thirty days after the assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand of Austria—no one expected a prolonged war that eventually would see the deaths of tens of millions of men in the front lines, or that it would bring down three of the ruling dynasties of Europe. The Great War—as it was known to contemporaries—is also often overlooked for being the first truly modern war that saw numerous technological advancements. While it was the Second World War that ushered in the atomic and jet age, the First World War arguably made those advances possible, as military planners looked to new and more lethal ways to break the deadlock. This included the use of aircraft, submarines, poison gas and armored vehicles like the tank.