It took less than a week for Europe's major powers to embroil themselves into a war that would eventually claim the lives of some 20 million people, roughly the population of Florida.

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, was assassinated. One month later, Austria declared war on Serbia.

By Aug. 4, France, Belgium, Germany, Russia and Britain had all joined the war, kicking off the "war to end all wars."

One of the earliest battles in the war occurred in October of 1914, known to historians as the First Battle of Ypres.

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Of course, to the soldiers on both sides who fought and died near the small Belgian city, little did they know the result would be indecisive despite more than 200,000 combined casualties from both sides.

They could also not predict that the Battle of Ypres would be one of three battles sharing the same name, each with equally dismaying casualty reports.

The Second Battle of Ypres took place between April 22 and May 25, 1915. It was the first battle of the war that the Germans introduced the world to a deadly new weapon, poison gas. By the end of the month-long battle, both sides lost a combined total of roughly 120,000 soldiers.

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The Third Battle of Ypres occurred on July 31, 1917, nearly three years after the war initially began. By the time the British forces saw victory in the battle in November, they had suffered 310,000 casualties while the Germans suffered 260,000.

According to History.com, the costly battle failed "to create any substantial breakthrough, or change of momentum, on the Western Front" and is known for representing "the epitome of the wasteful and futile nature of trench warfare."

Click through above to see photos of the various battles of Ypres.