World War I, or the Great War as it was then known, began in August 1914 with the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand. The war pitted the Central Powers (Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire) against the allied forces of Great Britain, France, Russia, and Italy, who were joined in 1917 by the United States. The action of A Farewell to Arms takes place from 1916–18 in four locations, for the most part: 1) the Julian Alps, along what was then the border between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire; 2) the city of Milan, which lies in the plains of northern Italy, far from the front; 3) the Italian resort town of Stresa on Lake Maggiore, which straddles the border between Italy and Switzerland; and 4) various towns and villages of the Swiss Alps.
At the start of the book, the Italian army is busy keeping the Austro-Hungarian forces occupied so that the latter cannot assist the Germans on the war's western and eastern fronts. Later, Russia will withdraw due to the communist Revolution of 1917, and near the book's climax German troops will join the Austro-Hungarian forces, necessitating Italy's humiliating retreat from Caporetto. (This event, which the book's first readers would have recognized, provided the author with the opportunity for some of his most dramatic and effective writing ever.) Keep in mind as you read that Switzerland shares a border with Italy — and that Switzerland was neutral during World War I.
