Battlefield 1 multiplayer was shown off recently at E3, where we saw the British and German forces duke it out against one another on a detailed map. In a Tweet yesterday from the official Battlefield Twitter account, the playable nations in multiplayer were confirmed: "we'll be seeing British, German, Austro-Hungarian, Italian, Ottoman, and American forces with boots on the ground at launch."
What's strange about the playable nations is that while many important nations are represented, two are not: France and Russia. This is something of an odd decision, as a good deal of the actual war took place on the French border, and Russia were invaluable in helping secure victory.
There could be a story-related reason for DICE's choice of nations that we don't know, however, as Battlefield 1 is set in an alternate take on the history of the era. The game is set to release on October 21 of this year.