1914–1918 The ore goes to the warRuda ide na vojnu

Gemer's men were called up into Austro-Hungarian regiments and sent mostly to the Russian front in Galicia, later to the Italian front on the Isonzo. The ore and iron of the district were switched to war production, which meant work but also requisitioning, shortages and hunger at home. By the autumn of 1918 the empire that had governed this valley for four hundred years no longer existed, and nobody in Rožňava had been asked what should replace it.Gemerských mužov odviedli do rakúsko-uhorských plukov a poslali väčšinou na ruský front do Haliče, neskôr na taliansky front na Soči. Ruda a železo z okresu prešli na vojnovú výrobu, čo znamenalo prácu, ale aj rekvirovanie, nedostatok a hlad doma. Na jeseň 1918 už ríša, ktorá túto dolinu spravovala štyristo rokov, neexistovala — a nikto sa Rožňavčanov nespýtal, čo má prísť namiesto nej.