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WW1
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franz ferdinand assassination
franz ferdinand dies because gavrillo princip shot him and his wife sofie dead in their motorcade in sarajevo -
first trenches are dug
The first trenches are dug on the western front.A well-made trench was a zig-zagged line that bent and twisted every few miles.There was typically more than one trench so that soldiers could,defend,communicate,hide from shells,throw grenades,and reinforce each other.At night the opposing trenches would dig towards eac other(hopefully) avoiding mines,being spotted or making to much noise as that would tell the enemy what they were up to. -
the christmas truce
A large number of unofficial ceasefire's happened along the western front where soldiers stopped fighting and went out into no man's land to talk and exchange food or souvenirs and even playing soccer games -
First flamethrower
Flamethrowers were mostly used(at least by the germans)to claer out the front lines of an enemy.Or in surprise attacks.The flamethrower launched burning petroleum via CO2 or nitrogen.Contrary to popular beleif the flamethrower would probably NOT explode when shot at.Instead it would most likely send the person flying forward if it hit the gas tank. -
first use of chlorine gas on ypres
Germans first successfully used lethal chlorine gas at the second battle of Ypres.The battle started with a German artillery barrage, normally this is done before an infantry charge, However, this time they used the gas.At first the mainly French line thought it was a smokescreen to protect the infantry.But when the gas entered the trenches almost every Frenchmen who came into contact with the gas died.The Germans couldn't push due to the gas and British reinforcements retook the trench, -
battle of verdun
The longest and largest battle of WW1 was fought on the western front.It ended on 12-18-1916.The germans enjoyeed initial victories but in july their offensive slowed due to the fact that reinforcements had to be freed up for the somme. -
first tank combat in the battle of the somme
this battle was the first time a tank saw combat.They were the british mark 1 tanks which while prone to breaking down,the 40 tanks, were able to advance a mile before being wiped out due to their slow speed.They were so popular that hundreds more went to be produced.The tank came in two variants a "male" and "female" version.The male version had two 6-pund hotchkiss cannons(great for taking out structures) and the female had 4 .303 caliber vickers machine guns.The picture shows the male variant -
'Murica enters the war
America enters the war and,Using the fresh,newly supplied,troops ends the war. -
russian revolution (october)
In Russia at the time the older Julian calendar was in use so it is actually November according to the Gregorian calendar. Vladimir Lenin was the leader of the Bolsheviks who successfully took over the tsarist autocracy. He promised land for peasants, food for workers, and immediate leaving of WW1 -
kaiserschlacht
The german army had,due to the russian revolution,freed up german troops from the eastern front and moved them to the western front to kill all allied troops currently there before they could be reinforced by american troops which were in the middle of training.The german strategy was to use artillery to barrage strategic positions depots,send in "infiltraters" who would keep the british from resecuring their line,and let most resistance be wiped out by the second wave of infantry
