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The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Ferdinand and his wife went to Sarajevo to pay a state visit. During their stay in the capitol of Bosnia they were shot by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian while riding through the streets. This assasination led to a harsh ultimatum from Austria to Serbia. -
The begginning of World War !
On July 28, 1914 Russia declared war on Austria. After the assasination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Austria threatened Serbia. Since Serbia and Russia were allies. Russia stepped in which started the war. -
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The Schlieffen Plan
Germany was coming up with a plan to ttack France then Russia. -
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The Western Front
On September 5, 1914 in the valley of Marne River in Northeast Paris, the Germans were attacked by the Allies. The battle on the Front had lasted 4 days before the Germans retreated and were driven back about 60 miles. This battle was very important because that defeat destroyed any hope for the Schlieffen Plan and any hope for victory in the west was not possible. -
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War in the Trenches
When the armies werre fighting on the Western Front, both sides dug miles of trenches to protect themselves. This started being known as the trench warfare where soldiers would fight from. But life in the trenches was horrible and miserable because soldiers would eat in the mud and sleep in the mud. -
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Peak of the War
After a year since the trench warfare began, the war on the Western Front had reached it's peak. In February the Germans launched a huge attack on the French near Verdun. This attack nearly cost each side 300,000 men. -
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Battle on Western Front
Since there was so much pressure on the French, the British armies attacked the Germans northwest of Verdun which was in the valley of the Somme River. The first day of the attack was dreadful, 20,000 British soldiers were killed. This battle on the Western Front ended in November with each side losing over half a million soldiers. -
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Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
When the focus of the war had changed to the high seas, the Germans intensified their submarine warfare by announcing their submarines would sink without warning any ships in the waters around Britain which was called the unrestricted submarine warfare in January of 1917. -
America enters War
Since the United States had stronger economic ties with the allies than with the Central Powers, the united States entered the war on the side of the Allies. President Wilson had asked Congress to declare war on April 2, 1917 -
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Vladimir Ilyich Lenin takes Power
In Novemer 1917, a Communis leader named Vladimir Ilyich Lenin took power and wanted to stop Russia's involvement on the war and tried to offer Germany a truce. -
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Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
In March of 1918, Germany and Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that ended the war between them. This required the Russian government to surrender lands to Germany. -
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Battle of Marne
Allies and Germans now fought at the second battle of the Marne. Leading the attack were about 350 attacks that was smashing the German lines and the arrival of 2 million more American troops. This was when the Central Powers began to disintegrate and crumble. -
War Ceases
On November 11 the First World War had finally came to an end. -
Treaty of Versailles
On June 28, 1919 Germany and the Allied powers reached a compromise which was the Treaty of Versailles signed five years after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand's.