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The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
During a visit to Serbia the archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, from Austria-Hungary, were assinated. They had used very little security as Austria-Hungary was generally known as peaceful but there was a plot with a group of young assassins, the black hand, to try and re-unite them with Bosnia. In attempt to avoid war Austria-Hungary gave Serbia a list of demands and when they weren't accepted war broke out. -
The Battle of Le Cateau
The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was called in to help out Belgium and French armies in attempt to defeat the Germans who had tried to invade but were pushed back. All the troops had fallen back and Germany's 1st and 2nd armies attacked the BEF who were in retreat. One of the generals ordered them to stop the retreat and fight back. This resulted in the loss of Le Cateau but BEF did manage to slow down Germany's advances. -
First Battle of Ypres
This Belgium city is the location of many battles sense the 16th century, it is also one of the locations where Germany was "stuck" and where Belgium, France and BEF tried to overtake them. the BEF had planned an attack on the Germans but due to their placement there was a wide water barrier between them which caused them to stop and reconsider what they wanted to do. Germany's allies had found a way to join with them and gave them a number advantage over the BEF. -
Unofficial Christmas Truce
The days surrounding Christmas the German and British troops were singing Christmas carols. Christmas morning the Germans awoke and called out "Merry Christmas" in their enemies native tongue. After some hesitation they came out from their trenches and shook hands with their enemies. They were on a truce for the day and used this time to remove their bodies, and exchanged presents with each other. -
First Battle of Champagne
The first significant attack on Germany from the alliance since the digging of the trenches. At this time the alliance had more people but didn't take much ground, the fighting continued until the date when the alliance realized it wasn't working. -
First use of Poison Gas
The use of poison gas was the most feared thing in WW1 because the pain was dragged out and there were little ways to hide from it. The french were the first to use it as an irritant to prevent the German advance. Throughout most of the war it was only used as in irritant. -
Triple Alliance begins Invasion of Gallipoli
The alliances attempt to control the sea route from Russia to Europe in WW1. If it was successful they would've taken Turkey out of the war. Turkeys forces where more than expected and the allies needed to retreat later that year. -
'In Flanders Field' Writen by John McCrae
In Flanders Field was inspired when John McCrae's personal friend died when an artillery shell landed next to him. McCrae was an artillery director and a Canadian Military doctor. -
The Sinking of the Lusitania
A German submarine had launched a torpedo at the Lusitania and it was sunk within 18 minutes. The Americans held this against the Germans and declare war against them within 2 years as many Americans were aboard and had died. -
The First Tanks Used
Tanks were first used in the battle of Flers, a small battle that is not well known. The Tank allowed the ability to get into the trenches and helped provide movement to the western front. When Europe first used tanks many of them stopped working before they could get to their destination. -
The Zimmerman Telegram
Germany had sent a proposition by telegram to Mexico offering financial support if Germany and the USA went to war they be on the side of Germany. The USA found out about this and sent ships to attack Germany, some Americans wanted neutrality and tried to claim that the telegram was fake. Zimmerman confirmed its authenticity and America formally entered the conflict. -
Germany Declares Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
One of the main reasons the US joined WW1, they only did this because they were losing the war and this was an act of desperation. Their navy wasn't big enough to defeat Britain so they had to use submarines. They wanted to "starve" Britain to defeat by cutting off their resources. -
USA Enters War
The US joined forces with Russia, France and Britain, sending over 2 million soldiers to France. After the war there was change in the US, women who supported the war were aloud to vote. -
The Battle of Vimy Ridge
Canadian soldiers when under weeks of training before going to Vimy Ridge where they would fight where the French had fought and lost over 100,000 bodies. Canadian soldiers charged gun machine nests and forced the surrender of Germans. They captured Vimy Ridge but over 7000 were injured and 3,500 dead. -
Conscription Crisis of 1917
The conscription come in to effect in 1917 after many Canadian soldiers had gone into fight the war. They needed more people and many of the French-Canadians did not want to fight for Britain because they felt no connection to them. The bill was to force any man between the age of 20 and 45 to join the military, people were not happy and many fights broke out to protest this bill, many of which were in Quebec because of the amount of French-Canadians. -
The Battle fo Passchendaele
The British wanted to drive the Germans out of essential channel ports but the constant rain made it very difficult, they turned to Canada to help. Canada was reluctant because they feared loss of many lives, but were forced to intervene, when they arrived the landscape was worse than they thought and they immediately ordered to build new roads in order to help, they eventually won the battle but lost just under 16,000 lives. -
Germany and Russia Sign a Peace Deal
This deal ended the war in Eastern Europe. When it was time to sit down and create the treaty, Russia's allies didn't show up and Russia had to negotiate peace for them self. Under the treaty Russia's most valued farm lands were allowed to be used by Germany to support them in the war. -
Red Baron Shot Down
Manfred von Richthofen was the pilot of the red baron and by the time he was shot out of the sky by the allies he had downed 80 enemy planes. At this time if you downed 20 you were a legend. He got this nickname because of the plane that he was most associated with, it was used the most during the last eight months of his career and was bright red. -
German Spring Offensive
The Allies were expecting a big attack from Germany soon. The Germans wanted this attack to end WW1. The allies strengthened every side they could but they left a space along the British line as the tench there wasn't dug out to the standards of others. The Germans attack was more of a success than they thought and the German troops didn't have many materials to continue to go forward, as they continued they lost over 1 million men when the allies finally did a counter attack. -
The Hundred Day Offensive
The final campaign of WW1, only lasted 95 days. The allies made an attack on Germany and as they reached 8 miles into German territory they became more ambitious. The allies continued to advance and Germany needed to seek out peace. This ended the war.
