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Militarism
Around the 1870's, Great Britain was considered the largest and most powerful military force in the world. Being envious of Great Britain's strength, the Kaiser of Germany began to build up his own military. Alarmed at the sight of Germany's growing army, the surrounding countries of France, Russia, and Italy all began to strengthen their own military forces as well, this began an arms race between the country's. -
Alliances
In WW1 there were two opposing forces, The first being The Triple Entente, this consisted of Great Britain, France, and Russia. The Triple Alliance, which was the opposing force, was made up of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy -
Imperialism
Imperialism during WW1 was very important due to the need for raw materials and the need to expand a countries borders. Most of the fighting for land was done in Africa, where the quantity of raw materials was great. Also Germany along with Austria-Hungary began to show their might and conquer parts of Europe. -
Nationalism
Nationalism is defined as the feeling of patriotism towards ones country. Nationalism was heavily used during the recruitment process of WW1, America would use propaganda to rally its citizens into declaring war on the Triple Entente. -
Assassination of Archduke Franz
The Archduke Franz, heir to Austrian throne, was assassinated by the terrorist group called The Black Hand, while in Bosnia the Archduke was driving around inspecting the troops, while in transit, The Black Hand tried many attempts to assassinate the Archduke, from throwing a grenade to trying to stab him, after many failed attempts the Black Hand succeed when they where able to open fire at point blank range, killing the Archduke and his Wife. This is said to be the start of WW1 -
WW1 Begins
Germany begins invading into Belgium, this causes Great Britain to join the fight, also makes tides turn in the American views on the war. -
Germany's Blank Check to Austria-Hungary
After the assassination of Archduke Franz, Austria was gearing up for war, seeing Austria as a potential ally, Germany funded Austria's military expansion. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
Lusitania sank after it was attacked by a German U-Boat. 1,201 passengers drowned and 128 of those were Americans. This caused people to turn against Germany, inside the of U.S. and out. -
Zimmerman Telegram
The alliance of Mexico and Germany was proposed and issued by Germany in the Zimmerman telegram, but Mexico declined. -
Germany's Resumption of Unrestricted Submarine Warefare
Germany convinced the army and government that the U-boat was essential to Germany's war strategy, therefore it the unrestricted submarine warfare resumed on February 1st. -
Treaty of Versailles
The peace treaty that ended WW1. This placed strict treaty obligations on Germany due to all of the damage caused by them during the war. Germans disagreed and thought it was unfair, they threatened to go to war again. -
Great Depression
As Wall Street came tumbling so did the rest of the United States. The crash of the stock market was the deepest and worst economic downturn in history. -
Dawn Plan
This plan was created to ensure that Germany would cover the costs of the damage they have done after the war. -
Young Plan
This was the second renegotiation of Germany's owe regarding reparations after the war and the revision of the Dawes Plan. -
Rise of Hitler
A German politician who was appointed chancellor and dictator. He created a totalitarian state, where he lead the Nazi Party and started the holocaust between his leadership from 1933 to 1945. -
Effects of WW2 : 1
As men went to fight in the war, women got more involved in the workplace, expanding their careers and skills. They began working in offices, factories, and heavy industries. -
US Entry and Impact on the War
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is what caused the U.S. to enter WW2 on December 7th. Four days later Germany declared war against the U.S. -
Effects of WW2 : 3
Soviets were the first to find out that at the hands of Hitler, European Jews and many others were forced into concentration camps. There over ten million people suffered and died. -
Effects of WW2 : 2
New weapons were developed by scientists that changed warfare. The United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.