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Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
The archduke of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand. The original plan for the assassination didn't work but the driver for Franz Ferdinand took a wrong turn. Austria-Hungary gave Serbia a month to fix the problem but they didn't. As a result, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and because of many different alliances, many of the surrounding countries were dragged into the war. -
Battle of Marne
The Battle of Marne was a battle in the civil war that occurred between September 6 and September 12 in 1914. France, Germany, and Great Britain were involved in the fight. This battle was fought in France at the Marne River. This battle was important for the Allies because they were able to force Germany back. This meant that the Schlieffen Plan, a plan that Germany made to defeat France before Russia could join the fight, wasn't going to work anymore. -
Ottoman Empire Joins War
The Ottoman Empire joining the war was major. They had control over the Dardanelles, a very important straight. Since the Ottomans had control over the straight, they prevented the Allied powers from having ships come through, therefore, limiting their access to supplies for the war. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
The Lusitania was a luxury British liner that was sunk by a German U-boat. At the time, Germany was exercising unrestricted submarine warfare. This made it so that the submarines didn't have to check with anyone before firing at a ship. This was how the Lusitania sank. There were over 100 Americans that were on the ship that died in the sinking. This was one of the reasons why America joined World War I. -
Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun was one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the War. This war was almost 10 months long and in this span, many new weapons were used. Tanks and poison gas were used. This battle was close to the Western Front. Trench warfare was used in this battle. France and Germany fought in this war. While the Germans started off with a strong offence, the French ultimately won. -
Battle of Somme
The Battle of Somme was a battle in World War I that lasted almost 5 months. In one day, nearly 60,000 British were killed or wounded. In total, over a million soldiers died. This battle was fought on the Western Front. Even with all these people dying, no side could get an advantage. Most of this battle was spend in a stalemate. -
Zimmerman Note
The Zimmerman Note was a telegram sent to Mexico from Germany. The goal of it was to get Mexico to join the war if America was to join. It was intercepted by Britain and shared with America. This was one of the deciding factors in America joining the war. -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was made between Germany and Russia. Russia was dealing with revolutions at the time. They got so bad that Russia had to step out of the war. This treaty was the agreement that allowed Russia to no longer participate in the war so that they could stop the riots that were occurring. -
Paris Peace Conference
The Paris Peace Conference was a meeting meant to end World War I. Only the Allies were at the meeting along with some colonies. Woodrow Wilson brought up his idea to help the war which was his fourteen points. While they didn't use this, they did create a League of Nations which came from his last point. Many didn't like the fourteen points idea because they felt Germany should get more blame. They wanted revenge. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was the treaty that ended World War I. It basically said that Germany was the country at fault and that they took full blame. Germany was required to pay reparations that amount to hundreds of billions of dollars in today's money. There was also a limit on the size of Germany's military and a lot of their land was taken. Germany gave back Alsace and Lorraine to France.