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The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (The Spark)
While traveling through Bosnia, Archduke Franz Ferdinand & his wife were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a member of The Black Hand group, who had previously tried numerous times to assassinate Franz Ferdinand. This action caused the European countries to go into different sides, The Allied Powers, The Central Powers, and The Neutral Countries. This was The Spark that lit the flame to start WW1. -
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The beginning and Ending of WW1
Starting with the Death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
And ending with the signing of The Treaty of Versailles -
The Start of Warfare
The first World War starts July 28, 1914 and with this, the European countries started to use techniques, such as trench warfare to attack other countries that were near their fronts (Western, Eastern, and Italian). People started to die by the hundreds each day, and the trenches were no better to live in either. -
The Russian Army in WW1 (Led to The Russian Revolution)
The Russian Army was unprepared, they first went into war with little training, very low weapons, and no food. This was because of Tsar Nicholas ll, who wanted to lead the army in the war front, but had no experience. All these problems led to Russia's worst defeat in WW1, The Battle of Tannenberg, which caused very high casualties to The Russian Army. -
The Christmas truce of 1914
It was getting close to Christmas, and both sides were singing songs that reminded them of home. The next day, to everyones surprise, an unofficial cease-fire along the western front was called by both sides. Both sides enjoyed their days before Christmas, playing football, telling stories of their family, and generally enjoying company, both sides were even able to bury all their dead men. After Christmas, both sides went back to the trenches and went on a major stalemate, waiting to attack. -
The Battle of Dogger Bank
After Britain decoded the intercepted German messages, The British Grand Fleet started to attack the German battle ship, The Kaiserliche Marine in the North Sea, thus starting The Battle of Dogger Bank. The smaller German squadron started to retreat, but The British chased after, and the Germans were unable to outrun the British. Long-range gunfire began, one of the German ships, The SMS Blücher cruiser, is sunk. And The British HMS Lion is severely damaged. Ultimately an Allied victory. -
The Sinking of The Lusitania
The Germans used their U-Boats to shoot torpedoes at one of Britain's cruise ships, The Lusitania. This action killed almost 2,000 people that were on board, this led the US, who was currently in Isolationism, to become infuriated with Germany, who had shot one of their Allied Companions. Germany stated they did this because they believed that The US was sending weapons and other war essentials to The British, even though they were in Isolationism. This made The US even more infuriated. -
The Battle of Verdun (The bloodiest battle of WW1)
From February 21st to December 18th of 1916, the bloodiest battle of WW1 waged on, with the Germans arriving at the Western Front at Verdun to use Total War to destroy the French Morale. There were over 400,000 French casualties after all the fighting, almost as many casualties as The Germans. The Germans hoped by taking down France, it would soon lead to the fall of Great Britain by draining all of the French's resources. This battle ended in a stalemate for Germany and France. -
The Battle of Somme
From July 1st to November 1916, The British launched an attack at The Somme River area to pull The Germans away from the French, who were currently battling at Verdun (The battle of Verdun). This action made Britain suffer over 19,000 casualties on the first day of fighting. After 5 months of battling, over 1 million casualties were held on both sides. Even so, Britain was able to gain victory for the allies. -
The Eastern Front Warfare
The Eastern Front was held by the unprepared Russian Army. The Eastern saw the most casualties & was the first place where deadly mustard gas and other deadly gases were used -
The Zimmermann Telegram (The U.S. joins the war)
Germany, after being warned by the U.S. to not continue unrestricted submarine warfare soon broke its warning, this caused The U.S. to sever all ties to Germany. The British, several weeks later presented The U.S. with an intercepted telegram from Germany, which stated how if Mexico joined the war and helped Germany take down The U.S. then they could take Texas back. Mexico ultimately refused this agreement, but The U.S. now furious, joined the war to destroy Germany and Its allies. -
The Russian Revolution
The people of Russia were fed up with their army men being killed because of Tsar Nicholas' negligence and in-experience at The Battle of Tannenburg. Vladimir Lenin led the communist Bolsheviks and finally overthrew The Tsar. And through this overthrow, they forced The Tsar to sign The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany in 1918. This finally pulled The USSR (Russia) out of WW1. -
The USA enters WW1
The U.S. had previously remained neutral, and this was all because of President Windrow Wilson's want to not enter The War. But when he heard about Germany's telegram to Mexico, (The Zimmermann Telegram), The U.S immediately went into The War and started to send troops by the hundred thousands each day. In total, 4 million men were sent straight into war, which allowed their allies, mainly Britain, to become supplied again. And after the war over 500,000 men died. -
The Battle of Cambrai
The British forces engaged in a surprise attack on The Germans, they were able to gain some new territory over the next several days. But on November 30, a massive German counterattack resulted in most of that ground being recovered. The Battle of Cambrai was the first large scale tank offensive. The British gained barely any ground at the end of the fight, but they did entirely change the course of the war by being the first to use tank brigades and new artillery methods. -
The Homefront Changes
Throughout The War, many changes occurred with roles in society. Since the men were out in the War, women had to "assist" in being cops, protecting their neighborhood, and being nurses to the sickly. And children, now having less time to spend with their family, we're mostly at school, learning about The War and always on the lookout for any scrap metal. They would also use all their money to buy war bonds. Boy Scouts were also made during WW1, they would be on the lookout for enemy troops. -
The Treaty of Versailles
After over four years of fighting, an armistice was declared, and the European countries were able to survey their internal damages. Negotiations & terms were held by the allies with no participation from Germany. After the meeting, Germany was forced to sign the War Guilt Clause, stating that Germany is responsible for starting the war and that they must pay the reparations they caused. Germany agreed & The Treaty of Versailles was finally signed on 28th of June 1919, ending "The Great War."