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Assasination of Franz Ferdinand
The actual reason of the outbreak of WWI was when the Serb Princips Assasinated the Austrian successor to the throne Franz Ferdinand. -
War posters
poster 2poster 1
In the US was Uncle Sam used on the posters to recruit soldiers(right). Also in U.K. they had a war poster very similar to the one with Uncle Sam(left).
Women were also called to duty as nurses, and in that way serve their country during the war (poster 1).
There were many kinds of war posters during the war. One calling men to duty for "the last call" (poster 2) -
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Voices of war
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WWI
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Rupert Brooke - The Soldier
Rupert Brooke was a poet who served in the Royal Naval Division in WWI, but died of blood poisoning. He was especially known for his poem "The Soldier".
The poem "The Soldier" gives a very naive picture of the soldiers' life during the war and it is written to give moral to the soldiers, fighting in the war.
It describes how the soldiers will not be forgotten, if they die in the war. The earth around their buried bodies will forever be apart of England and something special. -
Ruth Comfort Mitchell - He went for a Soldier
Mitchell wrote novels, poems, plays and short stories. Her first poem was publiced when she was 14. She was married to Sanborn Young in October 1914.
"He went for at Soldier" is a poem about "Billy, the Soldier Boy" who is a part of the first volunteers who go to war.
He was being acclaimed as he went to war, but he dies in the fields alone.
The Poem shows how cruel the war is and shows the contrast between how the soldiers are treated at home and how their lives could end. -
Life in the trenches
The life in the trenches was not a piece of cake. It was very dangerous. 56% of the soldiers who were sent to the trenches died or got wounded.
They soldiers did not spent much time at the front line. When they were not in the front line, they could be in the support line, the reserve line or many other thing, like being in the hospital, training or cleaning weapons.
The conditions in the trenches attracted rats and the trenches were soon swarming with them. Lice were also a big problem. -
Wilfred Owen - Dulce Et Decorum Est
Wilfred Owen was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets in WW and his poetry was realistic.
"Dulce Et Decorum Est" describes how the life in the war really was.
It refers to the soldiers as little chrildren, who do not know what they are doing.
"Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori" is the last sentence of the poem and means: It is sweet and proper to die for one's country. But in the poem it is refered to as the old lie. It is a waist of human life to send people to war. -
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WWII
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declaration of war
England declares war on Germany, followed France and the following days by the entire Commenwealth but Ireland.
Commonwealth are lands who has been English colonies or under the control of England, and then as independent countries have joined the Commonwealth of Nations. -
The Battle of Britian
It was the battle for the airsuprimacy over U.K.
The Germans needed the suprimacy to get infantry on British soil, but never succeeded. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The Japanese bombs the American naval and air Pearl Harbor on Hawaii. With this Japan entered the war against the U.S. and the U.K. -
Richard Hillary - The Last Enemy
The Last Enemy is about Hillary who becomes a pilot. He is proud of being a pilot and does not think he can be killed.
Hillary thinks it is more pure to kill a man as he does than he does, compared to the regular soldiers and the bomber pilots. They are equal and has the same chances to win. It is a battle on skills.
But as a pilot he does not see the horror and death that war brings. When a bomb hit the city and he sees a woman die, he realizes how arrogant he has been. -
Richard Hillary
Richard Hillary was born in 1919, in Sydney, Australia. He moved to England with his father and went to Trinity College, Oxford in 1937.
He was at Oxford when the war broke out and became a member of the Oxford Royal Air Force Volunteer.
Hillary was glad to be a part of the war, because it solved the problems with finding a job. He also hoped for fear amusement which otherwise would not be possible to experience.
He was one of the first pilots to be shot down in the Battle of Britain. -
The battle of Iwo Jima
The battle to take over the Island Iwo Jima lasted from Feb. 19th to Mar. 26th 1945. To contunie the pacific campaign, the Americans had to get closer to Japen and taking over Iwo Jima was a part of that.
It was the first attack on Japanese soil and the Japanese were well prepared.
The battle was on of the bloodiest in the pacific campaign and the only one were the Americans had more casualties than the opponent.
First when the Japanese began to run out of supplies the Americans got advantage. -
The Viet Cong
The Viet Cong fought against the Americans. The moved by foot and did not use inuforms. Therefore they could become a part of village sociaties and in that way hide from the Americans soldiers.
They used guerilla tactics and made traps. They blew up bridges and roads and destroyed canals, to keep the supplies from getting to the American troops. -
Vietnam divided
In July 1954 it was decided to divede Vietnam in two. -
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Vietnam war
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The Ho Chi Minh Trail
The Ho Chi Minh Trail was a network of roads, over-and underground, which connected North and South Vietnam though the neighbour countries, Cambodia and Laos.
The trail was 16,000 kilometers long.
It was used to transport supplies and soldiers from North to South Vietnam and the Americans made many attempts to destroy it, but never succeeded.
"The Ho Chi Minh Trail" is the American name for the trail. In Vietnam it is known as the Duong Truong Son or Truong Son Road. -
The American Soldiers
The young American soldiers were placed in a total foreign environment, without a clear frontline. Meaning that the enemy could be anywhere.
The front line troops were called "grunts" and the average age was 19. They moved in an area filled with booby-traps and they did not know if the next step could result in a serious injury. This had a bad psychological effect on the soldiers.
Some enjoyed being there and thought they had a purpose by serving there. While others rather wanted to be at home. -
The Tet Offensive
The Viet Cong did not usually fight in larger battles, but in January 1968 they did. It was called the Tet Offensive.
It was a massive by the North Vietnamese army and The Viet Cong. They all major South Vietnamese cities and U.S. military bases.
It completely took the Americans by suprice. However the Americans managed to force the troops back.
There were great loss on both sides and 160,000 civilians were killed and 2 millions made homeless. -
The Paris Peace Accords
It was the ending of the war and the Paris Peace Accords said that the North and South Vietnam had to find a political solution on the conflict.
