-
Assassination of Ferdinand
On June 28, 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo Bosnia. Gavrilo Princip was one of many Bosnians who were attempting to assassinate the archduke. Princip shot twice, striking Ferdinand's neck and his wife's abdomen. Princip was given a 20-year sentence but died of tuberculosis while in jail. With tensions already high, this was the tipping point -
Declaration of War
With the assassination of Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary wanted war with Serbia to settle old scores, but Russia came to Serbia's side. Germany then told Austria-Hungary that they would support them if Russia did get involved. But this would anger Russia's allies France and Britain. After Austria-Hungary sent Serbia an ultimatum they could not agree with, the army mobilized and called to Russia for support. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. -
The Allies vs. the Central Powers
With Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia, many countries were sucked into the war as part of alliance pacts with many nations. The Allies consisted of Russia, France, Great Britain, Belgium, Serbia and soon America. The Central Powers included Austria-Hungary, Germany and soon the Ottoman Empire. With more countries being on the Allied side, it was sure to end in a couple months. But what resulted was a 3 year war with over 9 million people, as well as wounding 21 million more. -
The Ottomans Enter
The Ottoman Empire was losing land and power during the summer of 1914, they sought to ally themselves with a European power to help safeguard their territory. The Ottoman's took kindly to German overtures, and secretly held a military alliance on August 2. On November 12, Ottoman leader Sheikh-ul-Islam declared holy war on France, Britain, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro. He urged any Muslims in these countries to rise up against them, and that death would mean victory for the Ottomans. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
The British ship Lusitania was heading on it's 101st round trip from New York to Liverpool when it was sunk by a German U-Boat. Of the 1,900 people on board, 1,100 people died including over 100 Americans. Although this didn't bring the U.S. into the war, it greatly affected the people's view on the Germans. -
Verdun
The battle of Verdun was caused by German General Erich von Falkenhayn’s plan to devastate French defenses surrounding Verdun. Fort Douaumont and Fort Vaux were taken by Germans, but then they called off their offensive. General Falkenhayn was relieved of his position while French forces retook their forts. In the end, over 600,000 casualties were suffered by both sides. -
Battle of the Somme
With the Allies attempting to break through German lines, the Allies began the Somme Offensive. The battle was fought near the Somme river in France. The ensuing battle would last months, with over a million casualties from both sides. On the first day alone, 57,000 British soldiers lost their lives, with 420,000 lost on their side. With artillery unable to knock out German guns and get deeper trenches, when they shifted away it left infantry exposed, causing even more deaths than needed. -
America enters the War
With Germany determined to win, they resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in war waters. With this , they sunk the American ship Housatonic. The United States broke diplomatic ties with Germany and in March sunk four American merchant ships. On April second Wilson wanted war with Germany and was passed through congress and the Senate, thus America entered the war. -
Theodore Kohls enlists
On April 12, 1917 Theodore Kohls lied to recruiters, saying that he 22 instead of 14. After being accepted, he was sent to the 26th regiment, which was chosen to be one of the first to reach France. He spent 2 weeks traveling to France, and was trained by 54th Regiment of the French Blue Devils. -
Doughboys
With America in the war, troops were sent to France for training. The trip from America to France took about two weeks, and the French soldiers there called them 'doughboys' because they hadn't experienced real war. The American troops thought of war as a romantic thing, but the French knew otherwise. Here, they trained for roughly 5 months before being ordered to the trenches. -
The Lawrence of Arabia, Arab Revolt and the Battle of Aqaba
With the Ottoman Empire entering the war with the Central Powers, Britain sought to dismantle them. T. E. Lawrence, a.k.a Lawrence of Arabia, was a British liaison for the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire, as well as a great diplomat for Britain. The Battle of Aqaba was fought mostly fought at Abu al Lasan, a Turkish Blockhouse, as well as Ma'an. With slight Turkish resistance, the Arabs took Lasan while British naval forces shelled Aqaba itself, resulting in surrender. -
The Bolshevik Revolution and Russia Backs Out of War
With Russia's disastrous involvement in the war, its occupants were fed up with Czar Nicholas II, who was soon abdicated. Growing civil unrest alongside food shortages led to this, with a provisional government being installed afterwards. Then, a bloodless coup staged by Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik's replaced the government with a Marxist state with him as the dictator. Russia then made peace with Germany and began industrialization. -
First Tastes of War
Theodore Kohls was set in reserve for ten days in the trenches. His company was sent to relieve another of his battalion, where he spent the night in snowy, muddy conditions. He was relieved the next morning, but was soon sent to the Toul front. Here his division held the trenches for three months. Here, he saw his first death at the hands of the Germans. After the three months went by, he was sent to the Montdidier front. -
Battle of Cambrai
The Battle of Cambrai was the the first battle fought with tanks. It was fought near Cambrai, France and was also the first battle that used preregistration of artillery for an offensive. The commanding officer for the British, Julian Byng, commanded tanks, artillery, cavalry and infantry to fight the Germans. After over a week of fighting, nearly eighty nine thousand people lost their lives during this battle. -
Kohls Last Battle
With Kohls returning back to his regiment, he was again injured in battle. He was shot in the leg at Paris Soissons road, where he also saw Major Roosevelt injured far away from him. He was carried away and taken to field hospital where his wounds were dressed and spent four weeks there. He returned to his regiment in St. Agman France. They watched as French families returned home to their destroyed. As they approached their destination, Kohls wrote his last words, and was killed in battle. -
The Montdidier Front
After being relieved by the 26th Division, Kohls division hiked to the Montdidier front. Here, he experienced war in its finest sense. Continuous shell fire from German lines, food details were blown to pieces, forcing the soldiers to fight without something to eat. Then on May 27th, a hundred and fifty German troops tried to invade Kohls lines. Wit an unsuccessful attempt, the Germans retreated leaving two thirds of their troops dead behind. -
Over The Top
After the German raid had failed on Kohls' line, the next morning they launched a counter-offensive. Early in the morning, artillery bombarded the German position, and at 6:15, the men went over the top. They succeeded in taking the position, while the Germans launched six counter-attacks that all failed. Eventually, they resorted to a gas bombardment. This was the first time during the war that the Germans were defeated by Americans, whom they called tin soldiers. -
Gassed
With Kohls position being held tightly and German forces being unable to break it, they started a gas bombardment. With this, Kohls instinctively put his mask on, but not fast enough. When his voice was lowering and only when he could whisper, he went on sick detail , where the doctor told him that he had been gassed. After spending 3 weeks in the hospital, he was sent back to his outfit, where he would be invited to parade in Paris for a short duration. -
Armistice
With the German's low on manpower and supplies and with the threat of invasion, they signed an armistice on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. The armistice was signed in a railroad car outside Compiégne, France. With over nine million dead, the Great War was known as 'the war to end all wars' due to the great loss of life it generated. The armistice didn't officially end the war, but it stopped most of the fighting across Europe before the Treaty of Versailles. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was the true end of World War 1. It set new boundaries for Germany. The treaty had little to not participation from Germany's part. The reparations were also extremely high, forcing inflation at skyrocket as a result. The treaty also outlined the strict military restrictions, but this would be ignored later years by Adolf Hitler. The treaty set up Germany for failure in the future, and the stage for World War 2. -
