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The Assassin
The Archduke of Austria - Hungary, Franz Ferdinand and his wife where assassinated by an Serbian nationalist, named Gavrilo Princip, when they where visiting the Sarajevo capital, Bosnian. Austria-Hungary became very upset and wanted to limit Serbia's growth by not allowing Bosnia to become apart of their nation. This made Serbia furious and upset their nation. -
The War begins
Outraged by the assassination of their Archduke and to prevent Slave Nationalism from undermining their empire, Austria - Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28th, 1914, with its allie Germany, but Serbia had allies of its own Russian and France. Soon after Russia posted their army on the German borders and Germany declared war on Russia and France. This was the start of World War I. -
The Germans mistake
The German forces advanced through neutral Belgium to start a massive invasion of France and knock the French out of the war. When Germany crossed the Belgium lines, Britain declared war on Germany. -
Battle of Tannenbreg
The German Army surprised the Russians with their attack near the Village of Tannenbreg. They struck with lethal force and suprised the Russians with three days of artillery and cut off their pathways and a massive slaughter began. Russian soldiers retreated and more German troops moved in. -
Battle of Marne
At the end of August during 1914, the German Army invaded neutral Belgium and moved 30 miles northeast of Paris where they were attacked by the French Army known as the Battle of Marne. -
Battle of Ypres
On October 19th, 1914, the Germans opened fire on the Allies near the Belgium City of Ypres. This would be one of three battles to control the city. The Germans wanted to break down the Allied lines and capture the city and channel ports to control the outlets to the North Sea. The battle lasted until November 22, when winter arrived and forced the battle to stop. Some of the war's worst struggles would be in this region known as the Ypres Salient. -
The Lusitania sunk
The Germans torpedoed and sank the Lusitania, a ship carrying about 173 tons of ammunition for Great Britain, on May 7, 1915. This was less than a year after World War I and the Germans justified their attack because it was carrying war ammunition from New York to Britain. More than 1,900 passengers and crew members were on board and over 1,100 of them died. -
Italy declares war on Austria - Hungary
In 1915, Italy declared war on Austria - Hungary and the other central powers. Even though Italy was a member of the Triple Allies with Germany and Austria - Hungary but they were deciding on which side to chose. Italy weighed its options considering how to gain the greatest benefits from the war. Italy decided to join the Allies based largely on the Treaty of London, which was singed in April 1915. By its terms Italy would receive control over territory's on its border with Austria - Hungary. -
Battle of Loos
The Battle of Loos began on September 25th, 1915, when British forces attacked the Germans that were positioned at Loos, Belgium. The death tolls exceeded those of any other previous battle because this was the first time that Britain used poisonous gas, releasing 150 tons of chlorine from over 5,000 cylinders. Over 8,000 British soldiers were killed in this battle. -
Battle of Verdum
More than 1,220 guns around an eight-mile perimeter opened fire on February 21, 1916. The Germans told many key strongholds including, Fort Vaux and advanced more than six miles on the French. But by July 14th, the Germans called off their attack and the French retook the land and Fort back. -
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was the only major naval battle of World War I. It Involved some 250 ships and 100,000 soldiers. The battle began with gunfire from both the German and British forces. British boats advanced which eventually forced the German ships to retreat. Both sides claimed victory but Britain retained control of the North Sea. -
Battle of Somme
The Battle of Somme was one of the largest battles WWI. The battle lasted from July 1, to November 1, of 1916. It was near the Somme river in France. By the end of the battle the Allies and the Central powers lost more than 1.5 million men. In February the German army was weakened and retreated. -
USA declares war on Germany
The U.S. was outraged by The Germans sinking of the Lusitania so in 1917 the U.S. declared war on Germany. On June 26 the U.S. send 14,000 troops to France ready for combat. The entrance of America into the war well-supped and helped the Allies to Victory. One of the Troops that landed in France was Riley W. Harold. He joined the army a little bit after the U.S. declared war on Germany. He join the the Red Cross and would drive wounded soldiers to the hospital. -
Shot down
After surveying in the red cross Harold decided to become a pilot in the Army Air Corps. Dropping bombs on enemy lines and scouting for ground troops. In October 1918 his plan was shot down behind enemy lines. Him and his observer Sam Keesler were taken prisoners of war. Where late his observer died due to his woes from the crash. -
The Central Powers Surrender
In November 1918 WWI ended with Austria - Hungary and Germany signing an agreement ending the war. The war left 9 million casualty and 21 million soldiers wounded. With both the Allie and Central Power counties losing nearly a million or more men. During the time when Harold was a prisoner the war end a mouth later and he was set free. -
Treaty of Versaille
the treaty of Versailles was the official ending of the war. it was singed on June 28th 1919 the allies were the ones who wrote it. the treaty was 15 parts and 440 articles long. the terms of the treaty punished Germany and blamed the whole war on them. Germany was punished by taking boundaries territories an making them pay for the losses of the war.
