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The Assasination of Archduke Ferdinand and his Wife
The Archduke and his wifere were killed in Sarajevo, Bosnia by a radical native bosnian Gavrilo Princip. The Austrian government blamed Serbia for the attack. The Austrians took advantage of the attack and hoped to use it to settle the previous disagreement about Serbian freedom. -
Austria Hungary Declares war on Serbia
On this day Austria declared war on the Serbian nation. This caused what one was a delicate balance to break and soon Russia, Belgium, France, and Great Britain were fighting a war against Austria-Hungary and Germany. The would become know as the start of World War 1 -
Great Britian delcares war on Germany due to the Belgian Invasion
Great britian declared war on on Germany after Germany began an invasion on Belgium. On the 31st of July Germany had demanded safe passage through their country and Belgium sent a refusal. The germans declared war on Belgium and marched through anyway attacking the city of Leige on the way through. -
Woodrow Wilson Delcare that the US Will Remain Nuetral
As war raged in Europe our president announced tha the US would stay our of the war. Wilson planned to remain neautral though we would provide Great britian and French with supplies when needed. When the war was over America would act as the mediator between the two sides. -
Trench Warfare Begins
Trench warfare was first used in World War One in the battle of Marne. Soilders on both sides dug trenches and inbetween was no man's land. it was a dangerous place and most attempts to take the other sides trenches ended with many casualties. -
The Unofficial Christman Truce
Men on both sides of the trenches met in no man's land on Christmas day to talk and exchange gifts. It was a time of peace where no fighting took place and the men could talk and have fun. Soilders played soccer, gave each other gifts of mittens or tobacco and talked long into the night. -
Germany Creates Submarine War Zone Around Britian
Germany declares the seas around Britian as a war zone. The waters were filled with German U-Boats. Any ship that passed through would be shot down, including merchant ships. -
The Second Battle of Ypres: The German's Begin Using Poison Gas
It was in this battle that the Germans first used poison gas against opposing soilders. This began the chemical warefare in World War 1. One hundred and fifty tons of Chlorine gas were launched at the French soilders fighting in the trenches. It killed two divisions of men and polluted more that four miles of warfront. -
RMS Lusitania is Sunk by German Submarines
The British Lusitania is shot by a German U-boat and sunk. The whole sick was sunk in a matter of eighteen minutes. Aboard the ships were 1,198 passengers among them 128 Americans. This would be one of the reasons that pushed America to enter World War 1. -
Tsar Nicholas II Takes Personal Control of His Army
The Tsar writes a letter to his Commander-in-Chief thanking him for his service, but informing him that he would now lead the Russian army personally. He assured him that the crown knew of his bravery and that it was not a pusnishment, Nicholas simply felt that God was calling him to lead his armies to victory. -
The Battle of Verdun Begins
The Battle of Verdun was one of the longest battle in World War 1. It was also the bloodiest. It lasted ten months and resulted in more that 600,000 casualties including the dead, missing, and wounded. The battle took place on a tiny peice of land that was not even 10 kilometers square. -
The Battle of Somme
During this battle the first tanks were used. These early tanks were simply used to travel safley on the front. The had small home for guns to be shot through, but they did not have and explosive firepower like modern tanks. -
Germans Try to Recruit Mexico
The Germans send an encoded note known as the Zimmerman message to Mexico to convince them to join the war if America joined. They would attack the united states inorder to help the Germans. British cryptograhpers interccepted it and decoded it. They then sent to message to President Woodrow Wilson who released it to the press. This further angered Americans who now wanted to join the war. -
Czar Nicholas II Abdicates
The Czar is forced to abdicate my Petrograd revoloutionaries and a government is installed instead. The Royal family was taken to several different palaces under heavy gaurd. On July 16 they were shot. -
America declares War on Germany
America entered tha war because of a combination of incidents. Between the sinking of the Lusitania, the atrocities in Belgium, the Zimmerman Note, and several attacks on Americn merchant ships. The US Senate held a vote and the results were 82 to 6. Two days later America declared war upon Germany. -
Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points to Peace Come Out
Wilson's Fourteen Points were guidlines for a peaceful end to the war. The offered equal terms for all the countries involved in the war. It asked that there be no more secret alliances and that the seas be open to the se of everyone. Many people considered it an unreasonable request, but if it had been used it might have saved us from World War 2. -
Russia Signs a Peace Treaty between Themselves and the Central Powers
The Treaty of Brest Litovsk was signed and Russia resigned from the war. There was a revoloution brewing in Russia and they decided to leave the war to take care of the problems in their country. -
Kaiser Wilhelm Flees Germany
The leader of Germnay, Kaiser Wilhelm Abdicates as emperor and flees Germany. There was mutiny in his court, and though he hoped to still keep the Prussian throne, he was forced to give up the entirety of his title. Wilhelm fled to the netherlands and remained there till his death in 1941. -
rmistice between France and Germany
Germany singed an armstice with France at 11:00 on November 11th. The Armistice agreed that both troops would leave the others country and the fighting would cease. There would be war reparations and a trade of prisoners as well. -
The Treaty of Versailles is Signed
The Treaty of Versailles was the official end to World War 1. Germany was forced to sign the treaty, which contained harsh punishments for the country. The treaty containes 440 articles filled with do's and don'ts for the country of Germany. This treaty was one of the main causes for World War II, as Germnay was not pleased with it's lot after the war. -
Governent Attempts to Fix Stock Markets
After the war people began buying things on cerdit. they even purchased stock. In fact, so much so that there was a false high in the stocks. The stock rose over 40% during this period. There was no money behind the market, just empty promises. The Federal Government attempted to fix that by raising federal funds. -
The Recession Begins
During this time wages fell and there was a large number of unemployed. This was two months befor the fall of the stock market, the start of the Great Depression. -
The Stock Market Crash/ Black Tuesday
Sixteen million dollars were lost on the market that day. Investors lives shattered. it had begun slowly four days before dropping more and more each day until it had dropped 25% in just four days. It lost 40% percent in market value, this being more than 10 times more than the US Federal budget and more that we had spent on the war. -
The Lowest Stock Market day of 1929
It was on this day that The stock markets reached their lowest point. The American economy had lost over 100 billion dollars. In todays money that's 1.3 trillion dollars. America was in chaos. -
Herbert Hoover Hold a Meeting to Resolve the Crisis
Herbert Hoover meets with big business. He asks them to try and maintian a livable wage. He was trying to avoid mass unemployment. The businesses' tried but wage drops were inevitable. -
Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act is Passed
This act was passed to raise tariffs on American goods. This raised the tax on Amarican imported goods. This was done in hopes to bring more money into the American economy. It really didn't do much good because other countries were suffering as well and couldn't afford to play the high taxes. -
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US Banks Begin to Fail
One by one US bank begin to fail. After the crash people rushed to take their money out of the banks for fear they would not get it back. Instead it caused turmoil. Banks needed to have a little money on hand and they started calling in all their loans. -
The New York City Bank Collapses
A majorr bank, the New York Bank of the United States collapses. It takes with it 520 million dollars of its depositors money. Some very wealthy men have deposits in this bank and were brought down penniless within a matter of hours. This was thought to beone of the first bank failures of the Great Depression. -
Unemployment Rates reach 24%
13 million Americans are unemployed. Those that managed to keep their job are earning around $1.50 a day. People can hardly afford to take care of their families. They stood in bread lines or waited at soup kitchens for food to feed their families. It was shameful, but necassary. -
President Roosevelt Elected
The 32rd President is elected. As a part of his campaign he promised to help create more jobs and to fix the economic crisis -
Father Coughlin's Radio Speeches Take Off
Father Coughlins radio ministry encourages people to push through the hard times. Over thrity million people tuned in to hear him preach. Though he was supposed to be a strictly religious man, he often supporten the President's speeches and presented his own political idea weaved into his sermons. -
Townsend Proposes Penison Plan
A doctor, Franics Townsend, develops an early form of social security. He called in the Townsed Plan. Basically everyone over the age of 60 would recieve 200$ a month taken from a 2% sales tax. Getting rid of the older people wold provide more room for younger people to get into the work force and to take care of their families. The three requirement to become apart of the plan were: the person must be retired, have no past crime record, and the money given had to spent within the month. -
Townsend Plan put into Action
Francis Towsend creates a program and kickstarter called Old Age Revolving Pensions, Ltd. to get his Townsend Plan rolling. -
Share Our Wealth Society Begins
Huey long creates the Share out Wealth Society using Robin Hood-like reasoning to deal with the poor. He claimed that if they took from the rich and gave to the poor the problem of poverty would be solved. -
Charles Coughlin Establishes the National Union for Social Justice
This group was founded by the radio pastor Father Coughlin and was basically an orginazation made to crackdown of communism. They also didn't carre for Roosevelt or his administration very much. Meanwhile they were rooting for the nationalization of utilities and banks. -
Huey Long is Assasinated
Huey Long, the creator of the Share Our Wealth Society, is assasinated. He was at the capitol building trying to pass a bill. The son of the judge he was opposing shot him when the house passed the bill. Long was rushed to the hospital, but died two days later. -
The start of World War Two
The official start of World War 2 when Germany declares war on Poland and starts to invade.
