-
The assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand
The assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife Sophie was one of the main events that led to the beginning of World War I. They were killed by a teenage Serbian revolutionary. While the two were being driven through Sarajevo on their way to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo they were shot. The people who shot them were very close to them, causing them to have no chance at survival. -
The Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun started at 7 am when the German army began pounding the forts and trenches with artillery fire. This battle was caused by the Commander-in-Chief of the German army wanting to end trench warfare. In the beginning, the German troops were not able to advance so a new general was assigned to protect Verdun. The "Sacred Way” road was the only route for people to go to the battlefield. This battle lasted until 1918, killing over 700,000 people. -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
This treaty ended the participation of Russia in World War I. This treaty caused months of negotiations. Central Powers then wanted secession of all the occupied territories of the old Russian Empire. Soviets then sent a new peace delegation which was hoped to stall the negotiations while waiting for revolutions in Europe. The Soviet Union then started to sue others for peace. -
Training
A large number of drafted individuals were sent to Texas, where they stayed in a hotel for one night. The next day, they all got on a train heading for Camp Travis. They were then quarantined for three weeks, where they were trained. They took shots, exams, tests, and more, which made many of them physically sick. After weeks of training and learning, a captain or major asked for soldiers to leave for Europe to join the war there. Hillie John Franz vollunteered. -
Air Battles
At about three in the afternoon, as Hillie John Franz was eating lunch by the chow wagon, he and the others saw German planes. As the German planes made their way over, so did the American planes. Everyone was very excited to watch, including Franz, as this was their first time watching an air battle. The battle took place about 8,000 feet up; no planes were shot down, but many were in pretty bad shape. -
Lanicky
Whenever Sargent Heller and Private Racymere returned, Lanicky (a soldier) started some drama. He told the sergeant and private that they would never take him in alive. Lanicky started to run. Sargent Heller told him to stop, but he wouldn’t, so he fired his gun in the air. He kept running, so the sergeant started to fire at him. They went to pick him up and found him dead. They were then placed under arrest. Soldiers attended Lanick’s funeral, and he was buried in a big German graveyard. -
Trip to La Suce
He traveled by foot with other soldiers. They were told to fall out, stack arms, stack police, and hang around in case orders came in saying to fall again. He was then told to fall in again as they headed for a railhead. After arriving, he fell out and stacked his arms again. They were all very happy to get the bags off their backs. They loaded into box cars, then they traveled for two days and two nights. They then arrived and were told to “fix light packs,” and the journey to La Suce began. -
Heading home
After Hillie John Franz completed his last trip, ferries came to greet them with food, people, music, drinks, and more. He headed back to camp, where he was quarantined. He was packed and ready, but he was still waiting. He heard that he would be taken to be discharged. He hoped for a great trip. The men were happy; the trip was great. He and others stopped for an hour and got cream cakes and drinks. Hillie thinks that after this, everything started to move quickly, as he was on his way home. -
The Treaty of Versailles was signed
The Treaty of Versailles was the most important peace treaty of World War I as it ended the war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It took six months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference for them to officially conclude the peace treaty. The Treaty of Versailles was signed right before the official end of the war. Even though the armistice ended the physical fighting, this peace treaty helped to make sure things were over for good. -
The United States signed peace treaties with Germany, Austria, and Hungary
This war-ending treaty was between the United States and German governments. The main reason for this was that the US Senate did not consent to signing the Treaty of Versailles. Because of this, they made a separate treaty in hopes that the US Senate would agree to sign this treaty instead. The purpose of this treaty was to end war by settling land war, with Germany surrendering. After ratifications were exchanged, they became effective on that same day, leading to the final end of the war.