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Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated
When Ferdinand is assassinated along with his wife Sophie it sparked World War I. They were shot by Gavrilo Princip. Who then tried to kill himself but was stopped by a bystander. Several people surrounding him attacked Princip. Princip and other nationalists were struggling to end Austro- Hungarian rule over Bosnia and Herzegovina. The assassination set off an escalating chain of events. -
WWI Begins
Following the Franz Ferdinand assassination, World War I began. Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire, who were the central powers, fought against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan, and the United States.The allied powers. More than 16 million people would be dead by the end of the war. -
Germany stops supplies
Germany declared that the area around Britain was a war zone and all merchant ships would be attacked by the German navy. Germany was doing this to limit the supplies that France and Britain were getting from the U.S and neutral countries. This led to many people in those countries starving. The ships eventually stopped trying to deliver supplies because they needed to fuel their boats to get back to their country but the Germans wouldn't let them pass and their ships would sink. -
The British use tanks
The British are the first ever to employ tanks at Delville Wood. The fighting at the battle of Delville Wood was extreme. Soldiers referred to Delvilles wood as Devils Wood. -
Submarines Back
Germany uses unrestricted submarine warfare in European waterways. This draws the U.S even more into the war. 1021 people died and 128 of them were Americans. Woodrow Wilson writes an angry note to the German Government demanding they end attacks against unarmed merchant ships. -
Zimmerman telegram
British intelligence give Wilson the Zimmerman telegram. The telegram was a message from Arthur proposing that Mexico side with Germany. That was in case of war between Germany and the United States. "Room 40" decoded the message and handed it over to the United States and then it was all over Newspapers nationwide. -
Wilson for war
Wilson pledged to keep the U.S out of war but changed his mind after Germany uses unrestricted submarine warfare. Wilson outlines his case for war to Congress. Wilson preferred Britain over Germany because he thought Germany was too authoritative. Wilsons speech for war was too hard for most Americans to read. -
U.S enter the War
The United States was neutral in the war but was close trading partners with Britain. The U.S ships tried to travel to Britain were sunk or damaged by German mines, then quickly after that Germany announced unrestricted warfare against all sips even neutral that entered the war zone around Britain. Germany then announced they had sunk an American private vessel and Wilson was furious. -
Soldier is drowned
A young soldier from Leo's regiment was drowned. -
Leo's broke
Leo Joseph Bailey goes broke and writes his sister a letter asking for money. -
Regiment loses
Leos regiment loses the first and second platoon. -
Quarantine
Leo is quarantined for the mumps. -
Germans take shots
Leo writes in a letter to his sister that the "german airplane taking shots at us" -
Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates, ending hope for German victory
Germany was looking for an armistice. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates and moved to the Netherlands. He lived there for the remainder of his life. People described him as very vain and arrogant. -
Armistice Day
The first World War left 9 million dead and 21 million wounded. Atleast 5 million died of starvation, disease and exposure. The war was known as "The war to end all wars" because of all the destruction it caused. The Armistice is signed which ends the war on the Western Front.
