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Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand is assassinated. Nedjelko Cabrinovic threw a bomb at Franz's car, however it did not kill him. Later that same day, Franz's procession took a wrong turn and chanced upon Gavrilo Princip. Princip pulled out a handgun and fired into the car, killing both Franz and his wife. -
Period: to
WW1
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First Battle of the Marne
The Germans had had the Allies in a state of retreat. It had seemed like the Germans would take Paris. The British and French stopped the German advance at the Battle of the Marne. This led to four long years of trench warfare, in which both sides would fight desperately for a hold with which to advance -
Sinking of the Lusitania
On May 1, 1915 the Lusitania departed from New York to its normal destination, Liverpool England. This journey would have the Lusitania cross the U-boat infested waters around England once again. The Lusitania set sail with 1,959 passengers. 128 of these passengers were Americans. On May 7th, the German vessel U-20 fired a torpedo at the Lusitania. The ship sank within 18 minutes. Help didn't arrive for hours, by which time 1,198 passengers had died. -
First battle of Ypres
This was a battle over the city of Ypres in Belgium. Both the Allies and the Germans were trying to outflank each other, and the race ended here. The Germans fiercely attacked the city, hoping to gain control over it and the North Sea. -
Battle of Verdun
The battle of Verdun was the longest battle of WW1, lasting 303 days. The battle had an estimated 700,000-900,000 casualtys. The battle was fought between Germany and France in France. The French and Germans rooted in to highly defensible positions and launched multiple attacks back and forth. The French held the Germans out of Verdun and eventually pushed them back. -
Battle of Somme
This battle was fought along the Somme river in France. It lasted four months and ended wit German retreat. The British suffered high casualties here due to the trench warfare. -
USA joins WW1
After the Lusitania, the Zimmerman telegraph, and the resume of unrestricted submarine warfare, the US declared war. At the start of the war, the US had less military power than any of the European countries in the war. By the end of the war the US military was over 4 million strong. The US used old tactics that weren't very effective, so US pushes had little effect. Towards the end of the war, 10,000 american troops were landing daily and German morale collapsed as allied morale sky rocketed. -
Second battle of the Marne
This was Germany's last attempt at taking western Europe. The Allies counter attacked and the German forces were pushed back. The war ended 100 days after this battle. -
End of WW1
After years of fighting and Germany coming to ruin, they requested an armistice. The request was accepted and peace talks began. This is the end of WW1. -
Signing of the Treaty of Versailles
This treaty officially ended WW1. Germany had little to do with the treaty and as such the treaty was very unfair. The Allies wanted to make sure a war like this would never happen again. so they punished Germany severely. This led to a rise in nationalism, and the eventual rise of Hitler.
