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Archduke Franz Ferdinand Assasinated
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Hungary was on his way to city hall but decided to visit the hospital instead. The car, however, made a wrong turn right where an assassin, Gavrilo Princip, a member of The Black Hand, was standing. The assassin shot the Archduke and his wife Sophie because The Black Hand thought that Serbia deserved Bosnia. This is the event that sparks World War one. -
Germany Invades Belgium
Germany wanted to capture Paris. To do that, Germany needed free passage through Belgium. Belgium, however, wanted to remain neutral, so they refused to let Germany pass. This caused the Germans to invade, and Belgium then decided to ‘put on their boots’ and join the Allies to fight against Germany. This is the start of World War 1 -
The Christmas Truce
On Christmas Eve, the German and French soldiers in the trenches decided to have a Christmas Truce, lasting two days. The Germans celebrated and made peace with many of the soldiers, sharing cigarettes and plum puddings. They sang songs together and even played a game of Football (soccer) together. Others used these days to clean the trenches of dead bodies, but it truly was a short time of peace. -
The Youngest World War 1 Soldier Fights
Sidney Lewis, a 12 year old boy, lied about his age to be a part of the war. He fought at age 13 at the Somme front for six weeks, but was sent home after his mother contacted the War Office in London. When the war ended, however, he joined back and fought in World War 2 in bomb disposal, undeterred by what he had seen as a child. -
Women's Peace Party
Women protested the war. They did a demonstration to protest fighting, claiming that they didn’t want their sons fighting. The women protested for peace and against World War one, but all of their attempts were mostly ignored. They claimed that war was made by international gamblers, only fighting for money and bad causes. -
Germans Use Poison Gas for The First Time
On the Western front, Germans surprise the Allied soldiers with the first ever gas attack. They hit the French soldiers with 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas. This was during the Second Battle of Ypres. Chlorine gas irritates the eyes, nose, lungs and throat, and can kill with a high enough dosage. -
The Sinking of Lusitania
The Lusitania ship was a passenger ship that secretly carried weapons to the British during WW1. During this time, it was illegal to attack passenger ships during war, but when the Germans found out that Lusitania was secretly carrying weapons and supplies, they did not hesitate to sink the ship. On that ship were not only britains, however. There were 128 Americans on board, sparking a fuse in the previously neutral Americans. -
Lochnagar Crater
The Lochnagar Crater is the largest man made mine crater made in World War one. Bombs were laid by the British Army to attack the Germans. It was underneath a German strong point called Schwaben Höhe. This crater is now used as a memorial, with a wooden cross made by the roof of a church near Durham in England. -
First Use of Tanks
The first ever tanks are introduced at The Battle of The Somme from the British. The tanks were primitive, and too slow to hold their positions. The tanks were subjected to a mechanical breakdown, but this was only the first use of tanks. Tanks would soon become one of the deadliest and most effective weapons during World War 1. -
America Joins the War
After the sinking of the ship Lusitania in 1915, and President Wilson was fighting for America to join the war, Congress finally authorizes a declaration of war. The United States entered the war on the Allies side and sent over 2 million soldiers to help fight against the Germans. -
Making Friends
Lamb says in a letter to his Uncle that he met a family in france whose oldest son is in the front lines and their youngest, seventeen, is due to join the war in October. The father is a farmer with “the cleanest place [Lamb’s] seen in France”. They always had milk for Lamb and they made him a chicken dinner and a fried cake. -
My Dear Mrs. Lamb
A letter is written to Lamb’s mother informing her that she is unable to go abroad while her son is in service. From this we can assume that Lamb’s mother was possibly trying to see her son and visit him in France, but was unable to due to him being a part of the military. -
Transcript of Dear Mother
Lamb writes in a letter to his mother about the things that he has seen during his time in the war, and what he has gone through. “I’ve seen the field of battle still wet with blood and rank with the stench of dead and gas. Shell fire has scattered us as we lined up for chow, planes have bombed and shot us up with machine guns… famine and destruction were our daily sights and the dead weight of pack load and mileage dulled our sense of pity or fear.” -
YMCA to Lamb about Discharge
The YMCA writes a letter responding to Lamb wanting to return to work at the YMCA and get a discharge from the military. The letter is instructing Lamb on how to use letters enclosed inside an envelope to get a discharge and what to do afterwards. It says to meet Mr. Helms, the secretary, and that he will give Lamb movement orders for Paris. Once that is done it told Lamb to report to the Recruiting Bureau. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles marked the end of World War 1. It stated that Germany had to take full responsibility for World War 1. The treaty forced Germany to disarm and pay reparations, around 5 Million in damages. This was meant to weaken Germany as much as possible, but actually ended up leading the way for Adolf Hitler to spark the second World War.
