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The Christmas Truce
Christmas Eve, 1914, men heard German troops singing Christmas carols and patriotic songs leading to messages being passed between trenches. The next morning, men met in No Man’s Land to exchange gifts, shake hands, play games together, and bury fallen soldiers. Although a small truce, this led to other isolated truces throughout the war. Officers despised this truce believing it would weaken fighting spirit, and both sides’ High Commands sought to prevent this scale of truce from reoccurring. -
Gas Warfare's First Success
April 22-May 25, 1915, marks the first time gas warfare was used successfully. The second Battle of Ypres, Germans launched over 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas along the Western Front. The Allied defenders waited for the Germans’ attack, but terror rose when the gas spread across No Man’s Land into their trenches. This decimated two divisions of French and Algerian colonial troops. However, the Germans were left surprised when the gas didn’t take full effect and the Allied Powers prevailed. -
Lusitania’s Downfall
On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat abolished a British steamboat which was extremely climatic leading the U.S. to join the war. The Lusitania was designed to be a passenger ship, but it was secretly modified for war transporting goods from the U.S. to Europe. Once the Germans learned of this they broke naval laws angering the U.S and warned ships of submarines. Six days into the voyage lacking warning the Lusitania was hit and sunk in 20 minutes killing 1,195 people including 128 Americans. -
Charles First Voyage
In May of 1917, Charles had his first overseas voyage; about 8 days in he writes of a terrible wind storm. Charles, being down below the deck playing cards, felt a sudden crash where he was left startled. They hollered “We were hit!”, and he immediately went for the stairs. When the stairs were completely compact with men the ship rolled back and all knocked to the floor including Charles. Later, he discovers from a guard the anchor came out of the hold so far it swung hitting the ship's side. -
Charles Gerwitz to France
In September 1917 Charle’s uncle sent him to France, when camping he talked about how beautiful it was but found the people unkind and unnecessary. They only turned the water on at mealtime due to a lack of funding. Then, he had to cross the English Channel and hated it due to how unnecessary the terrible treatments were. Afterward, he talks about how thankful he was to get off such a terrible boat. -
U.S. Declares War on Germany
On April 6, 1917, The U.S. declared war on Germany. President Woodrow Wilson was discontent with Germany’s submarine policy and saw it as “A war against mankind". This led to debate and rumors of the Germans being a ruthless enemy. On April 4th the Senate pushed to declare war against Germany with a vote of 82-6, and the House of Representatives passed it with a vote of 373 to 50. However, we already invested in the allied powers financially due to institutions lending money to support. -
Fourth of July
4th of July, 1917 was Charles Gerwitz’s favorite day to celebrate. He was in Camp de la Courtine which had many amusing contests to celebrate. Charles remembers his favorite, which consisted of horse races with baled hay that those men riding bareback had to get their horses to jump over. The joy is expressed in his biography when Charles talks about his peer Tony Apleto. Tony decided to ride a mule and when it reached down for a bite of hay he fell legs up head first into it. -
Battle of Cantigny
On May 28, 1918, The U.S. had their first significant battle of WWl capturing the small village of Cantigny. Cantigny is located 75 miles north of Paris with close to 4,000 Americans used to capture it. Also, the U.S. took around 100 German prisoners by the end of the day, but the overall event cost the U.S. close to 1,000 casualties. This was important because it took away a crucial viewing point of the Western Front from the Germans. -
Charles Gerwitz and the 13s
October 13th, 1918 Charles Gerwitz was severely wounded in action, and this relates to a series of significant 13’s. A convoy of 13 ships, crossing in 13 days, wounded on the 13th hour, in his 13th month in the army, November 13th he reached the base hospital, 13 stitches in the wound, 13 years after discharge. He received this award on the 13th, 1932 and he had 13 sisters and brothers being the only one who served. Lastly, he died on August 13th, 1982, at the age of 93 years and 7 months. -
Germany Signs the Armistice
On November 11, 1918, Germany signed the Armistice at Compiègne which was the first step to ending World War I. On the Western Front, Germany and the Allie’s guns were silenced for the first time in years. Although the war proceeded they chose a truce inflicting celebration from a global stance. Robert Casey from the 33rd Division states, “We cannot comprehend the stillness.” This was a moment they only could’ve dreamed of, and when it came true all they could feel was utter disbelief. -
Charles Comes Home
New Year's Eve, 1918, the ship landed in Newport, Virginia with Charles on deck envious of those relaxing down below. Charles loved listening to John Philip Sousa’s band of close to 100 instruments. After 2 hours of listening to speeches, all of the dignitaries lined up on the platform to shake their hands, and Charles discourses how he was so excited to shake the last man's hand, John Phillip Sousa. When exited the boat he wrote of remembering thousands of people coming to wish love and kisses. -
Peace Conference Begins
On Jan. 18, 1919, the Peace Conference commenced in Paris. An international conference with the “Big Four” who were the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Vittorio Orlando, Georges Clemenceau, and President Woodrow Wilson. They faced many difficulties for many months such as creating articles of peace and fulfilling the demands of people from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Also, Great Britain and France's people craved material compensation for the damage the Central Powers had caused. -
Treaty of Versailles
June 28th, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was a peace document signed in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. Signed at the end of WWl by the allied powers and Germany as a way to punish the Germans for the damage they had done to the world in WWl. Germany was left in a feeling of humiliation after this treaty while it also failed to resolve many underlying issues leading to the war. This treaty led to even more feelings of resentment fueling the rise of the Nazi Party and WWll.