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Franco-Prussian War
The war between France and Prussia (the future German Empire) that lasted from 1870 to 1871 ended with a humiliating defeat for France. -
Period: to
World War 1
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Wilhelm II Crowned
With the accession of Wilhelm II to the German throne in 1888, the German foreign policy became more bellicose. The new German Emperor dismissed the skillful Otto von Bismarck as Chancellor. He also refused to renew the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia that maintained the fragile peace between Russia and Austria-Hungary as well as kept France isolated. -
Russo-Japanese War
The outcome of the war against the Japanese was a major blow for the Russians who lost almost entire Baltic and Pacific fleet. The defeat also provoked a serious political crisis that led to the Russian Revolution of 1905. -
Moroccan Crises
Both crises were provoked by the Germans with an aim to cause tensions between France and Britain that just concluded an alliance. The result, however, was right the opposite. Instead of ‘softening’ Britain and bring it closer to the Central Powers, the Moroccan Crises further reinforced the Entente Cordiale and increased the British hostility towards Germany. -
Entente Cordiale
The British decided to enter into an alliance with France that came to be known as Entente Cordiale. In 1907, Britain also entered into an alliance with Russia that was already in alliance with France. This formed the Triple Entente which in turn became the core of the Allies during World War I. -
Bosnian Annexation Crisis
In 1908, Austria-Hungary decided to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina that was formally an integral part of the Ottoman Empire. The annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina caused embitteredness in Serbia, while the way it was carried out humiliated the Russian government that could not afford a similar humiliation during the 1914 July Crisis. -
Italo-Turkish War
War between Italy and The Turkish, it revealed the weakness of the Ottoman Empire. This Turkish defeat was also a large factor in Balkan War. -
Balkan Wars
Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and Bulgaria formed the Balkan League, a military alliance against the Ottoman Empire. Within a few months the alliance had stripped the Empire of its possesions. -
Red Baron
The Red Baron shoots don 80 enemy planes -
Kiffin Rockwell
Kiffin Rockwell enlists in the French Foreign Leigon and becomes the first american to shoot down an enemy plane. -
Assassination of Arch-Duke Franz Ferdinand
The Austro-Hungarian Duke was Assassinated by Bosnian revolutionists when he and his wife were visiting Sarajevo. -
Assassination
Gavrilo Princip assassinates Franz Ferdinand. -
July Ultimatum
Austria-Hungary presented an ultimatum to Serbia. But Vienna intentionally imposed impossible demands. A few days later Austrian troops were invading Serbia. -
Secret Alliance
The Ottoman Empire and Germany form a secret alliance. -
France
Germany declares war on France. -
German Invasion
Germany invades Belgium, leading Britain to declare war on Germany. -
Russia
Austria-Hungary invades Russia. -
Poison Gas
Germany used several poison gases to fight with. If you didn't have a gas mask you had a good chance of dying. Mustard gas was one of the more famous ones and was a very dangerous and widly used poison gas. -
Japan Joins
Japan declares war on Germany -
Protect Paris
The British and French armies team up on the Germans to keep them out of France. -
Trench Warfare
Trench warfare consisted of men digging long, deep holes and fighting from inside them. The trenches were very untidy and men got several diseases in them. They were never really dry and exiting them meant you could be mowed down by enemy fire. -
Christmas Truce
On Christmas, the German and Allied troops came together to celebrate Christmas peacefully and even exchanged gifts. -
Unrestricted Warfare
The Germans were using their U-Boats in a way war had never seen before called unrestricted submarine warfare. The Germans would attack and sink any enemy ship, even civilian ships. This led to the sinking of the Lustitania and was one major reason America eventually joined the war. -
Gappolli
The most important naval battle in the war. -
Sinking of the Luistania
Germans attack all enemy ships with their U-boats and because of this sink the Lusitania. Hundreds died and America send very stern warnings to Germany to stop. This later wopuld be one reason America Joined the War. -
Tanks
Tanks start out crude, but they start to play a bigger role. They are designed as a combination of a military machine and a farm machine. They can go over several obsticals and cover large gaps. They brought some mobility back to the Western Front. 1st tanks treads fall off. -
U-Boats
Between this date and January 1917 1.4 million tons of allied shipping was lost to U-boats. U boats were crowded and could not go very deep. They were very effective for the germans and were used for blockades. Germans built 360 U-Boats and lost 178. -
Zimmerman
The Zimmerman telegram is intercepted and decoded, revealing a german plan to ally with Mexico if America joins the war and offering them American land for their help. This is one major reason America joined the war, along with the telegram also said that unresricted submarine warfare would soon resume. -
Russian Revolution
Russians were fed up with the war and the loss of life, and they started a revolution in the middle of the war. -
America Joins
America eneters WW1 for a variety of reasons. This was a turning point in the war. America brought millions of fresh and aggressive troops into battle and managed to stop Germany-s last major offensive attack. They then continued to advance on the Germans. -
14 Points
Woodrow Wilson first introduces his 14 points. The Germans later sign the armistice on the back of these. He had several iseas in his points and some did have a large impact but they never really became too important. The points included having no more secret agreements, to let Italians live in Italy, Belgium would remain independant, and France would recover land they lost in war war to Germany. -
Last Casualty
1 minute before the ceasefire was settled, Private Henry Gunter is shot down in a mission to try and take a German machine gun post. -
Armistice
Germany had little choice but to sign the armistice. They were forced to give up thousands of their weapons and all of their submarines, as well as evacuate certain areas. They were also demanded to tell the locations of land mines and wells they may have poisoned. If the terms were not followed, then war would begin again. It was signed at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. -
Economic Cost of WW1
WW1 was a very expensive war. Countries had to shift their economies to making weapons of war and transporting their troops. It could be very costly to ship troops across countries and to test out new weapons and perfect them. Russia suffered a lot and had an entire revolution. Many countries were in debt from trying to get enough money for war. Citizens had bought trusts and other countries had made loans. Then there was all the economic supplies lost at sea, and the sufferage of citizens. -
Casualties
There millions of casualties from WW1. The U.S. alone had over a quarter of a million casualties. Turkey had 650,00, Italy had almost 1.5 million, Germany had roughly 5.75 million, France had almost 6 million, Russia had 6.7 million, Britain had over 3 million, and austria-Hungary had almost 5.4 million. Needless to say that this was pretty much the bloodiest war in hisory. -
Personal Conclusion
I believe that WW1 was a war that, in hindsight, should not have happened. It only happened due to everyone pledging their support to others. While I am deeply sorry for all the lost souls in the war, I will say that this war was stupid, plain and simple.
