-
Period: to
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars began on October 8, 1912, and ended on July 18, 1913. The assassination of Ferdinand took place in a Balkan city. The Balkan Wars were fought between members of the Balkan league, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, and the Ottoman Empire. There were 100k casualties and two million people driven out of their homes near the war, over half the population of Bosnia. The Wars eliminated the Ottoman Empire from most of Europe and allies fought each other for the spoils. -
Extra Event 1: Failed Assassination Attempt on Archduke Ferdinand
There was an attempt at the Archduke’s life while he was leaving home with his wife. Although, it was in vain. The attempt had been foiled by many missed grenades. There were eyewitnesses seeing bombs going over and past the Archduke’s car. Some bystanders and police officers were injured and this assassination attempt, foiled. -
The Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand (Gregory, 2010)
The Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand from Austria happened on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo. He was assassinated by a nineteen-year-old Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip. This set off a chain of events during the War and Austria-Hungary blamed the Serbian government immediately for the assassination. Serbia was blamed because the assassinator belonged to a Serbian terrorist group. This terrorist group was fighting over the Austria-Hungary's rulership over Bosnia. -
Extra Event 2: Thailand Joins WWI
Thailand was one of the lesser-known combatants during World War I. They joined on July 22 allied with Britain and France as well as America. Before at the time, Thailand was referred to as ‘Siam’ before reverted to the name Thailand twice. Thailand suffered 5,569 casualties during the war. Mostly due to disease. -
World War I begins
World War I began on July 28th, 1914. This was one of the most brutal events in history and was once referred to as the Great War. The war included over 9 million casualties belonging to the soldiers alone. The War made America rise to become a dominant world power, unleashed the Russia revolution and the downfall of many empires, etc. World War I began due to the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and Russia mobilizing for its alliance with Serbia causing Germany to declare war on them. -
Period: to
Battle of Gallipoli
The battle of Gallipoli lasted from February 19, 1915, to January 9, 1916. This battle was about the attempt to control sea routes from Europe to Russia. Of course, to counter this, Russia sought help. Russia called upon Britain to stop the invasion from the Turkish. The British and French attacked first through the Navy. by the end of the war, there were 250,000 casualties. -
Lusitania Sinks
On July 7th, 1915, the Lusitania, a British ocean liner (a luxury steamship) had taken “a direct hit from a German U-boat submarine - without warning - and sunk within 20 minutes” (Mcdermott, 2019). The Lusitania was occupied by a crew and 1,959 passengers. This incident had 1,195 casualties 123 Americans among them. This indirectly caused the US to join the war because of strained relations between Germany and America. They were, of course, strained due to the American victims. -
Period: to
Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun February 21st to December 18 in 1916. This battle was one of the more bloodiest battles of the war and had huge amounts of casualties. Casualties in the 800 thousand. The attack was coded named by Germans as “Judgment”. The battle of Verdun began because Germany’s Chief of general staff wanted to ‘Bleed France White‘ with an attack of historic France Land. -
Period: to
Battle of Somme
The battle of Somme was a battle taking place from July 1 to November 18, 1916. In the South of Somme, German forces were weak. The French advanced from there. By July 15 The British closed in on the Germans and Tanks were introduced. The war had only ended due to muddy and bad rainy weather from a winter season coming. That’s when the battle ended. -
Zimmermann Note
The Zimmermann Note was a German secretive diplomatic telegram carried out by Arthur Zimmermann. It “instructed the ambassador, Count Johann von Bernstorff, to offer significant financial aid to Mexico if it agreed to enter any future U.S-German conflict as a German ally” (History.com 2009). This note caused outrage among Americans. It was an effort to derail the transportation of supplies and materials from the US to Allies at War with Germany. This effort was carried out by the Germans. -
Period: to
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution began on the 3rd of March, 1917. This “was one of the most explosive political events of the twentieth century” (History.com 2009). This revolution was violent and ended the Romanov dynasty which had lasted from 1613 to early 1917. The revolution erupted from the lack of food and faith in the leadership ability of the government at the time. The revolution was successful and the Bolsheviks seized power. Within the 8 months, the revolution took 9 million casualties. -
The U.S. enters the War
The United States entered World War 1 on April 6th, 1917 to join their allies Britain, France and Russia in battle. More than 2 million American soldiers fought in France. The US joined because of issues with Europe. Among them the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and The Lusitania with 123 American casualties. The War brought a change to the US and women gained the right to vote. The saying “Remember the Lusitania” was on war recruitment papers and united the people in memory of the lost. -
Russia withdraws from War
Russia withdrew on the March 3, 1918. They withdrew because of the communist Bolsheviks led to their pulling out the war. They decided that the war was sacrificing the working classes for the financial interests of the wealthy (Reynolds, 2019). They left signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. This treaty was an agreement that Russia would recognize the independence of Ukraine, Georgia, and Finland as well as give up Poland and certain Baltic states including Lithuania and Latvia. -
Period: to
Battle of Chateau-Thierry
The battle of Chateau-Thierry began on the 3rd of July and ended on the 26th of that month. This battle was the second battle after the battle of the Marne. The battle of Chateau-Thierry was a result of retaliation against Germans. Near the end of the war, American and French troops began a counter-assault to the Germans. This battle was the turning point of the War. -
Extra Event 3: Anastasia Romanov’s Death
Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov is famous for her imposters. After her family’s execution, it was believed that she had escaped the execution of her famous family. After her supposed death there were many imposters claiming to be the grand duchess herself. The most famous of which, Anna Anderson. It took a DNA test to prove otherwise as she fooled many people. -
Extra Event 4: The Infamous first Great Escape
There is a forgotten Great prison Escape that took place during the War. In 1918 on July 24th, 29 British officers had dug a tunnel in secret and escaped from it. The prison was heavily guarded with armed German guards ar the Holzminden Proner of War Camp. 19 of the 29 men were caught. The last 10 reached Holland on foot and made into a Channel 5 documentary. -
Period: to
Battle of Meuse-Argonne
The Battle of Argonne began on September 26th, 1918 and ended on November 11th, 1918. This battle became known as the ”Meuse-Argonne Offensive” and was the last battle of World War I. The goal of the war was to reach the railroad junction in Sedan. More than a million American troops participated in this war but the majority was inexperienced and unorganized. The Armistice was declared on the last day of the battle. -
The Armistice
World War One's Armistice ended the fighting on the Western Front in Europe. An Armistice is essentially a truce. During the War, the Armistice was used between France, Germany, and Britain. This Armistice ended WWI. This was during November 11, 1918. -
Treaty of Versailles signed
The Treaty of Versailles was signed on January 10th, 1919 and became in effect the year after. The Treaty ended the war between Germany and the allies which are exactly 5 years after Archduke Ferdinand’s Assassination. The goal was to punish Germany and comply with allied wishes. They punished Germany by reducing Germany’s military power. They took away from the right to have submarines or an air force and a limited amount of troops (100,000) as well as pay £6,600 million for the damage done. -
First meeting of the League of Nations
The League of Nations held its first meeting in Paris six days after the Versailles Treaty and the Covenant of the League of Nations came into force. Office of The Historian had stated that on January 16, 1920. On 1 November 1920, the headquarters of the League was moved from London to Geneva, where the first General Assembly was held on 15 November 1920. They’re a league an international league. -
Period: to
Extra Event 5: Detroit Race Riots
The race riots couldn’t be held down until they brought in 6 thousand troops. This riot was one of 3 riots of that summer. It began with youths at Belle Isle Park. The property damage amounted to 2 million. At the time it was very racially biased and the blame was to the African Americans.
