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Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand
He was killed on June 28, 1914 while he was out on an official mission to meet with the Bosnian Capital Sarajevo. He was shot to death by a Bosnian Serb Nationalist. His wife was also killed during this attack. Gavrilo Princip is the man that killed both the Archduke and his wife. -
Countries Declare War
Many countries declared war on each other:
Germany - Russia, France, Belgium
Britain - Germany
Austria-Hungary - Russia
France & Britain - Austria-Hungary
Japan - Germany
Austria-Hungary - Belgium
The United States stayed neutral until one year before the war ended. -
Trenches in the War
Many families would send their soldiers food while they were in the trenches. They would send chocolate, tobacco and other tinned food that could travel well. The letters that the soldiers would write for their families would be checked before they were allowed to be sent to make sure that they had not given away where they were, any secrets or being depressed about what they were doing at that time. -
Christmas Truce
The Christmas Truce was when the Germans and the British stopped fighting on Christmas Eve. Soldiers from both sides would give the other side food. The Germans gave the British sausage and the British gave the Germans chocolate. The two sides played soccer, Germany won the match 3-2. -
World War One Planes
World War One was the first time that planes had been used in a major conflict. They used planes in the beginning of the war to force Germany out of France. The first machine guns were put onto planes was in June of 1912 by the US. Anthony Fokker made a synchronized system so that the timing of the propellers and the firings of the fun would go off so that the bullets would not hit the propellers. -
Frank's involvement in the rescuing Titanic survivors
He was on the ship that rescued the survivors of the Titanic ship. Later that month he was trying to board a ship that was going to France, he really wanted to go to France, he really wanted to go to France. Him and his friends made a plan that they were going to get on a ship even though they were not supposed to. That morning he had gotten an assignment to drive a motorcycle to Plymouth Massachusetts, he had later found out that his friends that had gone on without him had been escorted back. -
Tanks Are Introduced into WWl
The first tank was used in the Battle of Flers. The tanks in The Battle of the Somme was much less successful than the first time it was used. They were good for moving the Western front but were very unreliable.
They expected that the first tanks to be able to:
-Have a top speed of 4 mph
-Be able to turn sharply at top speeds
-Be able to cross a 8 ft gap
-A working radios of 20 mi
-Hold 10 men, 2 machine guns and 1 light artillery gun
Tanks had two genders:
-Males-cannons
-Females-machine guns -
Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme was a battle between Britain and Germany. It took place from July to November of 1916. 57,000 British soldiers died, 3 million soldiers fought in this war and 1 million died. The British thought that the Germans were going to be easy to take down in this battle but the Germans were much more equipped and powerful than they had expected. -
An explosion that went off in France was heard in London
France is 9.5 hours away. There was a group of miners that had to work in secret, they were digging tunnels under the trenches to put explosives there. The explosions took out much of the German lines. The Prime Minister said that he heard the sound all the way from England, which is 140 miles away. -
Plastic Surgery started in WWI
Many men would leave the war with horrible scars. Many covered their faces with masks. Harold Gillies founded plastic surgery to attempt at facial reconstruction. A routine thing for soldiers was for them to get blood transfusions. The first ever blood bank was established on the front lines. -
When the US got involved
The US stayed neutral throughout most of the war but, in 1917 we joined the Allies. The ship "Lusitania" was sunk and 100 Americans died on it. Then we found out that the Zimmerman Telegram that Germany was trying to send to Mexico. The Zimmerman Telegram was when the Germans wanted Mexico to be on their side, so Germany said that Mexico can have all of the states that the US had taken during the Spanish-American war. -
Biographical information written by veteran
He enlisted in the US Regular Army in August of 1917. He had joined the regular army because it meant that they were unassigned. They became a camp hospital to replace a Marines unit that had just left. After the Armistice he was with a POW (Prisoner of War) that was returning prisoners back to Germany. -
Frank's only vacation in Europe
Frank would use cigarettes as currency in France. The postman in France would sometimes have to walk on stilts because the buildings would sometimes be under water. Frank got to stay at the Ritz Carlton and stayed for too long, he was charged with going AWOL, but it was waived because the man that was going to charge him with it said that he wished that he could have done it, said he wouldn't charge him for it. -
Interview with Frank Buckles
He wanted to enlist in the Marines but they said that he was too young and too thin, he then tried to get into the Navy. But they said he was too flat footed to go on ships. He then went to an Army recruiting station and they said that he was perfect for the Army. He wanted to get to France right away so he went into the ambulance part of the military. -
Frank Buckles Dies
Frank Buckles is my US Soldier that I researched. He was the last US Soldier known as a "dough-boy", the name was often given to the US soldiers during World War I. He died on February 27, 2011. Florence Green was the last living person from World War I, she is from the UK, she died on February 4, 2012
