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The Assassination Of Franz Ferdinand
Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was born on December 18th ,1863 in Graz Austria .In 1900 Ferdinand gave up his children's rights to the throne in order to marry a lady in waiting . While in power he attempted to restore Austro-Russian relations while maintaining an Alliance with Germany .In 1914 a Serb Nationalist assassinated him .One month later Austria declared war on Serbia and that's how world war one began .both him and his wife were assassinated at the same time and place in a carriage. -
Europe Descends into the war
On August 1st 1914 four days after Austria Hungary declares war on Serbia Two more great European powers -Russia and Germany- declare war on each other the same day France orders a general Mobilization . The so called Great War that ensued would be one of unprecedented destruction and loss of life .Resulting in the Deaths of some 20 Million soldiers and civilians and the physical devastation of much of the European continent .This all started on June 28th 1914 when Franz Ferdinand was murdered. -
Germans fire
The Germans shells filled with chlorine gas at Allied lines . This i shells first time that large amounts of gas are used in a battle and the result is the near collapse of the french lines .However the Germans are unable to take advantage of the breach .This was the first major gas attack by the Germans and it devastated the Allied line . The Germans used xylyl bromide a more lethal gas at Russian troops in Bolimov on the eastern front , because of the wintry cold the gas froze killing 1,000 . -
Germany Limits Submarines
Reacting to international outrage at the sinking of the Lusitania and other neutral passenger lines Kaiser Wilhelm suspends unrestricted submarine warfare. This is an attempt to keep the United States out of the war but it severely hampers German efforts to prevent American supplies from reaching France and Britain.a German U boat submarine attacked the French passenger steamer Sussex, in the English Channel, thinking it was a British ship equipped to lay explosive mines. 50 people were killed . -
First tanks
The British employ the first tanks ever used in battle at Delville wood .Although they are useful at breaking barbed wire and clearing a path for the infantry tanks are still primitive and they fail to to be the decisive weapon as their designers thought they would be .A tank nicknamed little Willie rolls off the assembly line in England .Willie was an over night success .It weighed 14 tons got stuck in trenches and crawled over rough terrain at only two miles per hour.big improvements were made -
Zimmerman telegraph
in January British intelligence gives Wilson the so-called Zimmerman Telegram, a message from German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman proposing that Mexico side with Germany in case of war between Germany and the United States. In return Germany promises to return to Mexico the lost provinces of Texas and much of the rest of the American Southwest. Mexico declines the offer but the outrage at this interference in the Western Hemisphere pushes American public opinion to support entering the war -
U.S enters the war
congress authorizes a declaration of war against Germany .The United states enters World War l on the side of France and Britain.They joined as allies to help fight .Under the command of major General John J. Pershing ,more then 2 million U.S soldiers fought on battlefields in France .Many of the Americans were not in favor of the US entering the war and wanted to remain neutral. However the Us did eventually enter the war.Germany announced unrestricted warfare against all ships neutral war zone -
Rough ride
Quirens wounds were so extreme that he had to be taken to a field hospital in an ambulance .The ambulance ride was terrible He and two others were strapped down on the stretchers so they would not fall . The Germans spotted the ambulance and was bombed and shot after but made it through. -
Hopeful thinking’
Qurien was moved to a hospital in paris .Germans started bombing paris.The building directly by the hospital were getting shot up by “big bertha”(big machine guns ).The man in the hospital shared stories about what they were going to do when they got home after the war .The hospital did not get bombed . -
Germany and Russia peace
the Germans sign a peace treaty with the new Bolshevik government of Russia .The terms of the treaty give Germany huge tracks of land that had been the Ukraine and Poland and peace on the Eastern front allows Germany to shift soldiers to the Western front causing lots of problems for the French British and Americans .German leaders hoped that the formerly Russian territories would fall under their sway but in November 1918 an armistice ended WWI dooming Germany demilitarization and allied power -
Prisoner of war
On May 27th ,1918 German Soldiers attacked American threnches with bombs and machine guns .The sky was lit up and they could see bullets coming from the sides .When it finally stopped Quiren couldn’t see anyone who was dead or wounded .He was then captured by the German Soldiers . -
Quiren M. Groessl
Quiren was a soldier in WWI and had a lot of rough patches through his military time .He was injured very bad and had to get his clothes ripped off for medical surgery .He lost all of his belongings due to this accident .Quirens mother was sent a letter one year later from the war department wanting proof that she was is actual mother so that they can send her all of his belongings . -
Belleau Wood Ends
The Battle of Belleau Wood ends with the final expulsion of the Germans from the wood which marks the farthest German advance on Paris.The area has changed hands six times during the three week battle which has caused nearly 10,000 American casualties For the next three weeks the Marines backed by the US army artillery launched many attacks into the forested area but the German General Erich was determined to deny the Americans a victory .Germans attacked with artillery gasses and machine guns -
escape
After being captured 3 Germans one on either side of him and one behind him began to take him to the germans trenches where he would be a prisoner .Before getting there the US retaliated with bombs . catching them off guard Quiren took them out with his trench knife .He was severely injured and in shock .it took him hours to roll then walk to the trenches. -
Wilhelm Abdicates
Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates ending all German hope for a victory. He and his retinue quietly slip over the border into the Netherlands where he lives out the remainder of his life in relative peace and writes a self promoting memoir defending his actions in the war.Wilhelm’s childhood was shaped by two events one medical and one political. His birth had been traumatic in the course of a complicate In addition to its smaller size,the arm was useless for such ordinary tasks as cutting with knifes .
