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World War I
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Archduke Franz Ferdinand Assasinated
On June 28th, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife visited Bosnia to check on their military forces. The Archduke took a drive through town when someone threw a grenade at the Archduke and his wife. Their driver saw the explosive before it could hit them. Later that day the archduke wanted to visit the people who were injured in the explosion but got lost. They passed a restaurant where the co-conspirator of the attack was eating. He took that opportunity to shoot the Duke and his wife. -
War is Declared
A month after Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, this started a domino of European countries declaring war on each other. They separated into two sides, the central powers, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire and the Allies, France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, and the United States joined later. -
Germany tries to get Belgium to end their Neutrality
After Germany declared war on France, they were determined to take over France. To do this they planned to invade Belgium. This was a direct violation of Belgium's neutrality which had been guaranteed through a treaty signed by the major European powers in 1839. Germany demanded they be allowed to cross Belgium to get to France but Belgium refused. If they had allowed this, Belgium would've broken their promise of neutrality and made them complicit with the attack on France. -
Start of Trench Warfare
After the war was declared and when the fighting started, the two sides quickly figured out the western front was not suitable for fighting as it had nowhere to hide. They dug trenches about 6 to 8 feet deep. The trenches spanned from the English Channel to Switzerland and immobilized the armies for the entirety of the war. -
The Christmas Truce
On the first Christmas Eve of WWI, German soldiers started to sing Silent Night and put up little Christmas Trees along the western front. Both sides started calling out for a truce. Not long after, the two sides met in no man's land. Many different things happened there. Soldiers started to play soccer, trade food, and one soldier even set up a barber chair and cut the hair of other soldiers. Some men took this time to find the bodies of their dead comrades and give them a decent burial. -
First Gas Attack
On April 22 at 5 p.m., a wave of oxygen-deprived gas was released towards the Allied lines. The gas was released from cylinders that were embedded in the ground by German specialist troops. This was only the first of many gas attacks during The Great War. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
German submarines were sinking ships trying to get to Britain to stop them from getting resources. One of these ships was a passenger ship that had about 160 Americans on it. Because of this attack, The United States demanded Germany pay for their deaths and end their attacks on unarmed passenger and merchant ships. Germany did not agree and continued do this until the war ended. -
Battle of Verdun
The longest and bloodiest battle in World War 1 started in February 1916 and ended in December 1916. The Germans tried to advance into France to take over Verdun. Verdun was a town surrounded by "rings of fortresses" that helped form one of the main barriers to Paris. The Germans also wanted to drain the French of their resources. The French were able to keep the Germans out, but the battle had no true winner, as there were about 4,000 casualties for both sides. -
Battle af the Somme
The Battle at the Somme was launched by the British, to pull German troops away from the Battle of Verdun. There were about 19,000 British casualties on the first day. The British won, but there were over a million casualties on both sides by the end. -
Russian Revolution
Russian soldiers were lead by a very inexperienced leader, Tsar Nicholas II, who lead many soldiers to their deaths, resulting in Russia having the second most deaths in the war even though they withdrew from the war early. The revolution was lead by Vladimir Lenin of the overthrowing of the Tsar. Russia ended up signing treaty with Germany that pulled them out of the war. This also takes the Eastern front out of the war so the countries power became focused on the western front. -
America Joins the War
America joining the war was the most important this that could have happened. They joined because Germany sank a cruse ship that had Americans on it. Another reason for their ally with France is because Germany tried to get mexico to join the war to try to keep the Americans in the US. When they arrived, it became clear the Allies would win the war. -
Spring Offensive
The Spring Offensive created the biggest crisis of the war for the Allies. It was the last attempt by Germany to defeat the British and French armies. A German general, General Erich Ludendroff. was the driving force of the battle. During the battle, 60 German divisions attacked along an 80-kilometer stretch along the western front. The offensive resulted in the near collapse of the German Army and a victory for the Allies. -
Battle of Belleau Wood
The Battle of Belleau Wood was the first major engagement of the U.S. army in World War 1. During the battle, The 4th Marine Brigade drove the Germans from the woods into a month-long battle. This battle was one of the only hand-to-hand combat battles of World War 1. This battle helped the Marines prove their courage to the French and the American Expeditionary Forces. -
Armistice
Armistice was the official end to the fighting of WW1. It was signed in the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month. There were millions of lives lost during the war, most of which came from Germany. The war caused Europe to break up, adding 9 new countries to the continent. There were also millions of dollars of damages due to destroyed cities. -
The Treaty of Versailles
Negotiations of the treaty started in January 1919, when the Allies met to discuss Germany's punishment. They came up with the War Guilt Clause that said Germany was the only one to blame and had to pay for all damages and their military was limited to 100,00 soldiers, no machines, and no troops in Rhineland. The Treaty was signed on June 28, 1919, officially ending the Great War.