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Assassination of Archduke
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was invited by General Oskar Potiorek to go to the Austro-Hungarian throne to watch the Army. He knew it would be a dangerous trip considering a large number of people living in Bosnia-Herzegovina were unhappy, but decided to go anywhere. When Ferdinand's plans to visit Bosnia were set, assassination plans were made. He was assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serbian terrorist, sparking WW1. -
WWI begins
Germany invades Belgium, beginning World War 1. During the war, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire, also known as the Central Powers, fought against Russia, Great Britain, France, Italy, Romania, Japan and the United States, the Allied Powers. New military technologies were developed, such as trench warfare, a horror in WWI. World War I brought great destruction and slaughter. -
Car Schneider
In January of 1915, the french armaments of firm of Schneider et Cie began work on a new military vehicle, shooting to overcome the machine guns and barbed wire fences. Designed by Eugene Brille, the prototype tank was demonstrated to the French President on June 16th, 1915. Impressed by what Raymond Poincare, the French President, saw, he quickly ordered for 10 to be made, which swiftly changed to 400. The first Char Schneider tank was delivered to the French army in September 1916. -
Zimmermann Telegram
German Foreign Secretary, Arthur Zimmermann, sent a coded telegram to the ambassador in Mexico City. Informing him that Germany intended to begin submarine warfare. Using the telegraph, he suggested that the ambassador would propose an alliance with Mexico if war broke out between the United State and Germany. In pay, the telegraph suggested that Germany and Japan would help Mexico regain territories lost to America in 1848. -
United State Enters War
When President Wilson received details on the telegraph, he did not want to go into war, considering the terms the US had with Germans. The Congress authorized a declaration of war against Germany, after President Wilson asked for permission to go to war. American quickly got troops together using The Draft. The United States enters the war on the side of France and Britain. -
Paris Peace Conference
Meetings were held at different places in or around Paris until the net day. Leaders of 32 states representing about 75% of the world was present at the meetings. Negotiations were dominated by the five major powers responsible for defending the Central Powers. Eventually, five treaties were made from the Conference that dealt with the defeated powers. Those treated imposed territorial loss, financial liabilities and military restrictions on all members of the Central Powers. -
Spring Offensive
Germans sign a peace treaty with the new Bolshevik government of Russia. After signing the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, Germany was able to withdraw its troops from the front. It was decided to place those troops to support a massive offensive on the Western Front. Central Powers hoped the Spring Offensive would allow them to end the war before the United States Army became established in France. -
Germany Starts Its Final Offensive of the War
On March 21, 1918 General Erich Ludendorff scheduled the beginning of Germany’s great 1918 gamble for victory on the Western Front in WW1 for the first day of spring. The offensive struck the sector where British and France forced joined and matched three German armies against one overstretched British army. After careful attacks, storm troops went forward. They headed for the rear, avoiding strong points, leaving the mopping up to the conventional infantry. -
Inspection Day
Albert L. Kleinecke tells us about Inspection day, which starts at 9am. You turn out information for personal inspection which is followed by quarters inspections. Which were done my 10am. They were at Liberty to leave until about 5:30. The night before was “pay night” and some went out to dinner in town. -
Kleinecke's Enjoyment
Kleinecke explains the constant thundering of gunfire and at night the heavy trucks thunder through town. He loves it. He enjoys the sounds and would not wish for a more peaceful place. He explains how all the explosives have been removed from under bridges. -
Kleinecke's Soon Home Return
Kleinecke believes he is on his way to soon return home. The New York Herald, an article referring to the burial of Americans in France, was enclosed in his diary. The burial contained two graves, one have 258 tidy little graves and the other having 137. The grounds were gone over to take anything that looked like “souvenirs” but there was still artillery, letters, helmets, etc left behind. -
Armistice
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the nonstop firing of artillery suddenly went silent on the West Front in France. The troops on both the Allied and Central Powers finally ran out of “gas” and stopped. After 8.5 million casualties the war had finally ended. Both sides agreed to end the war and stop fighting, rather than a surrender. The Allied and Central Powers believed an armistice was the fast way to end the misery and slaughter. -
Kleinecke's Celebration
Kleinecke describes the celebration the French and Americans had together. He illustrates for the reader what he saw when the clock hit 11am on November 11th. He tells us everything suddenly stopped and all was calm. The Germans got out of their trenches and threw their caps up in the air. -
Kleinecke's Demonstration Trip
Kleinecke was sent on a demonstration trip about 6 weeks ago. His group was the judges, so he enjoyed the trip. Their first trip was to a place 26 kilometers west of Verdun and to Langes. They also covered countries between Toul and Sedan in France. While in Sedan, they surveyed men. -
The Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace document signed at the end of World War I by the Allied Powers and Germany on June 28, 1919. The document didn’t take force until January 10, 1920. The treaty was drafted during the Paris Peace conference in the spring of 1919. The treaty made Germany responsible for the war; responsible for reparations to the Allied nations for the damage their received during the war. The estimated commission was $33 billion in 1921, they certainly expected Germany to pay.
