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Illustrated WWI Timeline
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No man's land
No man's land was a piece of land with only mud covered with shell craters and barbed wire. This was between trenches used for war. This became known as trench warfare and this continued for three years. -
Lusitana confronts the sea
The Lusitana was the fastest carrying passenger ship around in it's time. When it headed toward Liverpool, England from New York, it went on German u-boat territory. The submarines quickly fired a torpedo breaking the Lusitana apart. Many people sunk with the Lusitana, including 128 americans. -
New machinery
Each year, there were new advancements being made to many weapons, such as the machine gun. Two completely new weapons, changed the course of the war, one was the airplane and the other was the armored tank which was introduced to the British army in February, 1916. -
They ignore his peace treaty
President Wilson, when he was elected, tried making peace. Sadly, the Germans ignored his peace treaty. Instead, the kaiser warned that the u-boats would sink all ships in the British waters. -
Selective Service Act
This was made for men to register with the government. This way it would be possible for men to be selected for military service. By the end of 1918, 3 million were called up, including 400,000 African Americans. -
Convoy System
This was a tactic to protect merchant ships from being hit by u-boats. The idea was that a heavy guard of destroyers would go in front of the merchant ships, which protected them. This was very succesful in the war because shipping and losses were cut by half. -
American Expeditionary Force (AEF)
This was a force that had men from widely seperated parts of the U.S. The men were led by General John J. Pershing. The men would also be nicknamed doughboys. -
War hero
Alvin York was a mountaineer and opponent of warfare. He later decided to join the war if it was for good reasons. On October 8, 1918 only with a rifle and revolver, he killed 25 Germans and with six other soldiers, captured 132 prisoners. -
Battle costs
The U.S. spent about $35.5 billion dollars in the war. The deaths were 22 million, 20 million wounded, and 10 million became refugees. The direct cost of WWI was thought to be $338 billion. -
The treaty of Versailles
Here the nations met and made a treaty. The British and French did not invite Germany in the meeting. One of the things they demanded was reparations of the war from Germany. This total came up to be 33 billion. Sadly, this treaty only stopped violence for a short time until WWII began.
