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Assasination of Archduke of Ferdinand
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia was what had started the chain reaction for the war to start. The assassin was a Serbian that was in the Black Hand, a secret society committed to ridding Bosnia of Austrian rule. Austria decided to use the murders as an excuse to punish Serbia by sending an ultimatum that included demands such as an end to all anti-Austrian activity. Serbian leaders agreed to most of the demands but tried to neg -
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The Great War
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Start of the War
On July 28, Austria declared war on Serbia which made Russia take action and move toward the Austria border. Leaders all over Europe took alarm. The British minister, Italian government, and Kaiser Wilhelm urged Austria and Russia to negotiate but it was too late. The war had been set in motion. -
The Schlieffen Plan
By August 1914, Germany put its military plan into effect. The plan was called Schlieffen Plan. In the event of a two-front war, Schlieffen had called for attacking France and then Russia. Under the plan, a large part of the German army would race west, to defeat France, and then fight Russia in the east. Germany had demanded that its troops be allowed to pass through Belgium on their way to France. Belgium, a neutral country refused. Germany ended up invading Belgium leaving Belgium in ruins. T -
Battle of the Marne
On September 5, the Allies attacked the Germans northeast of Paris, in the valley of the Marne River. Every available soldier was hurled into the struggle. When reinforcements were needed, more than 600 taxicabs rushed soldiers from Paris to the front. After four days of fighting, the German generals gave the order to retreat. By September 13, the Germans had been driven back nearly 60 miles. The defeat of the Germans left the Schlieffen Plain in ruins. -
Battle of Limanowa
By September, Russian forces had defeated the Austrians twice, driving them deep into Austria. By December of that year, the Austrian army with German assistance managed to turn the tide. In a 17-day battle near Limanowa, Austria defeated the Russians driving them out of Austria-Hungary. -
Gallipoli Campaign
Gallipoli Campaign was the effort to take the Dardanelles strait. This strategy was to attack a region in the Ottoman Empire known as the Dardanelles. This narrow se strait was the gateway to the Ottoman capital, Constantinople. By securing the Dardanelles, the Allies believed that they could take Constantinople, defeat the Turks, and establish a supply line to Russia. British, Australian, New Zealand, and French troops made repeated assaults on the Gallipoli Peninsula on the western side of the -
Battle of Verdun
Military strategist was at a loss. New tools of war had not delivered the fast-moving war they had expected. All this new technology did was kill huge numbers of people more easily. The slaughter reached a peak in 1916. The Germans launched a massive attack against the French near Verdun. Each side lost more than 300,000 men. -
Battle of the Somme River
- On July of 1916, The French armies attack the Germans in the valley of the Somme River (battle on Western Front). On this day alone 20,000 British soldiers were killed. But by the end of this battle each side had lost 50,000 men. The British left with five more miles of land while the Germans gained 4 miles in territory.
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Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
The strategy that was created on January of 1917 was called Unrestricted Submarine Warfare. This policy was made by Germany to remove any shipments that where coming to Great Britain. They warned that their submarines would strike any ships without warning in the waters around Britain. -
U.S. Joins the War
On April 2, 1917 America finally agreed to become allies with the Central powers and declare war against Germany and the Allied Powers. America was for the Allies but when Britain intercepted a telegram to Mexico’s ambassadors asking them to strike against the U.S, America finally joined the allied powers and helped win the war. -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
On November of 1917, Communist leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin took power. His first decision was to stop their involvement in the Great War. After spending so much effort, money and casualties in the war, Russian signed a treaty with Germany, giving up territories such as Ukraine, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and more. This treat was named the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which ended the war between them. -
Battle of Marne the Second
July 1918 was when the Battle of Marne took place. The Allied Powers begin the battle by sending 350 tanks to crush the German lines. The Allies began to process deeper into the German territory after the U.S sent 2 million more troops to gain the upper hand against the Central Powers. Soon after, countries like Bulgaria and turkey surrendered to the Allies and weakened the Centrals. -
WWI Ends
November 11, 1918 was when World War I ended. Leaders in the Allies traveled to Paris to evaluate a peace treaty that ended the four years of destruction and terror. But not all of the leaders were happy with the treaty which left some uneasiness between certain countries. -
Treaty of Versailles
After much evaluation, the Allied powers and Germany sign the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. Even though there were many arguments between France, Germany, Britain, and America, The finally came to a conclusion to sign a treaty which lasted for some time.