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The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
This was the spark that ignited a giant blaze. This single terrorist act set off a chain reaction with the alliance system that would result in the largest war Europe and the world had ever seen. -
The start of World War 1
Austria rejected Serbia's offer and declared war. The same day Serbia's ally Russia took action.Russian leaders ordered the mobilization of troops toward the Austrian border. .eaders all over Europe suddenly took alarm. the fragile European stablility seemed about to collapse.The British foreign minister, the Italian government and the Kaiser Wilhelm himself urged Ausria and Russia to negotiate. But it was too late. The machinery of war had been set in motion -
The Schlieffen Plan
Germany quickly put its plan into effect. The plan was named after it designer, General Alfred Graf vo Schlieffen. in the event of a two front war schlieffen had called for the attcking France and then Russia. the general had reasoned that Russia would have difficulty mobilizing its troops. under the Schlieffen Plan, a large part of the German army would race west, to defeat France and then return to fight Russia in the east. -
Developments on the Eastern Front
In the East Russian forces had already invaded Germany. Germany was going to have to fight a long war on two fronts. Realizing this the german high comand sent thousands of troops from France to aid its forces in the east. -
A battle on the Western Front
On Septemer 5, allies attacked Germans northeast of paris, tin 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. -
The Trench Warfare
In the early 1915, opposing armies on the Western Front had dug miles of parallel trenches to protect themselves from enemy fire. this set the stage for what ecame known as the trench warfare. -
The Western Front known as a "terrain of death".
This battle had many soldiers crawling, shouting, woounded, and blinded all over the grounded. it streached for nearly 500 miles from the North Sea to the Swiss borded. -
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The battle on the Western Front
The British army tried to relieve the pressure on the French. British forces attacked the Germans northwest of verdun, in the valley of the Somme River. in the fist day of battle alone more that 20,000 British soldiers were killed. by the time the Battle of the Somme ended in November each side had suffered over half a million casualties. -
Unrestricted submarine warfare
The Germans announced that their submarines would sink without any ship in the waters around Britain. This policy was called unresticted submarine warfare. -
The Great War
President Wilson asked Congress to declare war. the United States entered the war on the side of the Allies.the war had been going on for three years by now. the war had claimed the lives of millions and had changed countless lives forever. -
Development on Eastern Front
Communist leader Vladimir ilyich Lenin seized power. Lenin insisted on ending his country's involvement in the war. One of his first acts was to offer Germany a truce. -
The Treaty of Brest- Litovsk
The treaty was extremely hard on Russia. It required the Russian government to surrender lands to germany that now include Finland, Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Even though the Treaty became invalid after the war these nations still gain their independence. -
Second Battle of the Marne
Leading allied attack were some 350 tanks that rumbled slowly forward smashing through the German lines. with the arrival of 2 million more American troops the allied forces began to advance steadily toward Germany. -
World War 1 came to an end
after four years of slaughter and destruction the time had come to forge a peace settlement. leaders of the victroious nations gathered ourside paris to work out the terms of peace. -
The Treaty of Versailles
A treaty was signed on June 28, 1919. five years to the day after Franz Ferdinans's assassination in Sarajevo.