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The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
The death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
The assassination was orchestrated by a Bosnian Serb Nationalist group in Sarajevo, Bosnia. The killing blow was shot by Gavrilo Princep, a young nationalist with tuberculosis and no prospect for a long healthy life. The nationalists plotted that through the death of the archduke, Austro-Hungary would wage war against Serbia and with the help of Serbian friend, Russia win their independence. This event could be seen as a building block for a larger scheme. -
Elise's Diary Entry #1
Elise writes a diary entry mentioning the assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand. Prior to the start of World War 1. -
Period: to
World War 1
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The Armenian Genocide
The campaign of deportation and killing of the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire by the Young Turks. The campaign was a deliberate attempt to slaughter the Armenian people and thusly an act of genocide. The Armenians faced discrimination from Muslim Kurds and turned to violence many times. The Young Turks came into power and suspected fraternization with foreign powers. Ultimately, the Young Turks shifted the blame of defeat in the battle of sarikamish onto the Armenian people & killed them. -
Elise's Diary Entry #2
Elise writes another diary entry before the sinking of Lusitania. -
The sinking of Lusitania
A British luxury passenger Liner RMS named the Lusitania carried the Royal Navy's ammunition through a war zone. Beforehand, London imposed a cordon sanitaire onto the people of Germany and their neutral suppliers. Germany could only retaliate through surface raiders which were vulnerable to London's navy. London ignored many traditional war rules and abused neutrality leading to Lusitania being torpedoed. In response, the U.S. went from neutrality to declaring war on the side of London. -
Elise's Diary Entry #3
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Elise's Diary Entry #4
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Germany signs an armistice with The Allies.
Odds stacked against Germany. The Germans were low on manpower, supplies, and faced inevitable invasion. The terms of the armistice included; evacuation of France, Belgium, and Alsace-Lorraine, release of prisoners and civilians, and demilitarization. These terms were purposely extreme to defer Germany from fighting more. Kaiser Willhem II abdicated and under new government, Germany signed the armistice. The fighting had officially ended. -
Treaty of Versailles
Negotiations between France, England, Italy, and the United States lead to a treaty. The treaty stated that Germany would take sole responsibility for the war, needed to disarm, surrender oversea colonies, and pay for the Allies' losses. However the terms fell short of addressing the issues that started the fighting. The terms lead to humiliation amongst the German people and desire to return to a world power. The increasing resentment later lead to the rise of Adolf Hitler.