World War 1

By marissaevans16

  • The Assasination

    The Assasination
    Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated on June 28th, 1914. A Serbian nationalist named Gavrilo Princip assassinated him. At the time, there was a Serbian nationalist movement going on because the Serbs wanted independence from the Austro-Hungarian rule.

  • Germany declares war on Russia

    Germany declared war on Russia after the Russians mobilized troups out to the German boarder. Germany interpreted this as a decision on Russia's part, a decision to go to war. In response to this decision, Germany put the Schlieffen Plan into action. The plan was basically to attack France first, and then attack Russia and win the war within a few weeks. The plan failed miserably and the war continued on.

  • U.S. President Woodrow Wilson announces the U.S. will remain neutral

    When WW1 first began in Europe, President Woodrow Wilson declared that the US would stay out of Europe's affairs and remain neutral in hopes that the United States could continue trade with the warring countries.

  • The Second Battle of Ypres begins.

    This was the only major battle launched by the Germans on the Western Front. It is during this battle that the Germans first use poison gas. The battle was begun to distract from the battles going on on the Eastern front and to test the first uses of chlorine gas.

  • The Battle of the Somme begins.

    This is the first battle where tanks were used. They were introduced by the British. Early tanks were called "landships" and could reach a top speed of 4 miles per hour. The battle of Somme resulted in staggering casualties for the British, French, and Germans. All together, about 1,120,000 men were killed in battle.

  • The US declares war on Germany

    There were many smaller events that lead to the action the US took against Germany. A few of them were: the Germans sinking the Lusitania in 1915, the Zimmerman Telegraph that was sent to Mexico by Germany, and the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare by Germany. The Zimmerman Telegraph was a telegraph sent by Germany to Mexico that basically said that if Mexico decided to join the war on Germany's side, Germany would get the land that Mexico lost to the US back to Mexico.