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Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
On June 28th 1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated. Franz Ferdinand and his wife were in the capital city of Sarajevo inspecting troops held there. They were traveling in an open-topped car when a bomb was thrown at them but Serbian terrorists, however the terrorists missed the car. Later they drove passed 19-year-old Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip who shot Franz and his wife. This was the start of the war. -
Poison Gas
German forces fired more than 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas, shocking the Allied forces. After the first rounds, the battlegrounds grew silent and the Allied powers waited for another round of attacks, that never happened. Chlorine gas drifted across no man's land, down into the trenches, where the Allies were put into a panic, but they held their positions. The Germans attack failed but they opened up a new invention, the Poison Gas, that is used many times in World War 1 as a battle weapon. -
Trench Warfare
A month after the war started, allied forces began their first build of trenches. In total the trenches that were laid covered 35,000 miles. There are typically 3 lines of trenches; front line, a support trench line, and reserve line. They were placed several hundred yards apart. The three types were firing trenches, communication trenches, and spot trenches. The names are self-explanatory. -
Blood Banks
In 1917 Blood banks were tried for the first time during the war. Peyton Rous saw that many soldiers were weak and ill from loss of blood. They needed a way to get blood to camp sites for medical purposes. This was a way for doctors to perform surgeries or other various procedures that they needed. -
World War at Sea
Germany unless unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic. The armed submarines with torpedoes and was prepared to attack any ship that crossed, even ones with innocent civilians. Several US ships were attacked and sunk on their way to Britain, one of US closest allies. The US, however, was not involved in the war, only they traded with Britain. The Germans used a U-boat to attack the US ships and other ships. The U-boats were 214 feet long, carried 35 men and held 12 torpedoes. -
Zimmermann Telegram
The US finds out that Germany tried to get Mexico as an alliance. British gave the US a copy of the Zimmerman telegram, which is a coded message from Zimmerman (German) to Mexico. It offered financial aid to Mexico & promised to restore their lost territories if they agreed to enter war as an ally of Germany. US President Wilson was shocked by this. He got ships armed in case of possible German attacks. Four days later, after several German attacks on US ships, the US demands to enter the war. -
Selective Service Act
The US Congress passes the Selective Service Act, which gives the US President the power to draft soldiers into war. The Allies needed fresh troops to help them defeat the central powers to relieve their exhausted men that were out on the battlefield. The US president stressed to Congress to pass this act. When they did it stated that all US men between the ages of 21 and 30 much register for military service. This gave the allied powers fresh new troops to help them fight in the war. -
Letter from Eurith Trax to Everybody
One day Eurith got several letters at one time and from people, she would have least expect it to be from. She felt loved by these people and wrote them back however she didn’t have much of anything exciting to tell them. Eurith works about 8-9 hours a day and the boys make it fun. -
Letter from Eurith Trax to folks
Nettie got to go into town and shop at the local stores she picked up anything needed for soilders as well. Many schoolgirls would run up to Nettie and a couple people in the story were amazed that Nettie was an american women soldier. Nettie works in the hospital department so she technically isn’t a soldier but she is a soldier within our hearts. -
Letter from Eurith Trax to Parents
Nettie had written several times to her loving family however she had never gotten a reply. One day she got a letter informing her that her family had sent their letters to the wrong address. So when she found this out Nettie wrote a letter to her family informing them on what was going on, for she wasn’t sure if they had already been informed. Nettie asked for pens and paper, that could come in handy later. She asks her family for a newspaper. She hears rumors and never knows which one is true. -
League of Nations
In January 1918 President Woodrow Wilson presented a speech in front of congress outlined his ideas of peace after the war. His 14 points that he presented soon become the Treaty of Versailles when we went to Paris. When he returned home with the Treaty his points soon gave them the idea of the League of Nations. The league of Nations disputes between countries before they go into warfare. It outlines a peaceful world so that no wars would break out. -
Letter from Eurith Trax to Mother
Every day is different at camp and some days at the hospital we can go out. Eurith went into town several times just get to get out. She is often surrounded by boys which can be great or it can be exhausting and only some days do great things happen like when you get a letter from your loved one. Being away is hard and so when you get a letter from your loved one it can make you feel better. Often times people won’t get a letter for weeks at a time. -
Letter from Eurith Trax to My Dear Little Um
There is American boys that live here and work at the train stations across Europe. Although it’s so crouded that we don’t meet one every single time or there just isn’t one there. There isn’t many American boys here but the ones that are here are nice and kind. They are respectful and helpful. -
Armistice Day
In 1918, November 11, of the 11th hour, WWl finally comes to an end. This first war left nine million soldiers dead and 21 million soldiers wounded. With help of the US, Allies tipped the scale and Germany signed the armistice agreement. This war was then named the “war to end all wars” because of the great destruction. Armistice Day was to celebrate soldiers who fought in World War l. Soon after WWll, Armistices Day was not about soldiers in WWl but every soldier and was renamed veterans day. -
Treaty of Versailles
June 28, 1919 the Allied powers with little participation from Germany, reassigned German boundaries and blamed the war on German for they should pay for reparations. The Treaty had 15 parts and 440 articles that stated this.
