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The Triple Alliance was formed between Germany, Austria Hungary and Italy. In doing this, it took away possible allies for France. With the alliance system, countries agreed they would have eachother's backs and in time of need during war, they would help one another.
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In 1887, Germany led by Bismarck joined Russia in an alliance. This action was taking another option for an ally for France, which then made Germany more powerful with Russia on their side.
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The power-hungry Wilhem dropped Germany's alliance with Russia. This was a dangerous movie because Russia then made an alliance with France which threatened Germany. France and Russia together would be very powerful.
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Wilhem II was a very proud, power-hungry man. He forced Bismark to resign because he didn't want to share any of his power and he also wanted to show the world how powerful and strong Germany had become. What he was most proud of was his army. He then let Germany's treaty with Russia slip, thus making Germany form an alliance with France. This was a risky move that Bismark was scared of because Russia or France would make Germany the enemy of both powerful countries.
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Russia who once had a treaty with Germany, that was dropped by Wilhem II, formed a defensive military alliance with France. This was a smart move on behalf of Russia and France, but a dangerous move for Germany. This caused Germany to become the enemy of both of these powerful countries. Germany would then be forced to fight in a war on its eastern and western borders.
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Germany was trying very hard to make their navy as powerful as Britain's mighty fleet. On guard, Great Britain formed an entente with France. This would help make Great Britain alot stronger.
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After making an alliance with France, Great Britain made another entente with both France and Russia, called the Triple Entente. The Triple Entente stated that Britain was not compelled to fighting with France and Russia, but guaranteed that Britain would not fight against them. This made the Triple Entente very powerful.
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The heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his pregnant wife Sophie set out to visit Sarajevo, Bosnia. The couple were unexpectedly shot and killed by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian member of the Black Hand, which was a society who wanted to keep Austrian rule out of Bosnia. This event caused the powerful Austrians to become angry with Serbia and declare war on them. This event started World War 1.
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On July 23, Austria presneted Serbia with the ultimatum. The ultimatum included a multitude of demands. Serbia knew that if they refused the ultimatum, it would lead to a war against Austria, who was more powerful than Serbia. Knowing this, Serbian leaders agreed to most of Austria's demands. However, powerful Austria was already settled on war. They rejected Serbia's offer of settling other problems and declared war. This led to a huge, destructive war.
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Austria then declared war on Bosnia. The Russian leaders demanded the mobilization of troops toward the Austrian border. This caused leaders all over Europe to be on alert. Conflicts erupted all over Europe and resulted in a massive world war.
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When hearing about the declaration of war, Russia, Serbia's ally started moving toward the Russian- Austrian border and also moved along the German border. This mobilization was a declaration of war. Germany declared war on Russia. Germany also declared war on Russia's ally, France.
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After Germany declared war on Russia, Germany then declared war on Russia's ally France.
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After Germany declared war on Russia and France. Great Britain then declared war on Germany. Europe was locked in battle.
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In late August, Germany counterattacked the Russians at Tannenberg. The result of this four-day battle was that the Germans defeated the Russians and drove it into retreat. This battle resulted in a great number of casualties.
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The First Battle of the Marne was the first major clash on the Western front and was one of the most important events of WW1. At the Battle of the Marne, the Allies attacked the Germans near Paris. This defeated the Germans Schliefflen plan which included attacking and defeating France and then going to fight Russia. The Russians had already invaded Germany and Germany was calling on France to aid them. If the Germans had won and captured Paris the war would be over.
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The Central powers, located at the heart of Europe, included Germany, and Austria-Hungary. On October 28, 1914, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire joined the Central powers. They joined because they were hopeful of gaining back territories previously lost.
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In April 1915, Italy left the Triple Alliance and joined the Triple Entente because they had accused their former partners of startign the war unjustly.
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In 1915, Germany established a naval blockade all around Britain. They sunk the British ship, the Lusitania, killing 1,198 people including 128 U.S. citizens. The Germans sunk a total of 3 American ships which made the Americans very angry.
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In February of 1916, the Germans attacked the French at Verdun. Each side had over 300,000 casualties. In July, the British army tried to lighten the pressure on the French. British forces attacked the Germans in the valley of the Somme River. There were over 20,000 British casualties. Both sides lost many lives and only advanced a few miles.
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In January 1917, Germany intensified their submarine warfare. They used a polocy of unrestricted submarine warfare which meant that submarines sunk ships without warning.This ferocious tactic left a major impact on the war and was one of the major reasons that the U.S. joined the war.
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The British intercepted a telegram coming from Zimmerman from Germany to Mexico. The telegram stated that Germany would help Mexico reconquer the land they lost to the U.S. is Mexico would ally with Germany. This angered Americans and as a result of their anger they called for war.
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On April 2nd, 1917, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany and side with the Allies. The U.S. declared war because of the Germans unrestricted submarine warfare, Germans sunk the Lusitania, the Germans agreed to stop attacking and didn't and because of the Zimmerman telegram.
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In November 1917, Communist leader Vladmir Ilyrich Lenin took control and decided to end his country's involvement in the war. He wanted to offer Germany a truce and in March 1918 he did just that. Germany and Russia signed the treaty of Brest-Litovsk which ended the war between them.
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When Russia decided to withdraw from the war, Lenin wanted to form a truce with Germany. So in March 1918, Germany and Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which ended the war between them. This was hard on Russia because they had to give up their lands to Germany.
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In July 1918, the Allies and Germans met again at the Second Battle of the Marne. The allies led the attack and smashed through German lines. The Central Powers were falling apart and the Bulgarians/Ottoman Turks surrendered. It was the last German conflict and resulted in an Allied victory.
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On November 9, 1918, Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II was forced to step down and Germany declared itself a republic. A representative from the new German republic met with Marshal Foch where an armistice was signed. They agreed to stop fighting.
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On November 11th, 1918, after Germany declared itself a republic, a representative from Germany's new government met with French Commander Marshal Foch. The two men signed an armistice and agreed to stop fighting. So on November 11th, World War I was officially over. Today on November 11th we celebrate Veterans Day to honor our Veterans. It is also known as Armistice Day.
