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The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand was killed in Sarajevo, Bosnia by a Serbian Nationalist group The Black hand who wanted Bosina to apart of Serbia. This was a big domino effect that started the war. The Ottoman Empire declared war on Serbia but Germany was allied with the Ottoman Empire, but Russia was allied with Serbia so Germany declared war on Russia but France helped Russia so Germany declared war on France. But Germany tried to invade Belgium so Great Britain declared war on Germany. -
The first battle of Marne
At the start of the first World War Germany didn’t want to fight on two fronts. So they decided to knock out France first and turn around and fight Russia. The first offensive was great but Germany didn’t have enough back up to continue the momentum. So the French and the British started a counter-attack. This was known as the first battle of the Marne and after days of fighting the Germans retreated. This battle also marked the end of ground fighting and lead to trench warfare. -
Christmas Truce of 1914
The Christmas truce of 1914. Started on the night of Christmas Eve when Allied soldiers heard German soldiers singing Christmas songs in the opposite trenches. They joined in and started singing together. The next day German troops started to come out of their trenches waving their arms saying Merry Christmas. The soldiers exchanged gifts and shook hands and talked like humans. -
Germans use chlorine gas
The Germans want to break the French lines fast so the Germans use Chlorine gas which was new to war and turned out to be later banned for it being unethical to use poison gas against your enemies. The plan was to shoot it into the French lines to get them to fall back so the let the Germans advance into France. This lead to the collapse of the French lines but the Germans couldn’t take the trenches and this operation failed. -
The German’s use the first flamethrower
The Germans needed a new weapon that would push the French out of their trenches. So the Germans designed a flamethrower that would sit on the back of a soldier that had the chemicals to make fire. This weapon was easily used by any soldier and devastated the French troops. It made it’s debut in the battle of Verdun and was later adopted by the French and British troops later in the war. This is just one of the German’s deadly tools they used in the war along with the mustard gas. -
The Battle of Verdun
The battle of Verdun was the longest and deadliest battle in the war. ¾ of the French army was used to fight this battle. The Germans needed to take over French forts so they started using artillery shells to take them over. This worked when the Germans took over Fort Douaumont but the French on the other lines didn’t move despite the heavy fire from the Germans. The French held up and with help from the British the forts of Verdun were secured and the Germans were out of Verdun. -
Battle of the Somme
The battle of Somme lasted from July to November 1916. The battle started out as an allied offensive on the western front. Fighting took longer than expected and it turned out to be one of the bitter and costly battles of the war. The British suffered the most loss of life in their nation’s history all in one day. At the end of the war, both sides combined lost 1 million lives over 6 months. -
The Zimmerman Telegram
The Zimmerman Telegram was what made America join the war. The Telegram said that if America would join the war on the side of the allies then the Germans would help the Mexicans gain back all the territory they lost. This clearly made America mad so they joined the war on April 2, 1917, and helped the allies pull out with a victory over the central powers. This was a major turning point in the war because it let America send in fresh troops to help the allied powers. -
Letter to mother from Edgar D. Andrews
Edgar is writing to his mother during the war and is telling her about his day. First, he tells her that mail has been slow so he hasn’t gotten his mail from her. Next, he tells of how bad trench life is for him. He tells of lots of mud and slush and mud again. He tells that his socks got socked from the mud and he’s tired of the mud. He says he just can’t wait to get back home to Boston with his family. -
Cartoons clipped from the New York "Tribune
This is a cartoon that Edgar sent home. The first side shows an allied soldier getting flirted by two women that like him because of his uniform. The caption says recognition, at last, saying that soldiers were happy that they were getting recognition. The back page was making fun of the German leader making him look stupid by saying why he is riding his car backward. Most of the cartoons were propaganda bashing the Germans saying they are stupid and that the allies are handsome and smart. -
Edgar’s letter to his mom pt 2
This letter is to Edgar’s mom explaining that everything is going good so far. He tells about how the fight has slowed down and he finally gets to rest. He also thanks to his sister for the dollar she gave him he said it helps a lot when the YMCA came by to send his letters. He tells of his captain who is getting better after the recent gas attack by the Germans. Lastly, he says to say hi to all of the family and that he’ll be back soon. -
Edgar’s last letters to his mom in a hospital bed.
In the year of 1918 Edgar became bedridden because of his pneumonia that he caught during his time in the trenches. The letters say that the nurses are treating him right and that the food is good and he thinks he’ll make it through. He says that he misses home and that he can’t wait to see his family. This is one of Edgar’s last letter to his family. Edgar died on September 19th, 1918 due to pneumonia. -
The Meuse-Argonne Offensive
This battle was apart of the final offensive of the war by the allies. This battle brought an end to Germany’s hope of victory. It was the largest American AEF in the war this was also the most deadly campaign in American history. This battle has more deaths than they had at Omaha beach in Normandy during World War ll. The soldiers used more bullets on the first day then they did during all four years of the civil war. -
The Armistice and the end of the war
As the war was coming closer to an end each side was tired and over with the war. Germany came to the United States and requested for an Armistice. A few months later the Armistice was signed on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour in 1918. Which ended fighting in the war. The following year the Treaty of Versailles was signed disarming Germany and blaming them for the war and making them pay for damage done to other countries. -
Letter to Edgar’s mom about money that her son left her.
After Edgar died the United States of America paid his mother for her son’s death in the war. Thanks to insurance that Edgar applied for before he died. So his mother can be secure now with the news of his death. But the United States government billed his mother because they overpaid her by $100 and she would have to pay it by the end of the year. You make his mom pay $100 that was overcharged to her but you could just let her keep it.
