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Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War was a war fought between France, and the Prussian ruled Germans. The conflict started when Prussia wanted to unite the South German states and the North German Confederation (they wanted to gain complete control.) France wasn't ok with this and declared war. Although many neutral bystanders would expect France to win, Germany won with ease thanks to strategic advancemants. -
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
On his wedding anniversary, Franz Ferdinand (The leader of Serbia) was driving with his beloved Sophie through town while a young man, Gavrilo Princip, happened to be loitering. Princip took his chance and shot Ferdinand and his wife. The assassination wasn't planned as Princip was a bystander. Tension had already been building but many people consider this the event that started the war. War was declared one month later by Austria-Hungary. -
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Western Front
A major stretch of land that consisted of trenches. The battle was between the British allies and the Germans. It lasted from the beginning of the war until the end. It was one of the biggest campaigns during World War One. It included the battles of Verdun and Somme. -
Battle of Tannenberg
This was Germany's best victory during the war. Just days after World war one had been declared, German soldiers ventured to Russia to stop their invasion of East Prussia. They steamrolled them as Russia was unprepared. Russia never did recover from this battle and it's what caused the February revolution, and the USSR's withdrawal from the war. A very significant point in history. -
ANZAC gallipoli campaign
The allies wanted to eliminate Turkey in order to help Russia. Russia were struggling at the time and Britain thought that if they were able to defeat the Ottomans at Gallipoli, they would be able to travel through the river and help Russia. Unfortunately, the Ottomans had the high ground and steamrolled the ANZACs. It was the greatest Turkish victory during the war. In the end ANZACs were able to withdraw but they lost 140,000 troops. -
The sinking of RMS Lusitania.
The Lusitania was a British built passanger boat that had departed New York and was bound for Liverpool. The boat was huge and had a capacity of over 3,000 people. However, a missile scare forced Britain to limit the number of people on it. On this date, as it was approaching the Irish coast it was hit by a German torpedo. Of the 1924 people on board, 1119 died including over 100 Americans. This would later dictate America's involvement in the war. -
Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun was the longest battle in World war one. It lasted nearly ten months. This battle was what inspired Britain to start the battle of Somme. German Chief, von Falkenhayn stated he wanted to "bleed France white." Verdun was home to 20 major forts. Falkenhayn was convinced it would weaken the French morale. The battle wasn't at all tactical as Falkenhayn assumed the French would be too weak to fight. After many failed attempts, Germany withdrawed from Verdun -
First Tanks ever used
Tanks were built by the British in order to gain an upper hand in trenches. It was in response to trench warfare. The invention of the tank began a new era of mechanical warfare. They were designed to cross tough terrain and not be heavily affected by machine gun fire. It was meant to cross no man's land and break the stalemate on the western front. Although, at this point, it was too unreliable and unwieldy and proved to not be very potent. -
America enters the war
On April 6th, America officially joined the war. 2 million soldiers were sent to fight on the French battlefield. Although they knew it would greatly benefit the British allies, many Americans wished to stay neutral as a nation as they thought it would jeapardise their safety. Women got quite involved and they made a movement to allow them to vote which was succesful. America joining shifted the odds in Britain's favour. -
USSR withdraws from war
This event coincided with the October revolution. Russia was a struggling nation with a poor economy. A lot of political unrest was occuring. Many Russians died during this period. Russia came into the war unprepared and by this point, up to 1.7 million soldiers were already dead and many other civilians died of natural causes. Soldiers participating were urged to return home to support the revolution. -
The rise of the Spanish Flu Pandemic
This flu was rivalled only by the bubonic plague. The flu had evolved into a pandemic. It was a global disaster. It's not known exactly when it broke out but it would have coincided with America joining the war. It was more explosive than the plague as more people died within the first month. The average life expectancy decreased by 10 years. The conditions at war were perfect for a flu to evolve and spread. between 20 and 40 million people died of it. -
Formation of British RAF
Towards the end of the war, the British Royal Airforce was founded. Until this point, Britain had relied on American planes and ships. A female branch was also created at this time. The British promplty gained superiority over the Germans in the air. They contributed greatly to the final year at war. By the end of the war, they had dropped 5,500 tonnes of bombs, had recruited 300,000 officers and had become the biggest airforce in the world at the time. -
Battle of Somme
This was another major battle fought on the infamous Western Front. The allied powers attempt to strike the Central Powers at the River Somme with explosives. This tactic didn't work as some of the explosives were faulty. Germany still had most of their defences. What should have been a cruising victory turned into a crushing defeat. Britain suffered 57,000 losses on the first day. 1.5 million men were lost through a battle that went for four months. -
Battle of St. Mihiel
The Battle of St. Mihiel was the first battle fought independently by American troops and generals. The group was led by John Pershing and the Germans were their opponents. They were provided with French tanks and artillery. Americans lacked strategy which is why they suffered so many casualties. This battle had the highest concentration of air force up to that point. It was one of the more significant battles fought in the war because it outlined the rapid demise of Germany. -
The beginning of The German revolution
Heading towards the end of the war, Kaiser Wilhelm II was overthrown, giving Germany no hope of winning the war. During this period, there was a lot of political struggle as lots of political reform was being demanded. The German revolution was heavily inspired by the Russian revolution that introduced communism. The sparticists were a radical socialist party led by Karl Liebknect and he made a late rush for leadership. He was eventually overthrown and Weimar's government ended up with power. -
Armistice day
On this day, all countries signed armistice (meaning they would stop fighting). The first commemoration of the event was held one year later in Buckingham palace. This commemoration set the trend for later rememberance traditions. The fighting was ordered to stop at 11:11am. Countries all over the world give one minute silence for this event. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versaiiles was a peace settlement signed by Germany and the central powers. It meant that Germany had to recognise they were responsible for the war. It restricted Germany to only 100,000 troops and disallowed them of heavy artillery. It also prevented them from using submarines, tanks and other military vehicles. They agreed to give some money back to the allies. British governers also wanted to stop the spread of communism specifically in Germany. -
The beginning of the "Roaring twenties"
After world war one, there was a seemingly out of the blue fashion change. Iconic to this period was the flapper (modern woman). This illustrated a new personality for women at this time. They had more political freedoms and were allowed to vote. Birth control devices like the diaphragm were more accessible which led more women to have full time jobs. -
Joseph Stalin gains power
Vladimir Lenin's time as leader was coming to an end. Lenin was fond of a young man known as Stalin as he visited him. Stalin was not expected to come to power. Trotsky was favoured although he was seen to be arrogant and overly ambitious. Though, unexpectadely, Lenin died and Stalin was appointed leader. -
The beginning of the Great Depression
The Great Depression was a time of severe economic decline. For most countries, like Australia, it began in 1929 after the stock market crash, "Black Tuesday." Unemployment in some countries rose to %33. Cities with heavy industry suffered the most. This was not helped by world war one as most countries had spent heavy ammounts of money on artillery and other machinery. Australia began recovering faster than most countries.
