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World War I
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Tangled Alliances
Otto von Bismark formed an alliance with Austria-Hungary Gemany, and Italy. Kaiser Wilhelm II wanted Bismark to resign so that he could show Germany's military dominance. To do this, he wanted to build a navy that was equal in strenghth to Great Britain. This caused tension, making Great Britain form the Triple Entente with France and Russia. -
The Assasination of Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian man named Garbila Princip. After his assassination, Austria gave Serbia a set of demands. Wanting to avoid war, Serbia agreed to some of the demands but wanted to negotiate others. Austria had a very stubborn attitude towards this, leaving no room for negotiation, beginning a war between Serbia and Austria. -
The Battle of the Marne
The Schlieffen Plan was a plan created by Alfred Graf von Schlieffen designed to defeat France in the west and then defeat Russia in the east. The failure of the Schlieffen Plan took place at the battle of the Marne. At this battle, the Germans went into Paris, but were forced to retreat after the allies defeated them in the valley of the Marne river. -
Battle on the Eastern Front
In the battle along the Eastern front, the Russians and Serbs battled the Germans and Austro-Hungarians. On the Eastern front, the Germans crushed the Russians and led them to retreat. Russia then lost to the Austro-Hungarians and were forced to retreat out of Austria-Hungary. The results of these battles left Russia's war effort in collapse. -
War in the Trenches
During this war, enemies would dig trenches that were miles long parallel to each other. The soliders camped out inside the trenches filled with rats and mud. Some men would call it a living hell. When the officer called to attack, soldiers would run out of their trenches into bombed-out landscape. During this time, weapons were more advanced, killing more people quickly. -
The Gallipoli Campaign
The Allies hoped to take control of part of the Ottoman Empire called the Dardanelles. If the Allies were able to take over this area, they had a passage to Constantinople. The British, Australian, New Zealand, and French troops continuously attacked the Gallipoli Peninsula. In the battles, soldiers also built trenches. Eventually, the Allies lost some 2250,000 men and evacuated. -
Russia Withdraws from the War
Because of Russia’s shortages, their current leader, Czar Nicholas, had to step down. As many as 5 million Russian soldiers were killed or hurt during the war, forcing Russia to remove themselves from the war. Communist Vladimir Ilyich Lenin took control of Russia. The leader signed a peace treaty with Germany called the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk to end the war between them. -
America Joins the Fight
Germany used a technique called “unrestricted submarine warfare,”. When using it, they took down Lusitania, a British ship which contained American passengers and possibly ammunition. President Wilson was enraged so he sent a protest to Germany, but they still sunk more American ships. Since the Germans needed more allies, they asked Mexico to join them by telling them that they would help Mexico reconquer land lost to the U.S. This caused President Wilson to declare war on Germany. -
Fourteen Points is Created
The Fourteen Points, created by President Wilson, was to keep peace worldwide. For the first four sections, it stated that they would abolish treaties that were kept secret. It also allowed the freedom of the seas, free trade, and diminished national armies and navies. The next eight points covered the creation of new borders and the formation of new countries. The final point suggested that a band of nations should come together to protect each other. -
Treaty of Versailles
When the Fourteen the Fourteen were created, there was still tension between many of the countries. Finally, the treaty was created and was signed by Germany and the Allied powers, on the anniversary of Franz Ferdinand’s assassination.This treaty was designed to create and maintain peace amongst disputing countries. In addition, this treaty put some restraints on Germany. For example, Germany lost some territories in Africa and the pacific and restrictions were placed on Germany’s military. -
World War I Ends
When Russia withdrew from the war, this was Germany's chance to attack France for the last time. Germany''s disadvantage was their weakened troops. Knowing that Germany was weak, France and the U.S. attacked them during the Second Battle of the Marne. Eventually, the Central Powers began to fall apart. This event caused Kaiser Wilhelm to step down from power. A new leader Germany met with French Commander Foch to sign an armistice, ending to war.
