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Archduke Franz Ferdinand
When Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, Austria-Hungary was very upset. After a miscommunication between the seven terrorists, Gavrilo Princip was forced to pull out his pistol and fire two shots; one hitting Ferdinand in the neck and the other landing in his wife's abdomen. The terrorist group belonged to Serbia. After killing the Archduke, Serbia tried to make amends with them, but Austria-Hungary instead declared war. This was the main start to World War I. -
Lusitania
The German forces sunk a ship called the Lusitania using a submarine. The European ocean liner was carrying 1,198 people including 128 Americans. Because of this one ship sinking, many countries turned on Germany, and the public opinion was not good anymore. Although it still took America around two years to join the war after this happened, Germany was still no longer a popular country. -
Ship Sinking Limitations
Germany could sense that America was getting annoyed with all of the submarine attacks Germany was carrying out. The main reason they wanted to sink all of the ships crossing through was to intercept any supplies that America was sending to Britain and France, and vise versa. Eventually they agreed to limit how many attacks they were doing in an attempt to keep America out of the war. They knew that if America joined, so would Britain and France. -
Sinking Again
Germany begins unrestricted submarine warfare again after realizing that they are starting to take a fall in the war. They felt threatened by other countries and knew that they needed to do something to make them powerful again. By starting the submarine attacks again, America was drawn into the war once again. -
Zimmerman Telegram
Germany creates a secret code so that they can send letters to allied countries without other countries knowing. They mainly created this code so that they can send messages to Mexico without other countries knowing what they are saying. Britain interfered with one message in particular and cracks the code; exposing Germany to the world and Mexico ultimately declines the offer to side with Germany. -
Joins the War
America starts to get tired of Germany and other countries looking down on them. On April 6, 1917, America declares war against Germany, officially joining the war on the Allied powers side. -
Peace Treaty
Germany and Russia sign a peace treaty through the new government in Russia called the Bolshevik. The treaty basically gives Germany control over land that is closer to the other side in parts of Ukraine and Poland. This makes France, Britain, and America very nervous. -
Battle of Cantigny
The Battle of Cantigny was the first major battle that America fought offensively in World War I. They were being beat down by the Germans when General John J. Pershing of the U.S. military realized that they needed to fight back. They marched to Cantigny where they took the town over, and defeated the Germans before they saw it coming. -
Belleau Wood
The Battle of Belleau Wood begins when U.S. Marine Crops attacked German troops from across an open wheat field. This caused many deaths for both sides, but Germany suffered many casualties. This battle ended up lasting for almost twenty days. -
Theodore Edward Beach- First Troops
Theodore Beach was part of the first groups of American troops on German territory. The troops had to camouflage and build trenches as soon as they touched ground. Germany found their general placement and tried to shell them but had no luck in finding where they were actually located at. -
Theodore Edward Beach- Paris Attacks
The American troops in Paris were attacked by Germans early in the morning. Four aeroplanes swooped down and fired machine guns at the U.S. troops. The planes were so close that you could see the writing on the bottom of the wing. However, with American gun forces, Germany was pushed back to where they came from. Unfortunately, many American soldiers were found dead on their way to a new place. -
Theodore Edward Beach- No Sleep
Beach, along with the rest of his troops, spent three days in a row marching to a new location. In these three days, they only got six hours of sleep. If they did have time to sleep, they slept on the road or in the ditch; wherever they could find a decent place. At this point, Uncle Sam was relevant in the war and the American troops wanted to make him proud and keep him from worrying any more than he already was. -
Theodore Edward Beach- Austria
The American troops that Beach is with are now six months into their mission. They begin fighting Austria now. France let America borrow an airplane so that they could defeat Austria. During the battle, Austria shot at the U.S. troops early in the morning, forcing them to wake up and defend themselves. -
Theodore Edward Beach- Bunkmate
Beach and his bunk mate went out early one morning together. They got up early with the intentions of attacking German planes flying overhead. They were up in the air to shoot at them but had to come down at one point and chase an enemy gunmen on foot. Beach and his buddy shot down four planes and caught them on fire that morning. -
Wilhelm Abdicates
Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany abdicates, which ends all hope that Germany had for winning the war. He calls his troops to retreat back to Germany. When he returns, he disappears across the border where he lives out the rest of his life and writes about his experience in the war.
