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Machine Guns
Machine guns also known as Gatling Guns were invented in 1884. Machine guns were used during WWI. Using machine guns made it faster to shoot because with your round were empty you just popped in another and continued shooting. You didn’t have to stop and load the gun powder and then shoot. -
Archduke Assassination
Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie were killed in Sarajevo. Their death is what caused WWI. The death of Archduke and Duchess was no accident. The assassination was planned by a Serbian nationalist group called the Black Hand. They were assassinated because the group the Black Hand believed Bosnia should belong to Serbia. -
Lusitania Sinks
On May 7, 1915 the British ship Lusitania sank. A german submarine sunk the ship. Lusitania had 1,198 people on the ship. 128 of the people on that ship were Americans. -
The youngest British soldier was 12 years old
Sidney Lewis was only 12 years old. To be able to enlist he lied about his age so he could have the chance to join the army during WWI. Lewis was just one of the thousands of young boys who enlisted. He ended up getting to fight along with the adults on the front. Some joined bc of the patriotism, but others joined to escape their boring lives. -
An Explosion on the battlefield in France was heard in London
When the war raged on in the mud and trenches, a very different war was happening right below them. During the war, miners who were operating in secrecy, dug tunnels up to 100 feet below ground. They planted and detonated mines under the enemyś trenches. They had their biggest success at Messines Ridge in Belgium when more than 900,000lbsof explosives were detonated at the same time in 19 underground tunnels. The explostion was so loud the British prime minister heard it 140 milies away. -
Journalists faced execution
Many journalists risked their lives to report things about the war. The Government wanted to control the info that came from the frontline at the very beginning of the war. At the beginning of the war journalists were banned. According to the War Office reporting on the conflict was helping the enemy. If a journalist was caught reporting they faced a death penalty. -
First Tanks
On Sep 15, 1916 the first tanks to ever be used in battle. Tanks were really only useful to break through barbed wire and making paths. But the failed as a weapon. Their designers thought they would fail, but still made them. -
Letter to mother from Edgar D. Andrews
In this letter, Edgar writes to his mother when he gets to the parlor. He tells her that he didn't go for the parlor, but to fight alongside the others. To fight for his country. In his letter, he tells his mother about the conditions he has to go through. He tells her about the food and what he gets to eat. -
Colourful makeovers meant WWI ships hid in plain sight
It was really important to protect the ships that carried the food and the military supplies. Royal Navy volunteer and artist Norman Wilkinson, came up with painting the ships with bold shapes and violent color contrasts. It was the complete and total opposite of normal camouflage. They used dazzle camouflage because it was supposed to confuse the enemy instead of conceal the ships from them. -
Blood banks were developed during WWI
During WWI the British Army decided to start using the transfusion of blood to treat the soldiers who were badly wounded. The blood was taken directly from one person to the other. Captain Oswald Robertson, a US Army doctor, established the very first glblood bank on the Western Front in 1917. To prevent the blood from coagulating and becoming unstable he used sodium citrate. -
Form 25 from the Massachusetts Treasury Department
This letter was sent to Edgar from the Massachusetts Treasury Department. This letter was telling him that if he was discharged the recent check would have to be sent back. If he would have been discharged before January 15, 1918, then his family wouldn't be able to keep the new check. The checks are sent to the families with loved ones that are fighting for our country. -
Letter to the Treasury Department
In this letter, it explains that because Edgar is in the military that his family gets a check worth $15.00. The check is meant to be used to pay for food, clothes, things for the house, things for school, ect. But once he leaves the army the family gets no more checks. Without the checks, most military families would be poor or just not have a ton of money. $15.00 isn't a lot, but it is when you don't have much. -
Letter from the Treasury Department
This letter was written to Sarah E. Andrews. In this letter, Sarah was told that she would have to refund the money by money order or draft. She was told that she had to refund it because she was receiving too much. Sarah Andrews is Edgar's mother. So because Edgar was in the military, his mother received checks to help support the family. -
Letter from the Treasury Department of the United States
This letter told Sarah Andrews (Edgar's mother) that she doesn't have to send back the money she has received. She had gotten a letter that said she had to return the money she got. But because her sons' case had been reconsidered, she could keep it all. If her son had been discharged she would have had to send it back. But he was not discharged. -
Treaty of Versailles was signed
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the most important treaties ever signed. The Treaty of Versailles marked the end of WW1. Without the Treaty of Versailles the war may have never ended. The Treaty of Versailles blamed the war on Germany and made Germany pay for it.
