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The Archduke Ferdinand of Serbia was assassinated. This flared tensions in Europe. Germany and Brittan began to for alliances in fear of war.
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Austri-Hungary blamed Serbia for their leaders assassination. A month after the assassination. The Archduke's wife declared war on Serbia. Germany, allies of Austria-Hungary, did not think Serbia's allies, the Russians, would come to their aid. The Russians did mobilize however, draging their allies, France and Great Brittan into the fight as well.
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By the end of WWI the casualties were as follows:
Britain : 750,000 soldiers killed
France : 1,400,000 soldiers killed
Belgium : 50,000 soldiers killed
Italy : 600,000 soldiers killed
Russia : 1,700,000 soldiers killed
America : 116,000 soldiers killed
Germany : 2,000,000 soldiers killed
Austria-Hungary : 1,200,000 soldiers killed
Turkey : 325,000 soldiers killed
Bulgaria : 100,000 soldiers killed -
In respnse to Russia's mobilization and to protect their allies in Austria-Hungary, Germany declared war on Russia.
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Two days after their declaration of war against Russia, Germany declared war on France as well. Under the Scheiffen Plan, Germany attacked France by tresspassing through nuetral Belgium.
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The brittish delivered an ultimatum to Germany, demanding their withdrawal from Belgium. When they refused, Brittan declared war on Germany.
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In responce to Germany's agressive actions against civilian ships with American citizens on board, America declared war on Germany.
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At the end of WWI, Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles. It made Germany take respnsibility for the War. Their military was reduced, their economy was stunted, and had their borders restriced. In addition to taking responsibility however, Germany also had to pay for all repairs to Europe. This was one of the major causes of the Great Depression in Europe.
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The roaring twenties were another major cause of the Great Depression. The 20s were a time of indulgance. Credit was a newly formed concept and people bought almost everything on credit. This "high" was like the crest of a giant wave, and when it crashed, it crashed hard.
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On this day, the stock market took the largest drop in US history. Billions of dollars were lost in a single day. In the days following people franticly withdrew their money from banks, but even banks began to run out of money and people lost their life savings.
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Franklin D. Roosevelt was president for 16 years and he redefined the governments job. The Depression was a a terrible time, but FDR used his New Deal to create new government agencies and laws to provide jobs, minimum wage, and government pensions. It was now the government's job to take care of the people.
