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Franco - Prussian war
The war between France and Prussia (the future German Empire) that lasted from 1870 to 1871 ended with a humiliating defeat for France. It lost the regions of Alsace and Lorraine, and was forced to pay a huge indemnity to Prussia. The Franco-Prussian War led to creation of a powerful German Empire with a military and industrial potential to further disrupt the European balance of power on the one hand and widespread resentment and desire for revenge among the French on the other. -
Accession of Wilhelm II to the German Throne
With the accession of Wilhelm II to the German throne in 1888, the German foreign policy became more aggressive The new German Emperor dismissed Otto von Bismarck as Chancellor. He also refused to renew the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia that maintained the fragile peace between Russia and Austria-Hungary as well as kept France isolated. That way Wilhelm II helped create an alliance between France and Russia hat became the basis for the future Triple Entente. -
Moroccan Crises
The Moroccan Crises brought the European powers on the brink of war. Both crises were provoked by the Germans with an aim to cause tensions between France and Britain that just concluded an alliance. The result, however, was right the opposite. Instead of ‘softening’ Britain and bring it closer to the Central Powers, the Moroccan Crises further reinforced the Entente Cordiale and increased the British hostility towards Germany -
Balkan Wars
In 1912, Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and Bulgaria formed the Balkan League, a military alliance against the Ottoman Empire. Within a few months, the Balkan allies stripped the Ottoman Empire of its possessions in the Balkans and divided the conquered territory among themselves. In June, Bulgaria turned against its allies of Serbia and Greece due to a dispute over partition of Macedonia. But the Bulgarians were defeated within a month and forced to give up their claims in Macedonia. The success of -
Start of World war 1
The first great war breaks out between the allies and the axis. -
First use of poison gas
Trench warfare was seeing the use of poison gas. A non-lethal type of gas had been used by the Germans in late 1914, but a more damaging kind was put onto the Eastern Front in January 1915 (at Bolimov), where it froze. The Germans had developed the chlorine gas that was used at Ypres in April. It had been dispersed by air and by artillery fire. The British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F.) was able to counter the use of gas with their own variants. -
First use of the Darandelles
The Dardanelles campaign started with a naval bombardment of the landing areas that had been selected for February 16th. British troops arrived from Egypt and landed at Gallipoli, with French troops going to the opposite shore. Turkish reinforcements, under the man who would make his name as Atatürk, had forced a stalemate, and the Allied forces were withdrawn from the straights by 1916. -
The first Zeppelin raids,
eppelin raids had started in England, the zeppelins and were able to fly at a higher altitude than the defenders' planes. They had been developed by the Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, and were used by the German military since 1909. The German army's balloons had suffered from ground fire, but they were put to use over England: targeting the coastal towns of Yarmouth and King's Lynn in January before moving on to attack on London in May. It took a while before the British pilots had the skills an -
1916 Rising Ireland
The Easter uprising began when some 1,600 militant Irish republicans who were members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood seize several key sites in Dublin hoping to win independence from British rule. British forces suppressed the uprising after six days, and its leaders were court-Marshalled and executed. -
Russian revolution
The beginning of the Russian Revolution (Often Called The February Revolution) against Czarist Rule. It began in February 1917 following the lack of food in Petrograd and lead to the abdication by Nicholas II in March 1917 and the beginning of the Communist Party rule in Russia. After 300 years of rule by the Romanov Dynasty, Czar Nicholas II is forced to abdicate following declining popularity due to the "Bloody Sunday" massacre when palace guards shot and killed defenseless demonstrators march -
Royal Air force is founded
The Royal Air force is founded in England, this is truly an amazing piece of History as the first flight was only made 8 years before by Wilbur and Wright and for countries around the World to set up a separate arms of the Forces shows how important politicians believed the aircraft would become as a part of the military. The aircraft in use in 1918 when the RAF started included the Sopwith Pup, Bristol F2B Fighters, Sopwith Camels and Royal Aircraft Factory SE5's. -
Property boom in England and America
With the ending of World War I a housing boom in Britain and the United States leads to an increase in home ownership -
World war 2 breaks out
Germany begins the start of the second great war by invading Poland. Britain and France delcare war on Germany.
