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Austro-Hungarian Archduke was assassinated by a member of the Black Hand terrorist group. His assassination is said to be the start of the first world war.
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France advanced towards German borders. 27,000 French soldiers die in one day of fighting. Germany wins this battle.
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The Western front digs their first set of trenches. Trench warfare enabled soldiers to fire at their enemies while still being under cover. At the end of the war it is estimated that around 25,000 miles of trenches were dug.
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The British and Germans stopped fighting Christmas day and sang Christmas carols. They also lobbed food into opposing trenches. This only happened once during the war, Christmas day of 1914.
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Germany raids England with Zeppelin bloons, causing a total war. Total war meant that everyone was affected by the war. No one was safe, and everyone was a target.
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A German U-boat sinks the Lusitania. All 1,198 civilians, including 128 Americans, were killed. This
angered the U.S. and is one of the many reasons that the U.S. entered the war. -
Britain throws poisonous gasses at opposing troops in Loos. The wind shifts direction forcing the gas back towards Britain. 60,000 of their own men die.
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The Battle of Verdun was the longest battle of the war. It went from February 21st to December 18th. Approximately one million men die.
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The Battle of the Somme lasted from July 1st to November 18th. An estimated one million men die. Britain introduces the tank.
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Woodrow Wilson is re-elected as the president of the United States. His winning campaign slogan is “He kept us out of war”
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German Foreign minister Arthur Zimmermann sends a telegram to the minister of Mexico offering them U.S. territory in return for joining their side in the war. This telegram drew the U.S. into the war.
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President Wilson sends the first of the U.S. soldiers to war. Learning from the French and British, the U.S. soldiers learned that they must take out the machine guns first.
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The Battle of Ypres lasted from July31st to November 10th. Western front fights hard but only advances slightly. Both sides lose an estimated 700,000 soldiers.
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The French have started to realize that they are getting no where and decide to go on strike. They knew their rights and knew that going to stand in front of machine guns for no purpose but to die was not one of them.
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American troops fire their first shots from the trenches. They were fired in France.
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Women from Russian factories left and went into the streets to protest. The next day, 150,000 more joined into the protest. A few days later, the city was shut down because no one was working.
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President Woodrow Wilson proclaims his 14 points to be the path to permanent world peace. He believed that America should be neutral. THe sinking of the Lusitania shattered this belief.
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Manfred von Richthofen was known as the Red Baron. He was the highest scoring fighter pilot in WW1. In 20 months of combat, he shot down 80 enemy aircraft.
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Tsar Nicholas and his wife and children were all murdered by the Bolsheviks. This made Russia and France afraid of Germany.
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On June 28th, 1919,Germany and their allies signed a peace treaty to end WW1. Germany was to take full responsibilities for the damage of WW1. Signed exactly 5 years after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.
