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Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Ferdinand is visiting the town hall in Sarajevo. He is then killed by an Serbian extremist from the Black Hand. This is believed to be one of the causes of WWI. -
The Spark
Austro-Hungary declares war on Serbia. Serbia had previously made a treaty with Russia. So Russia begins the six week long process of moving its army to defend Serbia. -
War!!
Germany sees Russia defending Serbia as an act of war and declares war on Russia. France had made a treaty with Russia and was inclined to help, and declares war on Germany. France is now at war with Austro-Hungary as well. This all happened in the span of four days from August 1st to August 4th. -
Great Britain Enters the war
Germany tries to invade France by cutting through Belgium. Great Britain had made a treaty with France promising to aid in times of war. Great Britain declares war on Germany and is now also at war with Austro-Hungary. -
Keeping the Promise
Great Britain had made treaties with France and Belgium and was therefore required to help defend them. So Britain and all of its colonies declare war on Germany. -
The Tenth Army
Alexander Von Linsingen is moved to Hermann Von Eichorn’s tenth army in the Carpathians. He was assigned to attack the city Przemysl. After much planning Linsingen succeded. -
Linsingen's Army
Linsingen is promoted to command his own army. It was actually the Bugarmee, the 11th army, and the Austro-Hungarian 4th army. The were given the order to defend Poland’s Southern front from the Russians -
The Lusitania Tradgedy
A German submarine U-20 sinks the Lusitania with a torpedo, killing 128 American passengers. What is seen as a heartless atrocity to the rest of the world, is actually a strategic attack by the Germans. When the liner had been built, she had been fitted with gun mounts and extra ammunition stores in the event of a conflict. What was seen as a luxury liner was actually a ship of war. -
Moving Up
Linsingen takes over as leader of the “Bug Offensive”. A position previously occupied by August Von Mackensen. -
Retreat!
British ships try to take Dardanelles, but bad weather momentarily interrupts the attack. The Turks use the weather as cover to set mines and sink three ships. Allied troops are given orders to retreat from the peninsula of Gallipoli. Over 250,000 allies are killed as well as an equal number of Turkish soldiers. -
The Verdun Stalemate
The battle of Verdun between the French and the Germans was the longest battle in all of WWI. The French took great pride and honor in the forts along a narrow strip of land and would defend it to the last breath. The German plan was to play on this pride and continuously attack these forts to take a huge chunk out of the French military. It ended up with a stalemate mounting up to 350,000+ deaths on both sides -
Somme
The purpose for this battle was to relieve the French at Verdun by forcing the German force to divide and fight at Somme as well. The Battle however was a strategic disaster. The Germans would hide in deep bunkers during artillery barrages and at the end a charge was predictable so the Germans would simply get back in their dugouts and mow the infantry down. There were over 1 million casualties in this battle. -
No Rules
Germany announces publicly that it will use unrestricted submarine warfare. This is a major bombshell because this is one of the reasons that galvanized America to join the war. The order was given by Bethmann Hollweg. -
The United States Draft
This draft required all men of a certain age in the US to be inducted into military service. There were three drafts in WWI. They were on June 5, 1917, Then on June 5, 1918, and finally on September 12, 1918. -
Slowing Down
Linsingen returns to Berlin, and promoted to the rank of General. He commands the entire area of Berlin and the troops in it. He will stay at this position until his retirement.
