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The start of the war
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to Austro-Hungarian, and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated by Serbian nationalists, Gavrilo Princip. Princip and others had been struggling to end the Austro-Hungarian rule over Herzegovina and Bosnia. After, the assassination an escalating chain of events happened. Many other countries blame the Serbian government for the attack. -
Britain Declares War on Germany
Germany had attacked France through Belgium, who is neutral, to get rid of any uprising threats to them. Great Britain and other great powers in Europe has promised that they would protect Belgium's borders. Soon after Belgium goes to Great Britain, who then declared war on Germany which then causes conflict all around the world. -
First Battle of the Marne
French and British troops invaded Germany's forces. Germany had already been deep in northeastern France, only 30 miles (48.28 kilometers) away from Paris. The attack had been successful causing Germany to drop their plans of a quick victory in France and drove them back north to the Aishe River. After the attack both sides started digging trenches at the western front. -
First Use of Poison Gas
Both sides of the war began playing around with gas during the first winter of the war. Germany uses a much deadlier gas, Xylyl bromide, killing around 1,000 Russian soldiers on the eastern front in Bolimov. Germany had also used unleashed thousands of chlorine gas, affecting around 7,000 British, Canadian, and French soldiers. This made other soldiers terrified and caused lots of problems at home with their families. -
Italy Switches Sides
Italy had always sided with Germany and Austria-Hungary, part of the Triple Alliance. When the war broke out Italy should have sided with the Triple Alliance, but didn't. Instead, they sat back and watch how the war played out. A year after the war started Italy decides to take sides with the Triple Entente- Britain, France, and Russia. -
Germany and Russia Peace
Germany signed a peace treaty with the new Bolshevik government of Russia. The terms gave Germany large pieces of land that had been the Ukraine and Poland. All the peace on the eastern front allowed German soldiers to shift towards the western front causing major problems for Britain, France, and the United States. -
U.S. Enters War
The U.S. enters the war after 3 years of the start of the war. Congress had authorized the declaration of war against German. We finally entered WWI on the behalf of Britain and France. -
Lusitania Sinks
A German submarine had sunk a passenger liner called the Lusitania. The ship been carrying about 1,198 people. 123 of those people were Americans who had not entered the war yet. -
Theodore Edward Beach
A sub had shot a torpedo at them while Theodore was on guard. They changed course so fast that he had almost fell down the stairs. His team dropped several bombs and took out the sub. -
Selective Service Act
Congress passes a law called the selective services which authorizes the use of the draft. Everyone started criticizing for democracy at home. President Wilson sees no other option and signs the bill into the law. -
Theodore Edward Beach
Theodore Edward Beach highest rank was a corporal. He was enlisted in the army from July 15, 1917, to May 19, 1919. He was sent to many different camps and locations. Beach was sent to camp Douglas, Wisconsin; camp MacArthur, Texas; camp Merritt, New Jersey; and France. Its unknown if he was a prisoner of war, but he did keep a journal with her from March 3rd to November 28, 1918. -
Theodore Edward Beach
Theodore's troops shot 26 rounds at a road and village. They also had two gas alarms go off, but he said it was windy so the as wasn't very effective. They dug a new dug out and continued to fire, but there was too much sand. Their blankets and packs had been buried under 3 feet (91.44 cm) of sand, so they just spent the night there. -
Theodore Edward Beach
Theodore slept through two gas alarms that night. They also started fighting at close range instead of, how he puts it, slow trench warfare. He also mentions how the Germans hate and are scared of their Amex boys. He tried to write a letter to Peg that day but had to stop three different times to carry shells, fire, and straighten up his powder. -
Theodore Edward Beach
Aero planes had bombed places near them, but none had hit them. They had more man to man combat, no one was hurt too badly. Just a few guys that had been hit in the shoulder. He also talks about there being a gas smell everywhere and that many men had gotten weak and sick, including him. That night him and his bunk mate had slept in a hole that was only big enough for one person. -
Battle of Gaza Begins
Gaza had been bombarded by British and French ships offshore. The first phase of the battle started early morning in December. By the afternoon the allied forces were able to drive the Turks back into Gaza. The Turks had been captured before they could start their plan to destroy the wells and evacuate Beersheba.
