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Germany invades Belgium who was neutral
German soldiers came into a neutral Belgium while following the Schlieffen Plan. Their plan was to fight the war on two fronts, one of them being through the Belgium-French border. While invading Belgium, German troops shot and killed civilians including a Belguim Priest. -
Great Britain declares war on Germany.
Britain along with other superior Europian powers had promised to protect Belguim’s borders. Once German troops stomp through Belgium, Britain declares war on Germany. Britain civilians also welcomed Belgium refugees into their homes with open arms. -
The war in Africa
The British and French militaries invade a German colony in Africa, Togoland. Togoland was home to a German wireless station named Kamina. Kamina provided a way to communicate to German ships in the Atlantic. -
The First Battle of Marne
The Allies, France and Great Britain had begun fighting with Germany who was invading the northeastern part of France. The Allies had a successful counterattack against Germany which caused them to defeat Germany in this battle. Once they were defeated, German troops made their way back to the northern part of the Aisne River. This battle also made the German troops realize that defeating the Allies would be harder than they thought. -
The Indian army joins the war
During the battle of La Bassee in northern France, Britain asks the rest of the British empire for help. 1.5 million Indians and 1.3 Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, and South Africans come to fight alongside the British and the rest of the Allies. The French also call on their African colonies for help as well. -
The first use of poison gas
Even though both sides used tear gas during the first winter of the war, Germany tested a new gas in January 1915. This new gas used xylyl bromide which killed around a thousand Russain soldiers at Bolimov. The first time that the gas is used on a large scale was at Ypres in Belgium. Around 7,000 people from Britain, Canada, and France died. -
The sinking of the Lusitania
When an American “passenger boat” is sunken on the coast of Irland and 1,200 people die including 128 Americans, America becomes infuriated with Germany and demands that there should be some sort of rules for the German U-boat use. A German U-boat had fired a torpedo at the Lusitania because they had suspected that the boat had been carrying supplies for the Allies, and despite what the Americans said, the Germans were right. -
Russian Revolution
Russia had fought several times on the eastern front, but after being unable to successfully fight the Germans, Russia saw that they had some problems of their own. After have been defeated as well as being poor and hungry, most of Russia’s population had harsh feelings against their leader, Czar Nicholas II, and his German wife. This caused the Russian Revolution which was led by Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks and ultimately overthrew Czar’s thrown and paused Russia’s involvement in the war. -
Germany resumes U-boat warfare
Germany begins using unrestricted U-boat warfare again in the Atlantic where all Allied ships are to be sunk imminently upon being spotted. During the next month over a million tons of cargo was sank. -
David Golden Roy prepares to make the journey overseas to France, where he will serve part of his service
David, along with the rest of the people he was going to France with had to wake up at four in the morning to eat breakfast and finish packing. When they were loading the trucks, David mentioned how hard it was to get in the trucks because everyone was jumping and climbing into the truck from its sides. The men took the trucks to the train, the train to the ferry, and the ferry to the U.S.S Princess Matoika. -
The U.S.S Princess Matoika enters the submarine war zone
While Roy is on Matoika, he kept a diary that talked about his experience traveling overseas. On November 4th, he mentions how the Marguerite (the ship carrying supplies) is very close to hitting the U.S.S Princess Matoika. Instead, the Marguerite turns hard to the right and misses the ship, but this causes the captains to freak out on the Matoika and to turn on all of their exterior lights. David said that this made them and very clear target for German submarines. -
The U.S.S Princess Matoika faces a horrible storm at sea.
David, along with the other passengers of the Matoika had gotten used to nice weather on their trip. When they had woken up at seven in the morning on November 7th,1918, David wrote that the waves were so bad that the only way someone could stand up is if they held onto the deck railings. He mentioned that some of the waves were hitting on the ship deck. -
US Air force feels that prohibition in the states was a mistake
David hopes that he will be back home in time for elections. He said how it was disappointing how himself along with the others were not home to cast a vote on the prohibition and he said that the outcome would have most likely been different if the two million soldiers had a chance to vote on it. They would say “we fought for liberty over here and we are going home to be deprived of it”. -
Black American Solider is drowned in River close to Tours Aerodrome
At David Golden Roy’s camp, not too far away is a small river (more like a stream). Some of the soldiers like to swim or play in the water, but on Sunday, June 1, 1919, a colored soldier was found dead in the water. He was drowned. Someone had to do this to him because as David mentions, the water isn’t even deep enough to reach one’s head. -
Treaty of Versailles
At the end of WWI, the Treaty of Versailles was a document that made people believe that WWI was the war to end all wars. The Treaty of Versailles was created at the the Paris Peace Conference and made Germany pay for all of the war debt as well as not allowing Germany into the League of Nations. This put a lot of stress on Germany and is ultimately what provoked them into WWII.
