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Assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand
The archduke of Austria-Hungary was in Sarajevo to inspect the imperial armed forces when a Serbian nationalist threw a bomb at their car injuring an officer. Later that day they went to visit the injured officer, the driver took a wrong turn, Princip fired into their car killing both the archduke and his wife. On July 28th Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Many nations rose up against Germany and Austria-Hungary and within a week World War I had officially stared. -
President Woodrow Wilson announces the U.S. will remain neutral
On august 19th 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared that the U.S. would remain neutral. The U.S. remained neutral until April of 2017, when we declared war on Germany. The Lusitania along with the sinking of multiple U.S. merchant ship is what caused President Wilson and Congress to decide to go to war with Germany, and change our original position of neutrality. -
Battle of the Mons
The Battle started August 23rd, by the end of the battle there were 1,600 German deaths and 5,000 British deaths. The Battle of the Mons included some of the very first air battles. U.S. World War I veteran Hillie John Franz witnessed some air battles later in the war and he described a battle between U.S. and German planes. He described seeing a burning plane about 1000 feet in the air, a man jumped out of the plane and was on fire, he was saved on our side of the line but died the next day. -
Battle of Tannenberg
The Battle of Tannenberg in 1914 lasted from the 26th of August to the 30th of August. Although the Germans were greatly outnumbered by the Russians they were able to defeat them and kill the majority of the Russian army. The Russians suffered 170,000 casualties while the Germans only lost 12,000. -
First battle of the Marnes
The battle started on the 5th of September and lasted until the 12th. The Allies won, and combined there was about 500,000 casualties. It was during this battle that trench warfare became a big part of how we fought. Hillie had experiences in trenches, and even had to help dig some. In his diary Hillie tells of having of the rush to dig trenches, and he spent several days digging them. He told about fighting in unfinished trenches, while it was raining. -
Battle of Ypres
This became what is now referred to as the first of three battles of Ypres. On October 19th a period of fierce combat began resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. The first battle lasted until the 22nd of November when the arrival of winter forced the battle to a halt, it wasn't continued until the second battle in April of 1915. -
The Second Battle of Ypres
This battle lasted until May 25 with no significant gains for either side. During this battle is when the Germans first started developing chemical weapons that used poisonous gasses. In his Diary Hillie tells his experiences of poison gasses. He talks about people who were on the lookout for gas, if they even thought that they might smell some gas everyone had to put on gas masks. He says that there were many false alarms. Hillie told of a gas so strong that one sniff would stop your heart. -
The Battle of Gallipoli
The Battle of Gallipoli was a failed attempt by the Allied forces to take control of the sea route from Europe to Russia. By the middle of October the Allied forces had made very little progress, and had suffered heavy casualties. They started retreating in December and had all of their troops out by January of 1916. The Allies ended the battle with an estimated 46,000 deaths. -
Sinking of Lusitania
The Lusitania was a large British passenger ship. On may 7th of 1915 the Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat. The ship contained 27 american citizens who died because of the sinking. It was two years before the U.S. joined the war but the sinking of the ship and the american deaths turned public opinion against Germany and was a big factor leading to the U.S. enter WWI. -
The Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun was one of the biggest battles of World War I, and resulted in the death of approximately 1.2 million people. The battle was also the longest battle in World War I lasting 10 months. On July 14th the Germans called of their offense, and the war lasted until mid-December when the French retook the land that had been captured by the Germans. -
The Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was the major naval battle of World War I. The Battle included about 250 ships and 100,000 men. The battle began on May 31 1916 and ended the next day with the loss of 6,784 British men and 3,058 German men. -
Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme was an Allied victory which led to the final victory in 1918. The Allies forced the Germans to withdraw 40 miles which greatly help the Allies achieve their victory. The battle had the greatest death toll in one single day in the history of the German army. The battle lasted from the first of July to the 18th of November in 1916 and had a total of 1,219,201 casualties. -
Zimmerman Telegram
On January 19th of 1917 the British intercepted and deciphered a telegram that was sent to Mexico, from Germany. The telegram was an attempt from Germany to get Mexico to enter the war. Germany wanted a Mexican-German alliance to fight the United States. On February 26 President Woodrow Wilson found out about the telegram and the next day he proposed to congress that we arm our ships to prepare for a possible German attack. -
The United States declares war on Germany.
On April 6th of 1917 the U.S. declared war on Germany. The public opinion of Germany was already bad after they sunk the Lusitania killing 27 Americans, they also sunk several U.S. merchant ships, and then we found out that Germany had sent a telegram to Mexico asking them to help fight against the U.S. The sinking of the Lusitania and some U.S. merchant ships, along with the Zimmerman telegram led to the United States into joining WWI, and going up against Germany. -
The Third Battle of Ypres
The third battle of the Ypres started on July 31st 1917 and ended on the 6th of November when the British and Canadian forces captured a village, giving them a reason to call of the offense and claim victory. This battle was known for mud that was so thick that men and horses drowned in it, causing them to make very little progress. There were 325,000 Allied casualties, and 260,000 German casualties. -
President Woodrow Wilson's 14 points
On January 8th of 1918 President Woodrow Wilson gave his 14 points speech. It was meant as a blueprint to negotiate peace after World War I. Wilson addressed what he thought to be the main causes of the war, and also how to avoid war and keep peace in the future. The 14 points were broadcast all over the world and were even dropped from planes behind the enemy's lines. -
Germany launches the Spring Offensive
On March 21st of 1918 Germany launched the Spring Offensive, a series of attacks which were Germany's attempt to end the war. Within five hours of the launch the Germans had fired one million artillery shells at the British lines. By the end of the first day of the attack the Germans had 230,000 casualties. The first few days of the offensive was viewed as a success, but by July of 1918 the Germans had lost about one million men and their army could not handle such casualties. -
The Second Battle of the Marne
The second battle of the Marne was the Germans last fight of their Spring Offensive. The battle lasted from July 15th to September 16th of 1918. The Germans began to advance and started the battle with an artillery bombardment. They then found that the french had set up a false line of trenches and the real front line had hardly been touched by their initial bombardment. The battle ended in a major Allied victory. -
Germany signed the armistice
On November 11th of 1918 Germany signed the armistice agreeing to end the fighting. The armistice was agreed upon at 5 am saying the fighting would end at 11am. Fighting ended on the 11th hour of the 11 day of the 11th month. Hillie wrote in his diary that that when they found out that the armistice was to be signed they could hardly believe it, some people were crying, some laughing, and almost everyone was talking. They got to eat as much as they wanted, which had not happened in a long time. -
The Versailles Treaty
On June 28th of 1919 the Versailles Treaty was signed, officially ending World War I. The Treaty reassigned German boundaries, and Germany agreed to pay for war reparations. Hillie had stayed to help clean up after the war and went home a few days prior to this. In his diary Hillie repeatedly says ¨some happy bunch¨ referring to him and those traveling with him, they were happy about the war ending and once again getting to enjoy different foods and music that they didn't have during the war.
