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The Austrian official, Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated on June 28, 1914. The assassin, Gavrilo Princip, was a Serbian member of the group Young Bosnia. This event was one of the main causes of World War I because Serbia had refused to accept a set of demands from Austria-Hungary after the assassination. -
On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed a British ship called the Lusitania. This happened off the coast of Ireland. On this ship, there were nearly 2,000 people on board. 159 Americans, 123 of whom died in the attack. This fueled public outrage in the United States. -
From February 21 to December 18, 1916, the French and Germans engaged in a battle at Verdun, France. The reason was that Germany wanted to crush the French army before the Allies could grow in strength. -
The United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917. President Woodrow Wilson had Congress declare war against Germany. The impact the U.S. had when it entered the war was that it helped shift the balance in favor of the Allied Powers by providing massive economic support. -
On August 14, 1917, Archibald S. Alsop writes a letter to his older sister Jessie that he has arrived at his training camp. Archiblad explains that he’s been in the mess house and that he has a bed, electricity, and a shower. -
Achibald writes a letter to Jessie on September 14, at 2:45 pm. He says that he is on a ship and he is in awe of the Coast of England. Archibald also says that it is an uneventful voyage and that not many other soldiers have gotten seasick.
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Archibald writes in his letter that he and the other soldiers had stopped and gathered food to continue their trip. He states that another soldier named John was acting very silly. Archibald also says that he and the others are surprised by how good everything is so far. They thought the food and everything would be way worse. Overall, he says he is happy.
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Archibald writes that after a long trip on a train, they are finally a long way from the front. He explains that he is now in a newly organized hospital. In this new location, he says that there is no possibility of seeing any fighting until next spring.
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On September 25, 1917, Archibald writes his sister Jessie that he is very happy that he can now receive letters from her. He also explains how his friend John is happy that he can receive letters from his family, too. Archibald also writes that he hopes that a boy named Carl won’t get sent to the training camps. Overall, he says he is doing good.
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The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, ended World War I between Germany and the Allied Powers. It imposed harsh terms on Germany, like reparations and significant territorial losses.