-
The start of World War I was triggered when a teenage Serbian revolutionary shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Ferdinand believed that the Serbs were "murderers" and 'pigs'. He had still opposed annexation, fearing that it would exacerbate an already turbulent political situation. Upon learning of Ferdinand's upcoming visit, the Young Bosnians, which was a secret revolutionary society of pleasant students, started to plot to assassinate him. Due to multiple warnings, they had to cancel the trip.
-
On April 22, 1915, German forces shocked Allied soldiers along the Western Front by firing more than 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas against two French colonial divisions at Ypres in Belgium. Toxic smoke had been used in warfare since ancient times, and in 1912, the French used small amounts of tear gas in police operations. At the outbreak of World War I, the Germans began to actively develop chemical weapons. A second gas attack against a Canadian division pushed the Allies further back.
-
At 7:12 a.m. on the morning of February 21, 1916, a shot from a German Krupp 38-centimeter long-barreled gun struck the cathedral in Verdun, France, beginning the Battle of Verdun, which led to 10 months of conflict and the longest conflict in World War l. In December 1915, Falkenhayn convinced the kaiser that, in combination with unrestricted submarine warfare at sea, which was a major French threat, the British, whom Falkenhayn saw as the most potent of the Allies, out of the war.
-
This battle, combined with the German and Austro-Hungarian forces, resulted in one of the most crushing victories of World War I. It decimated the Italian line along the northern stretch of the Isonzo River. There were 11 Italian attacks since May 1915, which preceded the Austrian assault at Caporetto, and had cost the Italians heavy casualties for an advance of less than seven miles. In preparation for the offensive, Germany transported seven divisions of troops to reinforce the Austrians.
-
Initially applied for conscientious objector status due to his strongly held religious convictions. York reported for basic training at Camp Gordon, Georgia, in November, where he proved himself to be a model soldier. After completing his basic training, he was assigned to G Company, 328th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Division, and shipped out to France in May. While on patrol along the Meuse-Argonne Front in France, York and 16 of his fellow soldiers were caught in an ambush behind German lines.
-
Alcin C. York arrived in France on June 27, 1918, and immediately went to the front. The Army assigned his unit to the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which was the largest American operation of the war. On October 8, 1918, he and his unit of 16 Soldiers were dispatched to capture the Decauville Railroad. Sadly, their map was in French, and the detachment ended up behind enemy lines, where they ran into a German unit on guard. York and his unit won a brief firefight and captured the enemy soldiers.
-
On October 8, 1918, United States Alvin C. York reportedly killed more than 20 German soldiers and captured an additional 132 at the head of a small detachment in the Argonne Forest near the Meuse River in France. Alvin C. York was the third of 11 children in a family supported by subsistence farming. After experiencing a religious conversion, he became a fundamentalist Christian around 1915. Two years later, when the United States entered World War I, York was drafted into the U.S. Army.
-
On October 8, 1918, United States Alvin C. York reportedly killed more than 20 German soldiers and captured an additional 132 at the head of a small detachment in the Argonne Forest near the Meuse River in France. There were machine guns that were spitting fire and cutting down the undergrowth all around him. He didn't have time to dodge behind a tree or dive into the brush that surrounded him, or even have time to kneel, so as soon as the machine guns opened fire on him, he shot back.
-
There was a grenade that he was trying to hide from, and he was trying to hide behind a tree, but there weren't any trees for him to hide behind, so he just sat in the mud, and he used his rifle. He had a pretty good shot with the rifle and the pistol, but since he's used them for most of his life, and having a great round of practice, he just shot his rifle until he didn't have any more clips that he could use. Then he used his pistol when he couldn't use the rifle anymore.
-
It saw the meteoric rise of Germany as an economic and military power from this event. It saw the fragmentation of Europe into opposing camps of mutually-mistrusting alliances, which was a world war ending in Germany’s humiliating defeat and the abolition of German monarchical rule. Wilhelm’s life, actions, and complex character played a significant part in this destructive process. Wilhelm always overestimated his capacity for wise political judgment. He was Queen Victoria’s first grandson.