World War I:
The catalyst:
Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, Hungary. Austria wanted war against Serbia on July 28, 1914.
War Spreads:
July 28 Russia got troops to the Austrian border. August 1 Austrias ally Germany saw it as a threat and wanted war on Russia.
War Continued To Spread:
August 3 Germany wanted war on France which was Russia's ally. August 4, after Germany attacked Belguim, who was nuetral, to get to France, Britian wanted war on Germany.
Alliances Shift After War Starts:
Central Power
• Germany, Austria Hungary
• Later Bulgaria and Ottoman Empire ( wanted to regain lost territories)
Allied Powers:
• Great Britian, France, Russia
• Soon Japan, and later Italy
• Also Serbia, Greece, Romania, ect.
• Much later, the U.S. (1917)
New Technology of War:
• Machine guns, poison gas, grenades, armored tanks, larger artillery canons, submarines, airplanes armed with machine guns, ect.
Western Front:
• No Man's Land, the uninhabited land between the rows of trenches
• STALEMATE, nobody makes any real progress
U.S. Enters War:
• U.S. Policy of isolationism had kept it out of the war, though they helped allies
• Unrestricted submarine warfare by Germans sank British and U.S. ships
U.S. Enters the War:
• U.S. entered war on April 2, 1917
• Took a year to get 2 million U.S. soldiers over
Treaty of Versallies:
• Allied Powers met to create a post-war treaty at the palace of versallies
The Fourteenth Point Plan:
• Woodrow Wilson proposal for peace
• League of Nations
Germany was Punished:
• War Guilt clause, Germany to pay 33 Billion Dollars over 30 years to allies
• Lost lots of territory
• Restictions on German military
More Results:
• Japan and Italy angry and gained a little
• Germany left virtually destroyed, broke, in debt, embittered, ready for Hitler 20 years later.
Total Cost:
• 8.5 million soldiers died
• 21 million soldiers wounded
• 1918 flu epidemic killed as many as 50 million ( made worse by wartime )
Jun 28, 1914
Archduke Assassination:
•Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated in Sarajevo.
•His death is the event that sparks World War I.
Jul 30, 1914
Russia Mobilizes:
Russia mobilizes its strong army to go against Austria-Hungary in favor of its ally, Serbia. It starts a chain reaction that leads to the mobilization of the rest of the European Great Powers, and inevitably to the outbreak of hostilities.
Aug 4, 1914
World War I Begins:
Germany invades Belgium, beginning of World War I.
Apr 22, 1915
Germans Fire:
The Germans fire with chlorine gas at Allied lines. This is the first time that large amounts of gas are used in battle, and the result is the near-collapse of the French lines. However, the Germans are unable to take advantage of the breach.
May 7, 1915
Lusitania Sinks:
A German submarine sinks the passenger liner Lusitania. The ship carries 1,198 people, 128 of them Americans.
Sep 18, 1915
Germany Limits Submarines:
Reacting to international outrage at the sinking of the Lusitania and other neutral passenger lines, Kaiser Wilhelm suspends unrestricted submarine warfare. This is an attempt to keep the United States out of the war, but it severely hampers German efforts to prevent American supplies from reaching France and Britain.
Sep 15, 1916
First Tanks:
The British employ the first tanks ever used in battle, at Delville Wood. Although they are useful at breaking through barbed wire and clearing a path for the infantry, tanks are still primitive and they fail to be the decisive weapon, as their designers thought they would be.
Feb 1, 1917
Submarines Back:
Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare in European waterways. This act, more than any other, draws the United States into the war and causes the eventual defeat of Germany.
Apr 2, 1917
Wilson For War:
President Wilson outlines his case for war to Congress.
Apr 6, 1917
U.S. Enters War:
Congress authorizes a declaration of war against Germany. The United States enters World War I on the side of France and Britain.
May 18, 1917
Selective Service Act:
Congress passes the Selective Service Act authorizing the draft. Although criticized for destroying democracy at home while fighting for it abroad, President Wilson claims he sees no other option and signs the bill into law.
Mar 3, 1918
Germany and Russia Peace:
The Germans sign a peace treaty with the new Bolshevik government of Russia. The terms of the treaty give Germany huge tracts of land that had been the Ukraine and Poland, and peace on the Eastern Front allows Germany to shift soldiers to the Western Front, causing serious problems for the French, British, and Americans.
May 28, 1918
Battle of Cantigny:
The Battle of Cantigny is the first major American offensive of the war. Though small in scale, the Americans fight bravely and soon go on to larger attacks against German positions.
Jun 3, 1918
Chateau-Thierry:
The Americans attack the Germans at Chateau-Thierry. This battle would alter into the larger Battle of Belleau Wood.
Jun 6, 1918
Battle of Belleau Wood:
The Battle of Belleau Wood begins as the U.S. Marine Corps attacks the Germans across an open field of wheat, suffering huge casualties.
Jun 26, 1918
Belleau Wood Ends:
The Battle of Belleau Wood ends with the final expulsion of the Germans from the wood, which marks the farthest German advance on Paris. The area has changed hands six times during the three-week battle, which has caused nearly 10,000 American casualties.
Sep 12, 1918
Battle of St. Mihiel:
The Battle of St. Mihiel begins when 300,000 American troops under the direct command of General Pershing fling themselves into the German lines.
Nov 9, 1918
Wilhelm Abdicates:
Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates, ending all German hope for a victory. He and his crew quietly slip over the border into the Netherlands where he lives out the remainder of his life in relative peace and writes a self-promoting life defending his actions in the war.
Armistice Day:
An Armistice is signed ending fighting on the Western Front.