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Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand is believed to be the reasoning behind the start of WW1. On the day him and his wife were traveling around Sarajevo they were still killed. Their deaths rapidly developed a list of conflicts. Many countries blamed the Serbian government for the deaths, but Russia was still on their side. Austro- Hungary then declared war on Russia, which led to war on Serbia, motivating other countries to go to war too: starting the First World War. -
Sinking of the Louisiana
In 1915, a German torpedo was shot, sinking the British Louisiana ship. The route it was in started in New York and meant to end in Liverpool, England. 1,100 people died in this attack, 120 of them being Americans: being another reason we went into WW1 two years later. The ship was known to have 173 tons of war munitions for Britain, the reason they went through with the action. Germany became a large enemy to the US and sinking of the Louisiana played a significant role in this. -
Paris Peace Conference
In 1915, a German torpedo was shot, sinking the British Louisiana ship. The route it was in started in New York and meant to end in Liverpool, England. 1,100 people died in this attack, 120 of them being Americans: being another reason we went into WW1 two years later. The ship was known to have 173 tons of war munitions for Britain, the reason they went through with the action. Germany became a large enemy to the US and sinking of the Louisiana played a significant role in this. -
Treaty of Versailles
World War 1 ended with the Treaty of Versailles being signed at the Paris peace conference. This treaty was between all of the allied powers, particularly excluding Germany from any benefits. Germany was forced to pay for damage when not everything was their fault. This angered the Germans for being blamed for a world war, leading to the upbringing of Hitler’s power. It is said to be one of the main causes of WW2. -
Munich Agreement
This conference is where the Munich Agreement was settled. It permitted Germany from taking over the Sudetenland in western Czechoslovakia. He had been planning the invasion towards them, but they had military assistance from France and a treaty of protection with the Soviet Union. Chamberlain gave policy of appeasement to Hitler, hoping that it would stop him from more demands. He then broke what was settled and took over all of Czechoslovakia, instead of Sudetenland. -
Non-Aggression Pact
Just before WWII, the Soviet Union and Nazi’s introduced the Nonagression Pact, stating no military action against other countries for 10 years. This was a large surprise to many, knowing these two were not exactly known for peace. Everything was a lie. For Stalin, it was a way to build his military and Hitler wanted to used it as a way to plan an invasion on Poland. This also included a secret plan to divide Eastern Europe. It fell apart when the Nazi’s invaded the Soviet Union instead. -
Invasion of Poland
German Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields and the warships and U-boats attacked their Naval forces. Hitler declared the invasion as a defensive attack but Britain and France were not convinced. He thought this would bring living space to Germans when taking land from them. There were hesitations because of treaties and pacts that Poland had with other powerful countries but they barely came to help. -
Invasion of Russia
Here was the largest operation of WWII, Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union. Although they had the pact, the two were still suspicious of one another. The goal was annihilation of the communist state and Jews of the Soviet Union. They did a lot of damage just within the first week, but turned back once winter came. This was the end that resulted in failure, not being worth all the death and suffering it brought. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, a naval base in Honolulu that was attacked by japanese forces. They managed to destroy 20 American bases, 8 battleships, 300 airplanes, and over 2,400 people died. They failed their main mission of destroying the Pacific Fleet carriers that were away at the time. Luckily this was the case because it would have been detrimental and difficult to come back. It was a day later that Franklin Roosevelt discussed with congress to go to war with Japan. -
D-Day
The Battle of Normandy, also known as D-Day, is when American, Canadian, and British forces landed on the coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was a large and ambitious military plan that needed a lot of planning. They ended up misleading Germany towards the wrong target location. Eventually France was liberated and the Allies defeated Germany. It has been said to be a reasoning to the end of war in Europe. -
Dropping of Bomb on Hiroshima
Dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima ended the war but then developeds Cold War. Germany had already been defeated so they decided to drop it on Japan since the war was still raging. The bomb immediately killed 80,000 people when destroying 4 square miles. It wasn’t until they dropped another Nagasaki that Japan surrendered. Many debate about this event, saying it was not worth what was lost and that they already had plan of surrender, no one truly knows if it was the right thing or not. -
China Falling into Communism
It was Mao Zedong, a communist leader who became in control and announced his creation of the People’s Republic of China. It was away of completed the long government process that was government issues. There was a civil war that did end when Mao won. Within WWII there was support for the communists and what they were heading towards. The US supported them by expanding their policy of containment, Even today it is still the way of government in China. -
North Korea invades South Korea
The Korean War was the first act within the Cold War, shocking other countries with all tensions. The war was initiated when South Korea refused to be apart of their communist acts and did not want to unite. It wasn’t until North Korea invaded Seoul that the US became involved with military force. Eventually with help, North Korea was pushed out which made China worried. Mao sent troops to tell the U.S that it would become full-war if they attacked: so they didn’t and ended there. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a mutual defense to place the Soviets in state armed forces. It was signed in Warsaw and had involvement with eight different countries. This was put down so these countries would agree to support the others if in danger by outside sources. Albania was the first to leave when they turned to China and East Germany also left to reunite with West Germany. Eventually the whole pact ended when it did not seem effective anymore. -
Construction of Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was originally put up to separate East and West Berlin to keep Western fascists out. This wall was a physical and symbolic separation between nations. It was completed in 2 weeks and affected all ways of living. Many people would cross the border for work, school, shopping, and see friends or family- all of this ended. Many people were killed trying to get over, people went through extreme measures to get to freedom. It then was taken down and the two were united again. -
Invasion of Kuwait
It was Iraq who invaded Kuwait by surprise, meaning they were not prepared. It was not long when America got involved to support them. They raided the Persian Gulf and they immediately fled from Kuwait. This then evolved to Operation Desert storm, U.S. attacks towards Iraq that was supported by our allies. Eventually they had to surrender because most of the Iraq forces were either surrendered, retreated to Iraq, or killed. -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
It was 1991 that the Soviet Union was spread into 15 separate countries, concluding their reign. It was the end of the Cold War, sending the U.S. in rejoyce. They slowly built up to a destabilized communist control, making them have low support. It was the Yeltsin, leaders of Ukraine, and Belarus that got together and declared the demise of the Soviet Union. After many more discussions with multiple armies and taking away resources, the Soviet Union was over. -
Afghanistan War
The Afghanistan war began after 9/11 when America discovered Al Queda was funded by them. The US went after anyone who was linked with the attack. The UK was also involved to help with their goal of enduring freedom and war on terrorism. They also wanted to free the country of the Taliban which controlled the government and region. The reason was to get revenge on the attack that was not long before. -
Iraq War
The United States and the United Kingdom went to war with Iraq by invasion. Suddam Hussein was said to have mass weapons and connections to terrorist groups. He was known to be a horrible dictator that used chemical weapons on his own people. In the end, no weapons were discovered after more investigation. Because of this war, troops are still there today: making people question if it was worth it. Within the process they killed Suddam which grew instability and only made terrorist groups grow. -
Syrian Civil War
In 2011 a civil war in Syria broke out that had been built up for a long time. The Syrian government starts going against their own people and starts gathering new policies of political parties. The people begin wanting to overthrow the government since it doesn’t seem like they’re even on their side. No one had freedom, it was stripped from them, so the U.S. stepped in in order to help. They impose sanctions which works to freeze the government and are still working to help today.
