-
Period: to
Beginning Alliances
In the beginning, Turkey, Austria-Hungry, and Germany were allied with each other in the Triple Alliance. Serbia had a treaty with Russia. The rest of the countries had a neutral standing. -
Franz Ferdinand Dies; Sarajevo
Archduke of Austria-Hungry, Franz Fedinand, was assassinated by a Serbian servant. This sparked a rivarly toward Serbia from the Austria-Hungry leaders. -
Call to Arms
Austria-Hugry issues an ultimatum to Serbia, demanding to search for the people responsible for their archduke's assassination. Serbia became angered and fought back. Serbia also requested their allies to mobolize and prepare for war. -
Period: to
Teams
Central Powers vs. Allies. The Central Powers included Germany, Austria-Hungry, and Turkey. The Allies grew in power, slowly growing larger over time, but started with Serbia and Russia. Italy and France joined the Allies to pincer Germany. German soldier marched through neutral Belgium, stirring Great Britain to join the allies in revolt. As time passed, India, Japan, Canada, and the USA also sided with the Allies. -
Battle of Jutland
This was the only major battle to be fought on the water. Germany's naval fleet headed north to the country of Great Britain, who was also proud of it's naval prowess. Many ships were sunk (Total 14 Brit. 9 Germ.) and over 10,000 men were killed, and the battle proved to be no success for the Germans when it came to expanding their territory. Honestly, Britaon was actually able to reduce Germany's hold on the waterfront. -
Start of War: Tanneburg
Russia lost a massive amount of their army in this battle due to the insecurity they had over their radio communication and planning. Germany was able to assume and reassure where the Russian troops were marching and create traps for them. In total, out of the 150,000 Russians, only 10,000 escaped. They would never recover from this deafeat, and Germany was able to hold them back for the rest of the war. -
Battle of Marne
The battle of Marne was one of the first battles of the war. It was focused around the western front, where Germans stationed the blunct of their army. They were ttempting to capture France before the Russians arrived at the eastern front. The attack failed to grain much ground, though, and the Russians made it to Germany well before they could capture a part of France. -
Poison Gas/Ypres
As France struggled to hold the beaches, they are soon brought to their knees by Germany's newest weapon. Poison gas. Killing people by the thousands, this gave Germany an upper hard over the Allied forces and were able to push further into France. Ypres was a northern city on the margin of the ocean. The need for it's capture proved evident due to the cities versatil roadways. -
Central Powers's Counter
Germany and Austria-Hungry refocus their forces for the moment to the eastern front and strike back at the advancing Russians. They were able to deal a severe blow to their army and capture over 2,000 square miles of Russian territory. -
Lusitania
The Lusitania was an American ship sailing across the Atlantic. America was neutral at the time with the war. In the middle of the cruise, a German boat thought of the innocent as the enemy and fired on it. The Lusitania sunk in 18 mintues, and America became included in the war against Germany, even though the leader of the Germans pleaded not to by apoligizing for the event. -
Batte of Gallipoli
This was a water to land strike on Turkish territory. The French and British were attempting to gain control of the sea route from Europe to Russia that the Turkish had captured previously. Without a significant amount of knowledge of the plan and territory, the massive attack was thwarted by the Turkish and they were forced into a retreat. -
Battle of Verdun
The battle of Verdun was a ploy to lure French troop into artillery traps. The use of artillery by the German's was evident, and was able to push further into France, soon approaching the city of Verdun itself. Many soldier were lost as the shells rained upon them. This battle lasted for 10 months. -
Battle of Somme
The British army decided to assist the front on Verdun by luring Germans to focus their power on another pointless target. All this battle accomplished was as a distraction. Many lives were lost, Britain losing 400,000, French losing 200,000, and Germans losing well over 500,000 people. -
Lawrence of Arabia
T.E. Lawrence, a man from England, went south to Arabia to assist in the war. He led the Arabians to fight against the Turks in the war, successfully taking territory day by day. -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Russians were in distress. A civil revolution had sparked in their homeland, so they felt that there was no reason to participate in the war anymore to deal with their internal problems instead. Quickly, they managed to drum up a treaty for Germany to sign to stop the conflict, but was stalled on many occasions. After various threats and advances into Russian territory by the Germans, Russia settled on giving land to Germany in exchange. The treaty was signed, and Russia retreated. -
Treaty of Versailles
The treaty of Versaillles ended the war, putting the blame of Germany for the war. They spread the most damage and killed the most. The treaty stopped the conflict and gave a bill to Germany to pay off over the next 93 years.
