World War 1 is a war to remember. Over 8.5 million people died fighting for their cause. These causes included building larger armies, formation of military alliances, trading and world markets, and establishing independent nations.

The war started on June 18,1914. Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, were traveling to Bosnia to celebrate the Feast of Saint Vitus (the symbol of Serbian independence and victory over the Turks.) It was a personal day of joy because it was their 14th wedding anniversary. As they rode down the street in a convertible, they were struck by a shot fired by twenty-year-old Serbian, Gavril Princip. This one crime started four years of endless fighting.

After this, Austria-Hungary declared war against Serbia. The Austrians and Hungarians accepted no excuses from Serbia. Soon the Serbians called in their sister country, Russia. Then Germany realized that Russia and France had a treaty with each other. Germany declared war against France. The war kept on growing. Next Britain was drawn into the war because the German army attacked Belgium, a neutral neighbor. Now there were two opposing alliances, the Central Powers and the Allies. The Central Powers consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria. The Allies were made up of Britain, France, Russia, Serbia, Japan, and Italy. At first Germany appeared to be winning the war. The army invaded France. then Germany was stopped by the French and British and were forced to pull back at the Marne River. Throughout France the armies were holding on to land and digging trenches to protect themselves. The area was called No-Man’s Land. This new type of fighting, called trench warfare ,lasted until the end of the war.

The people who turned the war around were the Americans. They entered the war on April 6,1917. At first the United States was a neutral country but Germany did some things which violated Americas neutrality. Germany destroyed the United States submarines that were delivering supplies to Britain. Germany sent a note to Mexico called the Zimmermann Note. The note asked Mexico to join Germany's War against the United States.The United States had sympathy for Britain and France because they were democratic countries.

In exactly one year,seven months, and five days after the U.S. entered the war, the American doughboys had helped bring this war to an end. The war officially ended in 1918 when representatives from 27 countries met in Versaille, France to agree to the peace treaty. The treaty forced Germany to pay a lot of money to the Allies. Germany also losts its colonies and was forbidden to rebuild its army. Little did they know that 20 years after World War I Germany had rebuilt its army and it was stronger than ever.

Go to Maze Go to imagesBack to main