WWI timeline
Category: Other
Updated: 18 Nov 2019
Timeline describing the events of WWI and North Carolina's contribution.
Contributors
Created byJosephine Rosario
Attachments
Events
Archduke Franz Ferdinand Was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, causing Austria-Hungary to wage war on Serbia and sparking the start of WWI.Germany digs the first trench to be dug in the war. This marks the beginning of the long and exhausting tactic of trench warfare, which made the war last longer and more straining.Germany initiates the use of chemical warfare, another tactic that surprised enemy forces, and helped give the Central Powers more of an edge on the battlefield. This made the use of chemical warfare more common even today. The German forced used a chlorine attack that killed thousands.The British ship "Lusitania" was sunk by German forces, killing thousands due to the ship sinking in only 18 minutes. nearly 1,200 people were killed, and in those casualties were 128 U.S citizens, Germany felt justified in the attack and hostility grew between the U.S and Germany, which would contribute to the U.S declaring war on Germany.The battle of Verdun begins, the battle between France and Germany resulted in over 700,000 casualties including around 300,000 killed. As a result entire French villages have been wiped out, even a century after the battle, 10 million shells remained and had to be manually removed. 40 tons of unexploded shells were removed annually.Tsar Nicholas II abdicated from the throne in Russia following a week of riots in the russian capital. That was the overthrow of the Romanov Dynasty and led to the rise of Lenin and the Bolsheviks.The U.S declares war on Germany, President Woodrow Wilson stated Germany's unrestricted use of submarine warfare and the "Zimmerman telegram," were the reasons behind his call to action.An offensive battle led by Britain at Cambrai, France resulted in the first large-scale use of tanks. As a result the British forces easily went through the German forces, and took thousands of prisoners. Bad weather stopped the British from securing a victory due to reinforcements not being able to take advantage of the breakthrough. The British were then pushed back to their original positions.Russia signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and surrenders land to Ukraine, to it's Polish and Baltic territories and to Finland.The war is over, Germany and the allies signed an armistice based off of the fourteen points created by Woodrow Wilson. Since Germany was in a position where they would be defeated from the inside and out, they agreed to surrender, yet many politicians began to question this publically which would lead to the rise of Adolf Hitler.Periods
Multiple eastern-hemisphere countries wage war on each other due to alliances forcing action to be taken. This would be another step to WWIThe 93rd division, where most North Carolinian African Americans were drafted into. This division was sent to France to be support for the cornered country. Though American officers did not expect much from the division but to be able to do manual work, they became the division with the most amount of continuous days in direct combat, proving their worth to the French.The 30th Infantry Division a.k.a the Old Hickory Division as a respect to President Andrew Jackson, was where most North Carolinian's were sent to. They worked along side South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. It was used in the Somme-Offensive as one of the 2 American divisions to break the Hindenburg Line, which shows that where North Carolinian's were sent off into battle they ensured major victories.
Comments