World War One starts.
World War One started with a conflict between Serbia and Austria-Hungary. The Heir of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was shot by Gavrilo Princp, a Serbian nationalist. Igniting the spark that led to the First World War. Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination sparked a chain reaction. Austria-Hungary wanted to fight Serbia. But they knew Serbia would be allied with Russia so they asked the German Emperor for help.
He agreed, and so they sent an ultimatum to Serbia, consisting of impossible requests. Obviously Serbia refused and the First World War began there and then.
Even though the World War was set off by a quarrel between Serbia and Austria-Hungary, this world war revolved around the German power. The Germans knew that the French and British would be allied with Russia so they developed the Schlifeer plan.
First march to France and earn a quick victory over France, then quickly mobilize the troops to The Eastern Front where the battle against the Russians will take place.
The First Battle of Marnes
So the Germans mobilized their troops and swept through neutral Belgium and laid destruction on Liege. The British were furious as Belgium was invaded despite its neutrality. So the British mobilized their forces and aided the French. With the help of the British, the French won the First Battle of Marne and drew the Germans back.
The Allies (Everyone sided with Serbia and the French) launched a counterattack on the Germans. The Germans dug into defensive positions and so did the British. The birth of a battle of attrition, known as trench warfare.
Meanwhile, Germany suffered on the Eastern front. The rapid mobilization of the Russian army surprised the Germans. They asked Austria-Hungary to take care of it but they struggled. So the Germans sent some of their troops to help them out. Surprisingly, even though Germany fought the battle on two fronts, they kept the Russians away.
A new alliance.
The Central Powers (anyone who sided with Germany) got an ally, the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman empire tried to earn a victory against Russia in the Caucasus Mountains. But the Ottomans weren’t prepared for that extreme cold, and many of them perished. Again they launched an attack against the Allies, at the Suez Canal but that too failed.
Meanwhile a naval battle took place between the British and the Germans. The Germans were strong navally, and so were the British. So they engaged each other in the North Sea, 97km from Jutland. This was the only battle of the seas as the ships, Dreadnoughts, were very expensive to construct and losing them meant a huge loss.
But the Germans weren’t the only ones to get allies. The Allies got Portugal, Japan, and Italy into the war. The Allies also raided German territory outside Europe. Africa, Australia and a few islands in the Pacific Ocean. But then the Central Powers got another ally.
Two bloody battles
The French were engaged in a brutal battle at Verdun. Although the French tried desperately to defend it, it did not succeed. So they called on the British to create a diversion. The British decided to create their own bloody war at the Somme where they tested out their most recent invention, the tank.
The Russians started being pushed back by the Germans so they began an offensive and succeeded. Meanwhile the Romanians lost to the Germans.
Countries flee war.
That’s when the Allies started making progress. Greece joined the Allies and Russia began an offensive against the Ottoman Empire. The British also began an offensive from the south. Greece started its own offensive. All of these offensives had successful results. But by now, the war had weakened every country and Russia had fallen first. Once the Tsars fell, another government came to power, followed by another government in favour of Communism.
The Fall of Germany and the End of the World war.
That was good news for the Germans as that was one less enemy to worry about. An armistice was signed between the Russians and the Germans. This was even better news for the Germans as the Russians started releasing German captives. Which meant more people to fight the war. But with Russia gone, a new enemy emerged against them, America. You see, the Germans have been bombing American ships and they weren’t just gonna let that slide. They would fight. But it would take a long time for America’s troops to reach the Western Front. So the Germans decided to give all they had to the Allies. They managed to push the Allies back a lot but ran out of supplies. And the Allies repelled their attack better. And so once the American Forces arrived, Germany was doomed.
Germany signed an armistice with the Allies and the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles was viewed as a medal of shame in Germany, but no one was more ashamed than Adolf Hitler. He wanted to bring back the glory and pride of the Germans which led to another world war 20 years later.