World War 1 Timeline and Trench Warfare Summary

1. World War 1 Timelineand Trench Warfare Summary By: Camron Tye

2. ArchDuke Ferdinand And his wife in Serbia, from Austria, were assassinated by “The Black Hand” Christmas Truce Along the western front the troops have a cease fire to celebrate Christmas. United States Joins in the War The States declare war on Germany, allying with France and Britain. June 28, 1919 December 24, 1914 September 15, 1916 June 28, 1914 August 4, 1914 January 19, 1917 The First Move Germany sends troops through Belgum into France. Treaty of Versailles signed First British Tank The British brought in their tanks, changing the whole war.

3. Trench Warfare During the First World War trench warfare became a popular way of battle. A trench was always deep enough for a man to stand up straight, without his head getting blasted off, and they were in very long, zigzagging patterns. There were 2-3 lines of trenches for each side, the second and third were only used if the first was captured by the enemy. If the trenches dirt ground got wet it could become very muddy, so wood planks were nailed on the floor, end to end, in the trenches. Barbed wire fences were constructed in front of the first line, and barbed wire doors were set up along the trenches. If an enemy were to get into the trench, they would have to be constantly turning corners, and going through these lethal doors.

4. Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun is known as the longest battle in history it began on February 21, 1916 and ended on December 16, 1916. The attack on Verdun began because of a plan by the German Chief of General Staff, Von Falkenhayn. He was trying to “bleed France white” by attacking the French on a narrow stretch of land that had historic French value.

5. Battle of Verdun (2) When the Germans launched their attack, they had 140,000 troops along with 1,200 artillery guns. They also brought 168 planes in the area, giving them air supremacy. The French had a miniscule 30,000 troops to oppose them. In the first four days of the war the Germans had taken 10,000 French prisoners. The Germans then proceeded to take the huge fort Douaumont , which was at the time considered the strongest fort in the world. Astonishingly, the fort was only manned by 56 part time elderly gunners.

6. Battle of Verdun (3) Just over a month after the battle began the Germans had already had 120,000 casualties, and the French had had 133,000. The general in charge of the battle, on the French side, was not able to procure more troops, because they were needed in the Battle of Somme. On June 1, 1916 the Germans launched one more final push for Verdun. By June 23 they had made it within 2.5 miles of Verdun, but were stopped because they could not give any more. The French were eventually the winners of this battle because, the beginning of the Battle of Somme, took the attention of the strategists on the western Front, and they completely denied the Germans of access to Verdun.

7. The Battle of Somme The Battle of Somme went from July 1, 1916 to November 1916. For many people Somme became a symbol of the horrors of World War 1. during this Battle all side had many casualties. The British had 420,000, the French had 200,000 and the Germans 500,000. Surprisingly, 60,000 of the British losses were killed in the first day.

8. The Battle of Somme (2) This Battle was mainly fought to relieve pressure on the French army at Verdun. The battle began with a weeklong artillery attack on the German lines. The British launched 1,738,000 shells at them. The idea was to ruin their trenches, and barbed wire fences. The Germans though just went down on their deep trenches, and waited for the artillery to end. When it did they climbed out of their holes and pointed their machine guns at the advancing British army. Their wasn’t really a defined winner in this battle, because even though it did take pressure off of the battle at Verdun, but there were more casualties in this battle than the whole Battle of Verdun.