World War 1

World War 1

By: Ella Siegel

WWI is a very historic time with very historic people that you can learn about. One historic person is the famous woman scientist, *Marie Currie. Marie Currie invented the x-ray that went into the ambulances that went out to the battlefield. She even drove an ambulance that carried an x-ray. World War 1 is a very interesting topic to learn about. There are so many details that is hard to know even half of them. 

 

Table of contents

How WWI Started – pg. 2 

The U.S. Entering the War – pg. 3

Trench War fair – pg. 4

The End of the War – pg. 5

*Marie Currie is the scientist that inquired polonium and radium. She is also the first woman to get a Nobel Prize.  

 

How WWI Started

WWI started in 1914. The country Austria – Hungary had recently added another country, Bosnia – Herzegovina, to them. June 28, 1914, an assassin killed the heir to the throne of Austria – Hungary. The assassin was from Bosnia – Herzegovina and didn’t want to be ruled by Austria – Hungary. This bullet is what sparked WWI. “It was an assassin’s bullet, and it became known as ‘the shot heard ’round the world’” stated the article End Of WWI. Now the war begins.

 

The U.S. Entering WWI

At first the president of the U.S. at that time President Woodrow Wilson decided that isolationism was their best option, but that thought changed in 1915. The U.S. citizens where already on the edge with Germany and they finally fell off the end. Germany was currently was trying to take over Great Britain. Germany was trying to get Great Britain to surrender by starving them. They did this by sinking cargo ships to cut off Great Britain’s food supply. Over time, Germany announced that they would sink any ship that where entering certain ports. One of those ships that was sunk was the British ship Lusitania. The U.S. wouldn’t have gotten as angry as they did, except the Lusitania had about 100 U.S. passengers on it that died when it sunk. This really maddened the U.S. The U.S. also found out that Germany was trying to turn Mexico against the U.S. by offering Mexico land. President Wilson changed his mind and decided to declare war in 1917. The U.S. joined the group “the Allies” which consisted of the countries Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and now the U.S. The Allies where fighting the Central Powers which consisted of the countries Germany, Austria – Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey. The war began for the U.S.

 

 

Trench War Fair

Out on the battlefield the war was raging. One of the ways that the soldiers stayed safe was staying in trenches. Both sides would build trenches and wait for the other army to start firing. At first trenches started out as just shallow diches. But over time they grew into elaborate systems. Both sides would try and reach the other side to attack, but the side being attacked would just make their trench bigger. This time period was called “race to the sea” because people thought that at one point the soldiers would dig the trenches all the way to the ocean. Having the trenches so big meant that both sides would stalemate a lot. This makes me think that the soldiers would get very frustrated at the lack of progress they had made. 

 

 

The End of the War

The war finally came to an end in 1918. In late 1917, Russia withdrew from the war. Germany hoped to send soldiers from the Eastern Front to fight on the Western Front. But Germany needed troops to make sure that the new territories that they gained from the treaties with Russia were safe. In 1918, Germany staged an offensive along the Western Front but, the U.S. drove them back with a series of successful counterattacks. Germany agreed to an armistice on November 11, 1918 and the Allies had successfully won WWI! Germany was forced to pay big fines and had a large amount of punishments. The U.S. was overjoyed that the Allies had won the war. The League of Nations was made to try and keep any more wars from happening. Although the League of Nations didn’t work, the U.S. citizens didn’t know that, so they were just happy that the Allies won. It was very depressing that so many soldiers died fighting, but it was for a good cause. (It was a good cause if the soldiers were fighting for the Allies.)  

     

 

Glossary

Assassin – someone who kills an important political or religious leader

Counterattacks – when one side attacks, the attacked side fights back

Isolationism – a contrary not including themselves in a war 

Stalemate – neither side wins