The document provides a detailed timeline and overview of key events, leaders, battles, and developments during World War 1 from 1914 to 1918. It touches on the initial assassination that sparked the war, major offensives like the Somme, the entry of the US, and the eventual armistice. Photos supplement the text in depicting the immense human toll through battle scenes, cemeteries, and memorials dedicated to those who fought.
19. Rupert Brooke wrote the following poem, The Soldier . He died before ever seeing combat.
20. The Soldier If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam, A body of England's, breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home. And think, this heart, all evil shed away, A pulse in the eternal mind, no less Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
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22. Timeline 1915 February 18. German submarine 'blockade' of British Isles begins. March 22. Poison gas first used by Germans in attack on Canadians at Ypres, Belgium. May 6 Lusitania sunk by German U-boat. killing 1,198 of the 1,959 people aboard including 128 Americans . June 4-6. German aircraft bomb English towns. 15. Allied aircraft bombs Karlsruhe, Baden, in retaliation. August 13. London bombarded by Zeppelins; 55 persons killed
26. Dicta Boelcke (rules for Aerial combat) 1. Always try to secure an advantageous position before attacking. Climb before and during the approach in order to surprise the enemy from above , and dive on him swiftly from the rear when the moment to attack is at hand. 2. Try to place yourself between the sun and the enemy . This puts the glare of the sun in the enemy's eyes and makes it difficult to see you and impossible for him to shoot with any accuracy. 3. Do not fire the machine guns until the enemy is within range and you have him squarely within your sights. 4. Attack when the enemy least expects it or when he is preoccupied with other duties such as observation, photography or bombing. 5. Never turn your back and try to run away from an enemy fighter. If you are surprised by an attack on your tail, turn and face the enemy with your guns. 6. Keep your eye on the enemy and do not let him deceive you with tricks. If your opponent appears damaged, follow him down until he crashes to be sure he is not faking. 7. Foolish acts of bravery only bring death . The Jasta must fight as a unit with close teamwork between all pilots. The signal of its leaders must be obeyed.
40. Timeline 1916 January 29-31. German Zeppelins bomb Paris and towns in England. February 10. British conscription law goes into effect. August 27. Romania enters the war attacking the Austrians 28. Italy at war with Germany. September 1: Bulgaria declares war against Rumania 15. Tanks were used for the first time at the battle of the Somme
50. Timeline 1917 January 16 The Zimmermann, a coded telegram dispatched by the Foreign Secretary of the German Empire, Arthur Zimmerman to the German Ambassador in Mexico, Heinrich von Eckardt. April 6. United States declares war on Germany . May 18. Conscription bill signed by President Wilson. June 5. Registration day for new draft army in United States. 20. Drawing of draft number for American conscript army begins. August 23. American troops in France fire their first shot in trench warfare. November 7:Bolsheviks seize power in Russia;
55. Over There Johnnie, get your gun, Get your gun, get your gun, Take it on the run, On the run, on the run. Hear them calling, you and me, Every son of liberty. Hurry right away, No delay, go today, Make your daddy glad To have had such a lad. Tell your sweetheart not to pine, To be proud her boy's in line. (chorus sung twice) Chorus Over there, over there, Send the word, send the word over there - That the Yanks are coming, The Yanks are coming, The drums rum-tumming Ev'rywhere. So prepare, say a pray'r, Send the word, send the word to beware. We'll be over, we're coming over, And we won't come back till it's over Over there. Johnnie, get your gun, Get your gun, get your gun, Johnnie show the Hun Who's a son of a gun. Hoist the flag and let her fly, Yankee Doodle do or die. Pack your little kit, Show your grit, do your bit. Yankee to the ranks, From the towns and the tanks. Make your mother proud of you, And the old Red, White and Blue. (chorus sung twice)
59. The Lost Battalion in World War I, popular name given to those American units of the 77th Division—six companies of the 1st and 2d battalions of the 308th Infantry, one company of the 307th Infantry, and the platoons of the 306th Machine Gun Battalion—that were cut off by German forces after the launching of an American attack in the Argonne Forest in early Oct., 1918. The Lost Battalion, numbering about 600 men and under the command of Major Charles W. Whittlesey, put up a heroic five-day defense in the Binarville Ravine without food, water, or reserve ammunition. After withstanding several heavy barrages and attacks, the Lost Battalion, which defiantly refused the German demand of surrender, was rescued (Oct. 8, 1918) by American relief troops. Some 400 men of the Lost Battalion perished. Whittlesey would commit suicide in 1921, possiblyl haunted by the guilt and memories of The Lost Battalion.
68. Wilfred Owen wrote the following poem, Dulce et Decorum Est, after recovering from shell shock at Craiglockhart hospital. He had witnessed combat first hand.
69. DULCE ET DECORUM EST Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind. Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling, And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . . Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori .
70. Wilfred Owen died in combat ONE WEEK before the war ended “ Shall Life renew these bodies? Of a truth All death will he annul”
71. Timeline 1918 March 3:Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed by Russia and Germany November 1. Americans breakthrough German defences at Meuse. 11. On the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, the Armistice is signed effectively halting the War. The final Treaty of Versailles, is signed on June 28
72. 4,247,143 2,462,897 426,000 2,036,897 Germany 4,950,000 3,311,000 1,500,000 1,811,000 Russia 400,000 5,000,000 4,200,000 800,000 OttomanEmpire 3,620,000 1,567,000 467,000 1,100,000 Austria-Hungary 205,690 117,465 757 116,708 U S A 1,663,435 994,138 109,000 885,138 UK 149,732 66,944 2,000 64,944 Canada 44,686 104,987 62,000 42,987 Belgium 152,171 61,298 NA 61,298 Australia Military Wounded Total Deaths Civilian Deaths Military Deaths Country
77. Menin Gate Ypres: 50,000 names of soldiers never found or identified in that sector alone
78. From 11 November, 1929 the Last Post bugle call has been sounded at the Menin Gate memorial every night and in all weathers . The only exception to this was during the four years of the German occupation of Ypres during WWII from May 20, 1940 through September 6,th 1944.
79. Menin Gate Memorial: Some of the 50,000 names of soldiers never found or identified after the battles of Ypres
81. American tourist outside Ypres Belgium at Saint Julien Wood monument to Canadian soldiers who were the first have chlorine gas used against them by the Germans
83. One of the thousands of graves for unidentified soldiers of the Great War. “Known unto God”
84. Grave of Valentine Strudwick. Died two weeks before his 16 th Birthday (he lied about his age to enlist) Essex Farm Cemetery Ypres
85. Langemark German Military Cemetery outside Ypres More soldiers are buried at Langemark than at any other cemetery in France and Belgium. 44,292 German soldiers are buried here with only flat stones to mark the graves. There are often 10 or more buried in each grave.
89. Why the poppy flower is used to symbolize veterans and fallen soldiers……
90. IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. John McCrae. Written at Essex Farm in Belgium
91. Less than twenty years after the end of the “War to End All Wars,” a second, bloodier conflict engulfing not only Europe, but the countries in the western and southern Pacific would arise….