Black Hand members shot him to death

In response, Austria-Hungary demanded Serbia to give up their freedom and be apart of their empire.

The Serbians did not agree and allied themselves with Russia

The Balkan wars first began when the Balkan League decided that they should have their own nation, and because of this, they eventually fought and kicked the Ottomans out.

In the Second Balkan War, civil war began, and people fought over who should be in charge.

• Russia and Austria-Hungary took this chance to have influence over the Balkans.

When Serbia refused, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

• Russia decided to step in and help Serbia.

• In response, Germany declared war on Russia.

• France later also declared war on Russia becuase of their alliance.

Germany is stuck in war between Russia and France but luckily for them, they had prepared a two-front war (called The Schlieffen Plan) to first attack France

In order to do that, they would have to go through Belgium

However, Belgium refused in fear of losing their independence but Germany coerced the country anyway

Which started the Rape of Belgium

• Many civilians were killed and building landmarks were destroyed.

The Germans had operated the Schlieffen Plan and had attacked France hoping they would give up easily and be prepared to fight Russia

However a stalemate occured which lasted several years

• both sides dug trenches for defense

By that time, Russia was ready for war.

But their army was poorly trained and lacked the resources and equipment to defeat Germany.

• This resulted in their defeat and the loss of many Russian soldiers.

The British then began a blockade of German ports, making it difficult to transport goods and slowing the Germans down

In response, Germany planted mines and sent out submarines to sink any ship that sailed the North Sea.

Later, the Japanese decided to enter the war, hoping to claim status, and joined the Allies (Triple Entente).

Chinese laborers were also introduced to Europe

• They didn't fight in war but they contributed in digging trenches and repair equipment

During WWI, innovations were superb.

• Tanks, airplanes, machine guns, poison gas, submarines, and long-range artillery guns were all threats to human life.

Soldiers not only suffered visible wounds, but also psychological wounds

• Became known as the "Shell Shock," modern day known as Traumatic Stress Disorder.

• Symptoms include shaking hands, constant twitching, flashbacks to battle, inability to speak, loss of contact with reality, and fear of unexpected sounds.

After Germany decided to be jerks and torpedoed the RMS Lusitania, a passenger ship consisting of American citizen

• but unbeknownst, it was also carrying ammunitions which Germany said no to (which was the reason why they got torpedoed in the first place)

And again in 1916, the German U-boats (Unterseeboats) sunk the Sussex ship, also carrying US civilians.

Germany had also asked Mexico to declare war on the US (the Zimmerman Telegram), which further angered the president of the United States.

The US became enraged and entered the war on the Ally side.

Soldiers were not particularly happy with the conditions they had to live in during war.

Life was tedious.

• There were always possible chances of death

• Diseases were easily spread because of the harsh conditions

• Regular rain occured, meaning it was always muddy

• And it was hard to avoid hypothermia.

German and British soldiers were not always at war

On Christmas day in 1914, both parties crawled out of their trenches and started singing Christmas carols

• They got along and exchanged souvenirs, cigars, and candy.

The higher-ups were deeply enraged and spoke out that similar events should never happen in the future, and combat quickly resumed.

Germany helped a young exiled radical return to Russia, Lenin.

He started the October Revolution and fought to become the new leader of Russia.

Eventually, he won.

His goal was to end WWI and pull the Russians out, and on March 3rd, he signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, surrendering Russia's control over Poland, Ukraine, Finland, and the Baltics.

He was able to focus on building a communist state after that and the Soviet Union and completely take over Russia.

This battle was the last engagement of WWI

The U.S. had sent hundreds of thousands of troops to join the British and French to force Germany out of the French territory, which they successfully did.

Things started to look bad for Germany

• Massive food shortages, deserting soldiers, spread of civil unrest were happening

A new socialist party took advantage and forced Kaiser to abdicate and created a Republic

• After this movement, they believed that they no longer could win the war, and things started to quiet down.

WWI ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles which was an agreement to cease-fire and have peace

However, because Germany had done the most damages, they were subjected to

• Give up their territory

• Demilitarize

• War Reparations