Assassination to war
June 28, 1914: assassination of Franz Ferdinand
July 1914: Austrian investigators linked the assassination to a terrorist group known as the black hand
July 23:Austrians issues a nearly unacceptable ultimatum to the government of Serbia which the SErbian government accepted except one, which infringed on its sovereignty.
July 28: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
July 29: The Russian government mobilized it's troops to defend it Serbian ally and itself from Austria.
July 31: The German's ultimatum demanded that the Russian army cease its mobilization immediately. Also an ultimatum was sent to France demanding to know what France's intentions were in the case Germany and Russia went to war.
August 1: German government declared war on Russia and France started to mobilize
August 3: Germans declare war on France
July 1914: Austrian investigators linked the assassination to a terrorist group known as the black hand
July 23:Austrians issues a nearly unacceptable ultimatum to the government of Serbia which the SErbian government accepted except one, which infringed on its sovereignty.
July 28: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
July 29: The Russian government mobilized it's troops to defend it Serbian ally and itself from Austria.
July 31: The German's ultimatum demanded that the Russian army cease its mobilization immediately. Also an ultimatum was sent to France demanding to know what France's intentions were in the case Germany and Russia went to war.
August 1: German government declared war on Russia and France started to mobilize
August 3: Germans declare war on France
Stalemate and Trench warfare
The war quickly fell into a stalemate because technological developments favored defensive tactics such as barbed wire, which was highly effective in slowing down the advance of soldiers across "no-man's land". Also the rapid and continuous fire of machine guns between opposing trenches turned infantry charges across no man's land into a suicide mission.
The horrors of trench warfare were often infantry were shielded by the dirt of their trenches and by barbed wire and gas masks where they unleashed a torrent of lethal metal with their machine gun and repeating rifles. These men rarely found glory but often death. No man's land was covered with shell craters, cadavers, and body parts. The trenches were often wet, cold, with waist deep mud, corpse fed rats, and gluttonous lice.
The horrors of trench warfare were often infantry were shielded by the dirt of their trenches and by barbed wire and gas masks where they unleashed a torrent of lethal metal with their machine gun and repeating rifles. These men rarely found glory but often death. No man's land was covered with shell craters, cadavers, and body parts. The trenches were often wet, cold, with waist deep mud, corpse fed rats, and gluttonous lice.
Quotes from those who experienced trench warfare
“Whilst asleep during the night, we were frequently awakened by rats running over us. When this happened too often for my liking, I would lie on my back and wait for a rat to linger on my legs; then violently heave my legs upwards, throwing the rat into the air. Occasionally, I would hear a grunt when the rat landed on a fellow victim.”
(R L Venables)
“If you have never had trench foot described to you, I will explain. Your feet swell to two to three times their normal size and go completely dead. You can stick a bayonet into them and not feel a thing. If you are lucky enough not to lose your feet and the swelling starts to go down, it is then that the most indescribable agony begins. I have heard men cry and scream with pain and many have had to have their feet and legs amputated. I was one of the lucky ones, but one more day in that trench and it may have been too late.”
(Harry Roberts)
"We must looked out for our bread. The rats have become much more numerous lately because the trenches are no longer in good condition. The rats here are particularly repulsive, they are so fat - the kind we call corpse-rats. They have shocking, evil, naked faces, and it is nauseating to see their long, nude tails."
(Erich Maria Remarque)
“We slept in our clothes and cut our hair short so that it would tuck inside our caps. Dressing simply meant putting on our boots. There were times when we had to scrape the lice off with the blunt edge of a knife and our underclothes stuck to us. “
(Elizabeth de T’Serclaes – a nurse on the front line)
“To get a ‘cushy’ one is all the old hands think about. A bloke in the Camerons wanted a ‘cushy’ bad! Fed up and far from home he was. He puts his finger over the top and gets his trigger finger taken off and two more besides. “I’m off to bonny Scotland!” he says laughing. But on the way down to the dressing station, he forgets to stoop low where an old sniper is working. He gets it through the head.”
(Robert Graves)
(R L Venables)
“If you have never had trench foot described to you, I will explain. Your feet swell to two to three times their normal size and go completely dead. You can stick a bayonet into them and not feel a thing. If you are lucky enough not to lose your feet and the swelling starts to go down, it is then that the most indescribable agony begins. I have heard men cry and scream with pain and many have had to have their feet and legs amputated. I was one of the lucky ones, but one more day in that trench and it may have been too late.”
(Harry Roberts)
"We must looked out for our bread. The rats have become much more numerous lately because the trenches are no longer in good condition. The rats here are particularly repulsive, they are so fat - the kind we call corpse-rats. They have shocking, evil, naked faces, and it is nauseating to see their long, nude tails."
(Erich Maria Remarque)
“We slept in our clothes and cut our hair short so that it would tuck inside our caps. Dressing simply meant putting on our boots. There were times when we had to scrape the lice off with the blunt edge of a knife and our underclothes stuck to us. “
(Elizabeth de T’Serclaes – a nurse on the front line)
“To get a ‘cushy’ one is all the old hands think about. A bloke in the Camerons wanted a ‘cushy’ bad! Fed up and far from home he was. He puts his finger over the top and gets his trigger finger taken off and two more besides. “I’m off to bonny Scotland!” he says laughing. But on the way down to the dressing station, he forgets to stoop low where an old sniper is working. He gets it through the head.”
(Robert Graves)