Letter Home from a Soldier

Hello dearest family, have I missed you greatly. I hope everything at home is good, I know America is fighting to conserve resources to support this massive war effort. Everything about this war is scary. There are weapons that cause mass destruction and death everywhere. My basic training was short and I feel adequately prepared however the imminence of death is always in the back of my mind.
  My journey started over 6 months ago. I was placed into basic training with my comrades, we were all fresh as they come. In a few short weeks I was considered ready for war. I was able to shoot my gun moderately well, I knew how to use my equipment and I was able to follow orders precisely. This was all I had. The training felt inadequate. Despite my fears I was ready, willing to do whatever necessary to win the war for my country, even at the cost of my own life.
   Myself along with a group of several hundred other men were escorted by convey across the atlantic to Britain. The trip was agonizing, everyone had it in the back of their minds that a U-boat was stalking beneath us, ready to shoot and cause certain death for everyone on board. Despite this the trip was easy, we reached Britain in good time ready to join up with our allies. The squad stationed in Britain for a few days. We rested up from the trip and prepared to fight. Later that week we were officially set for battle, marching toward the french battlefront. What I saw was a maze of trenches as far as the eye could see. In between them were barren patches of land filled with barbed wire and bodies. The sight was the most gruesome and horrible thing I had ever seen.
    War began immediately, we jumped in with a mixture of French, Britain and what appeared to be a few Italians although I don't speak the language. The trenches were harsh. There were men with legs blown off, others who had nasty defects on their faces from gases, unable to breath effectively. Despite this men didn't seem to slow down. Every so often a brigade of men would charge toward the enemies defenses. They would heave ever explosive and gas they possessed into the enemies trench. This sometimes caused mass death for the opposition but in most cases the charges would face a quick and easy death. Machine guns watched over this "no mans land" and anyone caught in its wake would not last long. This charging and submission would reoccur often, both sides taking part in the charging. I could hear the screams of my comrades and enemies alike pierce the air. It made me sick to my stomach but I had to fight. Finally after weeks in the trenches with sub-par food and seeing thousands of men die we managed to prevail.
      The Germans were running out of resources. My men told me they had resorted to using seniors and boys for the war. Exhausting every last resource they had trying to prevail. Despite this resistance to defeat they could not hold on any longer. We received the official word of surrender from our American commander, the room was overjoyed. Not another man would die before seeing his family one last time. I was giddy and the festivities were immense. From what I see now I will be returning home in due time. Able to once again care for those dearest to me. This is a great day for the allies, one that puts an end to the terrible events that have taken place.

 

WW1 Causes

The Spark that led to the War:
   The spark that led to the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. On June 28, 1914 he and his wife were visiting the Bosnian Capital of Sarajevo. Franz ignored warnings of potential terrorist attacks and carried out his visit as planned. They were parading around the city in a convertible car when a revolutionary named Gavrilo Princip rushed their open car and shot them both to death. He was a member if a Serbian nationalist group nicknamed the "Black Hand." The Austria-Hungary empire had been looking for an excuse to take down Serbia for a period of time, now they had their excuse. War was declared after Austria-Hungary ensured their alliance with Germany. This declaration of war opened a network of alliances that were already in place, 'World War I' was in full effect.

Main Causes of World War I:
   Militarism, alliance system, imperialism and nationalism.
-Militarism is the idea that a country should have a strong military and they should be able to use it when necessary. The navies for this war were so powerful because of the competition. Initially Britain had the strongest navy and had for hundreds of years. Germany saw this and began expanding theirs as well. It was a race to see who could build the most ships and be best equipped for battle. This prepared countries for the war with a strong naval force.
-This was the formal agreement that countries made with each other. They were agreeing that in case of a war they would back each other up. This made the war bloodier because instead of two countries there was a web of others in the alliance system who were brought in.
-Imperialism is the idea that a bigger, more powerful country takes over a smaller weaker company either to annex it or get some gain. Countries also did this to gain military forts in different locations around the world so they could be closer if a fight broke out. Building their colonies was a big thing and countries competed heavily to imperialize, especially in the early 1900s. This rivalry sparked argument and confrontation among countries.
-Nationalism is a deep loyalty to one's country. Gavrillo Princip was a Serbian nationalist who triggered the war by killing the archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. Because Austria-Hungary controlled Serbia at the time this killing was an example of a deep loyalty to one's country. Unfortunately this little spark led to WWI and opened a web of alliances.

A) Unrestricted submarine warfare(January 1915-1918). Germany announced they would sink any ship they found in the waters around Britain. This angered the United States and other alike, this broke a treaty saying U-boats couldn't attack civilian vessels. This led to the sinking of the Lusitania and was a main reason to why the U.S entered the war.

B) The Lusitania was a British passenger liner that entered the German war zone despite warnings. A German U-Boat fired on the ship, killing nearly 1,200 people-including 128 Americans on May 7, 1915. Many Americans were outraged and regarded this as an act of terrorism not war. This was one of the sparks that influenced the Americans to enter World War I.

C) The sussex pledge occurred as a result of Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare. In Late March, 1916 President Wilson demanded that the German government abandoned its methods of submarine warfare or risk war with the United States. Germany, not wanting to strengthen the allies further, agreed with certain conditions not to sink the ships without warning. The Sussex Pledge met the foreign policy goals of both Germany and President Wilson and kept the U.S out of the war a little longer.

D) In January 1917, a German official named Arthur Zimmerman cabled the German ambassador in Mexico to propose an offer to the Mexican government. This proposed Mexico to ally with German incase they went to War with the U.S. In return Mexico would return some of its lost territory in the U.S. This message was intercepted by British intelligence and they informed the U.S. Now the furious Americans concluded war with Germany was necessary. This helped the U.S join the allies side and become part of WWI.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

The Archduke Franz Ferdinand 

 Franz Ferdinand was born in Graz, Austria, on December 18, 1863. He was a member of a prestigious group who ruled the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Spanish Empire. His early life was spent in the military. Beginning at age 12 he worked hard to receive the rank of major general by 31. After his father's death from typhoid fever and the suicide of the emperor's son Franz was in line to take the throne. After some complications because of her background he married Countess Sophia Chotek under the agreement that his successors could not take the throne because they  would be related to her.
   Franz was a cold, sharp-tongued and short-tempered leader. Despite this, he had many important contributions to the country. He advocated giving equal treatment to the country made up of a variety of races and nationalisms. He continued to work toward improvements and tried his best to ignore those who threatened and went against him. Then in the summer of 1914, Franz and his wife Sophia accepted an invitation to visit the capital of Bosnia, Sarajevo. He had been warned before hand of terrorist activity but he ignored the warnings. The couple arrived by train and were driven through town in a car with the top rolled down to give the crowds a good view. As they were driving a grenade was thrown at the car, this assassination attempt angered Franz and he yelled at the spectators in disgust. On the route back to the palace the archduke's driver took a wrong turn where nationalist Gavrilo Princip was waiting. He shot the couple and they both died before they could reach the hospital.
    The assassination of Franz Ferdinand gave the people of Austria-Hungary an excuse to take action against serbia and put an end to their fight for independence. In July of 2014 the situation escalated after demands were not meant by the serbians. War was declared and the web of alliances formed before were activated. As Russia declared was on Austria-Hungary, Germany did the same to Russia. France,Britain and later the U.S declared war on Germany. World War I had officially begun. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand would be known as the spark that lead to the war.


Source: http://www.biography.com/people/franz-ferdinand-9300680?page=2