Click here to download Lesson #9 Worksheet before you begin!
Clear Target: Identify major events during WWI and describe life in the trenches.
Task #1: Create a timeline using Prezi, Timetoast, or Google tools; identifying major turning points in WWI and their significance. Click on links and write brief notes on the significance of each event to put on your timeline. Share your timeline when complete.
Key Event #1: June 1914 - Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.
Key Event #2: July 1914 - Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia to start WWI.
Key Event #3: Sept 1914 - Battle of the Marne This video also sums up the von Schlieffen plan. Check it out. And it is pronounced sh-lee-fen plan.
Key Event #4: Oct-Nov 1914 - The Race to the Sea
Key Event #5: May 1915 - Sinking of RMS Lusitania; Germany promises not to target passenger liners; causes anti-German sentiment to build in America.
Key Event #6: Feb 1917 - Germany resumes Unrestricted Submarine Warfare (USW)
Key Event #7: Late 1917-early 1918 - Germany knocks Russia out of the war (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk)
Key Event #8: Mar-Apr 1918 - "Spring Offensive" - Last major German offensive
Key Event #9: Sep-Nov 1918 - Meuse-Argonne Offensive (This is a great link to the First Division Museum - explore the site, read accounts from soldiers who were there, and check out artifacts from the war); final Allied offensive leading to German surrender; also largest American battle of WWI.
Key Event #10: 11 Nov 1918 - Armistice ends hostilities at 11:00am, 11/11/1918 (11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918)
Task #2: Do a little research and write a 1-2 page description using Google Docs about what it was like to be in the trenches in WWI. Here are some sites to help you:
Fast Facts from Auckland Museum
Primary source excerpts from soldiers in the trenches
All about Trench Life
Share your document when complete.
Task #3: What was the significance of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in WWI? Who led them? Research this link from the Library of Congress to find out.
Extra! If you liked the Lord of the Rings books or movies, you should know that the author, J.R. Tolkien, was an officer in WWI! Check out this webpage to find out how The Lord of the Rings and World War One are linked in some ways through Tolkien's experiences in WWI.
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