Dear Honey

Dear Honey,

When i left you 6 months ago i was excited and egger to fight in war. I soon found out that war wasn't all i thought it was. The smell of rotting corpses is very prominent and death is surrounding us. During our free time we sit around and play cards, occasionally we get some coffee. But the reality off all this is that good men are dying each day. Just the other day my regiment and I conducted a charge on the German lines. George from college was shot in the leg, I tried to help him get medical attention but another bullet rang through his head. Times are getting real though, my hands and feet are starting to rot, any socks or anything you have to send over would be great!

Honey, I should come home sometime next year. I'll keep sending photos of me and the boys! Any candy or clothing you could send would be the best. Ill try to write you every week. Keep safe and take care of the boys. I love you sweetie.

- Captain Colvin

WW1 Causes

Militarism- contributed to the start of the war because countries were building up their military which was scaring other nations.
Alliances- played part to WW1 because countries would side with other countries and that was basically setting the stage for a war to start.
Imperialism- was the idea of one big country owning smaller countries called colonies and those colonies would make war material for the country that ruled them. This helped the cause of WW1 because some countries didn't want countries to  be able to rule other countries and some nations wanted more of these colonies to take away from other nations.
Nationalism -was the idea of thinking your country was the best, many countries joined in on WW1 because they simply thought they were the best and they would win.

The spark that started WW1 was the assassination of Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. This happened on June 28, 1914 and WW1 started a little later that year.



Lusitania- The lusitania was a cruise ship that was sunk why a German U-Boat on May, 7 1915. It caused America to join in on the war because the ship was carrying a few hundred american civilians.
Sussex Pledge- The Sussex Pledge was a promise made by the Germans to the Americans in 1916. The pledge restricted submarines to torpedo cruise ships but could torpedo merchant ships at will, but on march 24, 1916 a french ferry was torpedoed and sunk.
Zimmermann note- The Zimmermann note was a telegraph the Germans sent to Mexico in 1917 asking Mexico to join the Central powers but the british intercepted the note and decoded it. The note spread opnion through America and it helped America declare war on Germany later that year.
Sub Warfare- Sub Warfare started in late 1917. The submarines were mainly German U-Boats hunting and sinking British transport ships. Depth Charges were invented to help the shits have a fighting chance agains a U-Boat, a depth charge would be dropped into the ocean and the explosion, if close enough to the sub would cause the submarine to tear apart. depth charges were a very effective method to fight against submarines

Sinking of Lusitania

         On May 7, 1915, a British ocean cruise liner Lusitania which carried people and materials across the Atlantic ocean was hunted and shot by a German U-Boat. The Lusitania sunk within 18 minutes of being shot. The death toll was tremendous, of the 1,959 people on board 1,198 died, 128 of which were Americans. The sinking and killing of the Americans on board enraged the Americans and led to the U.S. entering World War 1. 

         Because of the outbreak of WW1 ocean travel had become very dangerous. German Submarines called U-Boats were prowling the ocean sinking almost every ship they suspected of carrying soldiers or war materials. The Germans has suspected the Lusitania of carrying war munitions and at 1:40 p.m. German U-Boat, U-20 launched a torpedo. The torpedo struck the ship starboard side and rocked the ship. Shortly after the torpedo hit and second explosion occurred. Many people believe the second explosion occurred from ammunition hidden in the cargo hold and other say it was from coal dust that ignited. The Lusitania sank within 18 minutes of the initial explosion

128 civilians dying in a war that they were neutral in outraged America. Sinking a ship not known to be carrying war material was an international war protocol that U-20 did not follow. The sinking of the Lusitania escalated the tension between U.S. and Germany and it was a major cause for America joining the war.

sources-http://history1900s.about.com/cs/worldwari/p/lusitania.htm