Thursday, May 7, 2009

Campbell's Soup


Feeling a little mid-day slump?
Want to curl into a lump?
When you feel like you might droop,
Enjoy a bowl of Campbell’s Soup!

Treaty of Versailles

The treaty of Versailles was one of the major peace treaties that stopped the fighting between Germany and the Allied forces. After spending six months at the Paris Peace Conference, the treaty was signed on June 28, 1919. “The Big Four” were the leaders of Great Britain, The United States, Italy, and France. These men would untimetly decide the fate of Germany. France looked to destroy Germany’s military after losing over 1.5 million soldiers and have much of the battles fought on her own land. Also, France wanted to regain control of land that had been taken from them by Germany in the War of 1871. Great Britain supported reparations, but at a lesser amount than France, because they knew that with Germany out of the picture, France could easily become a major power in Europe. Other outcomes of the treaty were the War Guilt Clause, which made Germany take sole responsibility for the War. Also, Germany was forced to reduce the size of her army to only 100,000, and lost much land to other countries. Besides this, Germany was forced to pay 5 billion dollars to the Allied forces as reparations for all of the damage that it had caused. “The big four” were so harsh on Germany because they didn’t want them to cause any other world wars, and thought they should punish them to the harshest extent possible. It is expected that Germany will enter a great depression because of the rules of the treaty. Another important outcome of the Treaty was the League of Nations. It was a dream of Wilsons to have a place where nations could come together to talk about their problems without war. The idea fell apart though, because the United States did not join the initial League of Nations on behalf of the Senate.

Assassination Causes World Destruction

Recent discoveries have shed light on the underlying cause of WWI, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. Next in line for the throne, Mr. Ferdinand went to Bosnia after being invited to see their army march by General Oskar Potiorek, not knowing that six assassins were waiting for him.
After leaving the train, Mr. Ferdinand and his wife got onto a convertible in a motorcade of 6 vehicles to head through town. Passing a garden, the first assassin failed to take action, but the second assassin threw a bomb he had at the cars, but the timing meconizm caused the bomb to blow up the wrong car. Arriving at city hall, the Archduke couldn’t make his speech because it was covered in blood from the bombing. The mayor ended up talking to the crowd, while the small town police force planned how to protect the man from another attempt on his life. After the speech, Archduke Franz decided to go the hospital to visit the people who were injured in the earlier bombing. Princip, the master mind of the whole assassination operation was in a coffee shop when he saw the Archduke’s car turning around. The driver had taken a wrong turn and needed to turn around. Running out of the coffee ship, Princip shot multiple rounds into the car criticly wounding the Archduke and his wife, who died on their way to get medical support. Franz-Ferdinand's last words were "Sophie, Sophie! Don't die! Live for our children!" followed by six or seven utterances of "It is nothing."
Being outraged, Austria-Hungary saw this as their chance to settle a long dispute once and for all and sent a letter to Serbia demanding the stop of propaganda and to arrest the people involved with the assassination giving only 48 hours before further action was taken. After this threat, Austria’s alliance with Germany and Serbia’s alliance with Russia and all of the other secret alliances came to light. While Serbian men were on a boat, Austrian men fired at them to warn them off, but Serbia was not happy and declared war.

The US enters WWI

April 6, 1917: The US declared war on Germany and other countries aligned with the enemy today, after an internal dispute weather to enter the war. Many Americans thought that the country should stay neutral, but attacks against America have been on the increase. In 1915, after the British ship Luaitania was sunk resulting in 128 American casualties, the debate has been about when to enter into the war to end all wars. A telegram released by President Wilson a few weeks ago detailed a German plan to support Mexico in an attack on the US to keep them from interfering in the current situations across the Atlantic, and retaining New Mexico, Arizona and other land currently owned by the US. Although Wilson was reelected mostly on his promise to keep America out of war, he used this telegram to drum up support for the US’s involvement in WWI. In the past few day, 6 US merchant ships have been destroyed by German subs, and with the support from Congress, Wilson declared war on Germany and her allies. The government plans to draft over 4 million men to fight in the army in the coming months, and will also send our well trained Navy to fight alongside British naval forces.
This is the first time that the United States has become involved in major world affairs. Before, our country has been isolated across an ocean, and didn’t have any effect on Europe. If the United States helps the Allied forces win the war, it could put the US in a strange position, as the most powerful country in the World.

Attack at Verdun

Article By: Jacques Noir


Verdun, with its historical fortresses is the latest casualty of the war. On February 21, at 7:15AM the Germans attacked with approximately 1400 guns along the eight mile front along Verdun. Although our forces received intelligence warning that an attack was imminent and the fortress commander Colonel Emile Driant did what he could to improve the fortress trenches, it was of little help.

More than 100,000 shells were fired upon Verdun every hour. The Germans intention seemed to be to destroy as many French defenders as possible before our infantry could be mobilized. It is estimated that our forces of 20,000 were facing more than a million German soldiers, yet Wilhelm issued another attack later that day. Driant and his two battalions fell in the first day of battle.

The Germans only succeeded is taking over the first line of French trenches, which was much less than they were anticipating. Wilhelm made the crucial error of pulling out his forward infantry, giving the French the much needed time to resettle and prepare for the next attack from across the river. A telegram was received two days ago with the details of the battle, and the news of Driant’s defeat. Reinforcements were sent, but the German troops continued to surge through our defences. They have come within 8 kilometres of Verdun, and drastic measures have been taken to protect this popular location. Updates will be issued as more information is discovered.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

A World War Never Again

Dear Editor,

I am a Private in the 80th infantry division, and this is a plea for all those who are oblivious to the ravages of war. The German forces are taking us apart piece by piece, trench by trench, until there are only the mangled bodies of the dead left behind for burial. The bravery I feel for fighting for what I believe is right is being slowly diminished with every sight I see. I fear I may be next to die and be forgotten, but I must inform you of the travesty we men face everyday.

I am forced to eat much less than I desire to, and it is tough to carry on at times. Rations have been cut down to the point where we are barley surviving, it is hard to bare. Consuming little food is just one of the hardships I’ve witnessed. If the Germans don’t annihilate us with heavy artillery, the lice and swamp foot with be the end of us all. Death by guns would be a blessing in this cold, desolate wasteland. The rain is our enemy; it coats the bottom of our trenches and makes it hard to maneuver. I feel filthy like I never have before, it is a feeling I would never wish upon any person. I am kept awake at night hearing men moan and weep over their infections, ailments, and miseries. I write to you knowing I will not live for mush longer, and I am proud to die for my country. I warn the world outside the battle field, unless you are here next to me, fighting along side with we brave men, you will never know the cost of freedom. It’s a very high price indeed.

-Anonymous
German troops holding first-line trench on the River Aisne
Menin Road

German Men in Trenches