WWI Letter Home

      Dear Mother,
This doesn't ever seem like this is going to end. Every day it seems like our patients double, constantly making me work extra hours. I have never seen so many people in one hospital. It makes me scared for the people that i know that are fighting in the war. Seeing all these horrible injuries makes me sick to my stomach. When i finally have a break from work all I can see outside is smoke, reminding me that people have died because of those bombs.
Every time i hear gunfire I can't help but to think about Grandpa. He has constantly been on my mind the whole time i have been here. All the patients i take care of have no hope at all. There has been one patient who i will always remember. His name was Jake, I met him before the war in one of the training camps. We became pretty good friends. When we went off to war he would always come talk to me when he had the chance to. It became an ordinary thing for him to do. Every day i would look forward to seeing him. Everything was fine until one evening he didn't come. I felt like everything was fine and he might just be later than usual. A couple hours had passed and i started to worry. At about 11p.m. i heard a group of voices coming through the hospitals doors. Jake was being carried in by two other soldiers. He had massive burns on his skin, i couldn't even tell it was him anymore. The pain coming from his screams were heartbreaking. I tried to help him as much as i could but there was only a certain amount i could do. I spent the last couple minutes he had with him and i could barely handle myself. When he passed i felt like i had nothing to live for.
Ever since Jake's passed the days have gone a lot slower. I have had no motivation lately and it feels like this war will never end. I miss you a lot mom and i wish you could be here with me.
    - Marissa

WWI Causes

Alliances - Alliances caused more than one country to be at war. Lets say that Germany went to war, that means Austria-Hungary would also be at war because they were their allies.

Militarism - At this point everybody tried to have the best Army and Navy. Countries were constantly upgrading these two to prepare them for war.

Imperialism - Countries fought over power by trying to control other countries and gain allies. Constantly countries were arguing over colonies which caused war.

Nationalism - Having extreme love and passion for ones country. People would go out of their way to keep their country safe, some cases were extreme like murders which caused war.

Spark of War - The Spark of the War was the assassination of the Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand.

Lusitania - 1915, A ship that was sunken by the Germans because it had ammunition on their boat.  Sussex pledge - 1916, no longer sinking merchant ships without warning
Unrestricted Sub Warfare - 1917, sinking a ship without warning
Zimmerman Note - 1917, Germany told Mexico to stop the Americans from being sent to Europe.

WWI - Red Baron

Red Baron -

During World War I many soldiers would be involved in battle in the sky. They would use fighter planes to shoot each other down. There was one soldier who was known as a hero, his name was Manfred von Richthofen. He flew his signature blazing red airplane all around the world shooting down plane after plane. The "Red Baron" has 80 credited victories and has become a legend in the air. Richthofen was 22 when the war first started and fought on Germany's side. 

In 1915 Richthofen switched over from the Germany army to the Imperial Air Service. Once 1916 came around he was up in the air doing mass amounts of damage. In one year he shot down 15 planes, bypassing all of the previous records set by previous pilots. Richthofen flew a Fokker triplane that was painted entirely red in tribute of his cavalry regiment, this is how he got the nickname "The Red Baron".

On April 21, 1918, Richthofen was in the territory of the Allied. Up in the sky leading his squad he saw an enemy plane and followed it. The Red Baron followed the plane too far into enemy territory and too close to the ground that he received machine gun fire from Captain Arthur Roy Brown in a plane following him. One of the bullets hit him in the torso, he was able to land his plane but the Australian troops didn't get there in time. Captain Arthur Roy Brown often gets the credit for shooting down the Red Baron, but some claim it was an Australian gunner on the ground. Still today people discuss who actually shot down the Red Baron. He died at the age of 25 and was buried by the Allies at a cemetery in France. Manfred Von Richthofen was one of the most recognizable pilot during his era. 

Sources - http://history1900s.about.com/od/1910s/a/redbaron.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/red-baron-killed