the executioners unit 5

8th October 1916

THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS UNITED ENEMIES

Tired of fighting, the British and German troops come together to play football, forgetting their differences.

These Christmas of 1914 took place a truce between Germans and British on the border between German and French lands. During this truce both troops held several football matches in no man`s land. Now the truth comes to light thanks to the interview we have been able to make to an old soldier wounded in the trenches that participated in these football matches.

These are the statements:

Q: How were the days in the trenches?

A: The days were very hard, the cold, hunger and diseases made it an agony. The noise of the shots and the grenades instead os the sound os the birds, the heartrending screams of men leaving broken families, was a real torture. Every night we went to sleep giving thanks for having lived another day but afraid it was our last day.

Q: What kind of diseases did you get?

A: The conditions in which we were, made us contract tuberculosis and pneumonias but the most frecuent was the so called trench fever caused by infected wounds.

Q: Did you participated in the Christmas truce?

A: Yes, it was the only day in which we rested from all the noises and worries of the war that we had to suffer, you could see how we had many things in common...after all none of us who were there wanted the war.

Q:Tell me more about the day of the truce.

A: We played a soccer match in no man`s land, it was incredible how we could understand each other despite being opponents. But after finishing the truce everything came back to the violence, pain and suffering.

Q:What is the hardest thing you`ve seen?

A: The hardest thing I`ve seen has been that in an attack my brother and I were going togheter and suddenly a bullet went through his head, I could see how his gesture froze and his whole body fell to the floor leaving his wife`s letters whitout answers.

Q:Which is the hardest things you have done?

A: Kill so many people and have destroyed so many families, left orphan children.

As we can see the conditions in the trenches were horrible and we wait that all the soldiers who survived can live in peace.

The Kings Unit 5

24th October, 1873

Foreign policy

The great emperors are joined

The last saturday, 22nd of October, the leaders of the three most powerfull countries in Europe: Wilhelm I of  the German Empire, Tsar Alexander II with the Russian Empire and Franz Joseph of the Austria-Hungarian Empire; agreed to cooperate between them and against France and the governments of liberal ideas.

Otto von Bismark

The idea of this agreement come of Germany and particularly of the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck due to his plan to keep France isolated and away from any diplomatic alliance, and to keep Austria-Hungary and Russia as potential allies of the German Empire. With this plan Bismarck avoided that, after the defeat of 1870 in the Franco-Prussian War of the Third French Republic, France could obtaine some external support if it tried a warlike conflict with Germany to recover the regions of Alsace and Lorraine.

Wilhelm I, Franz Joseph and Tsar Alexander II 

Germany first began with the negotations
with Austria and then Russia, that fears the strength of this new alliance, considered that was best to join it. The saturday, the "League of the Three Emperors" was
formed, which unites Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia and that presents a strong opposition against France, and also against socialism. Althought the agreement was successfully carried out, the rest of Europe suspect that it can't last for a long time  because, both, Russia and Austria want the control of the Balkans.

The agreemnet between the three leaders guarantees the neutrality of their countries in case of conflict with another nation. They want to consolidate the general peace through an understanding and to assure the defensive position of their respective States, they have reached an agreement on certain issues that affect their reciprocal interests.

We hope that the agreement come only with good news for the rest of Europe and no more conflicts.

Sans Culottes - Unit 5

Thursday 30th, June 1914

The terrible tragedy of Sarajevo

The empire of Austria Hungary lose their heir

Franz Ferdinand

The last Sunday, June 28 a terrible tragedy happened in the city of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sofia were shot by Gavrilo Princip.

The attack occurred at first hour in the morning while his vehicle circulated in an official visit to the city of Sarajevo.
There were several failed attempts to kill them that morning, the most important was a cyanide bomb that caused several injuries. After this incident, the driver of the official car deviates from the established route to avoid the attackers, with the bad luck of getting lost and being with the cause of the inevitable death of the dukes.

The moment of the attempt.

 This man shot twice against the car in which the dukes were. One of the bullets reached Franz Ferdinand the chest and another one bounced and reached sofia which was pregnant with 9 months. Both died after 20 minutes. Franz Ferninand was very scrupulous in his costumes and always wore his clothes well pressed and buttoned, to the point of wearing the lapels of his shirt and jacket sewn in the military parades so that they would not move with the wind. The day of the murder he wore the stitched coat, this was one of the reasons why it was not possible to succor in time. 

All those involved in the attacks have been caught and will be judged according to their charges.

Sources close to Emperor Franz Joseph the 1st point to the fact that the last heir to the throne of Austria Hungary will be Charles of Habsburg-Lorraine and Saxony.

You can watch a animated recreation of the attempt here.

CONTENTS UNIT 5 - THE IMPERIALISM AND THE I WORLD WAR

This is a very interesting period of History. Tensions between European countries led to a conflict the world had never witnessed before. Its consequences would be terrible...

Pay attention to the presentation; there are some surprises in it.

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Unit 5 The Imperialism and the IWW from IES - ORNIA - LA BAÑEZA (LEÓN)

The next video will help you to understand better and to study the unit. Enjoy it!!