Letter home

Dear family,
                  Hello sorry i haven't got the chance to write you in 6 months. There was no drill today so i was able to sit down and write you. I am sitting inside our little old tent listening to the gentle patter of the raindrops on the canvas. It began raining here this morning and it is still at it. We got into the city all O.K., when we got here we all went straight to the armory and had dinner. We have to march back and forth to eat. Eats are pretty good so far as they have some women helping with the cooking. I don't know where to began for what i have seen and done. Country's build these things called trenches. They are a long hold dug in the ground for us to use as a barrier. A place to hide behind. Well anyways not many men made it after the first day due to being sniped. We have a routine in the morning for the trenches where an hour before dawn everyone gets awaken by the orderly officer and sergeant who ordered us to climb up on the fire step to guard against a dawn raid by the enemy, bayonets fixed. I recently learned about a rat infestation. Rats like to go in the trenches and feed on the remains but can grow to be the size of a cat. Scary!  Despite the death toll by the snipers many people are catching diseases. You have to be very careful around people and being out. It seems to be spreading. After we have breakfast we are to do chores. The daily chores included the refilling of sandbags, the repair of the duckboards on the floor of the trench and the draining of trenches. It was always a struggle because the rain created mud which sometimes caused the trench to fall. Its always hard to get time to sleep because during the day time we all stand ground just incase of an attack but when night fall comes we are able to read, write letters or maybe get a few hours of sleep. I cant wait till the day i can come home. Im sure the house smells better than it does it. And i am sure its a lot safer and quieter. I am getting ready to go out again for another drill. Ill talk to you next letter. 

                                   Love 
                                   Your son.

WW1 causes

WW1 Causes
 The four main causes of the war are

     Militarism- The belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability. This lead to WW1 because it caused conflict between countries. 

       Alliances-a. A close association of nations or other groups, formed to advance common interests or causes. This lead to WW1 Because so many people were in tangled alliances when two sides such as austria hungary who declared war on bosnia, all the other European countries were sucked in. 

        Imperialism- a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force. This was important because European nations ruled smaller countries, called colonies, and competed with each other to amass more colonies. Which caused chaos. 

          Nationalism- spirit or aspirations common to the whole of a nation. This was important because each nation thought their country was the best and thought it was all about themselves. 

The start of the war began on July 28, 1914, when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. The war was cause by the terriost attack on Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. 

    Lusitania- a British luxury liner sunk by a German submarine in the North Atlantic on May 7, 1915
          Sussex pledge was a promise made in 1916 during World War I by Germany to the United States prior to the latter's entry into the war.

       Zimmerman note- A coded message written by German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman and sent to Mexican president Venustiano Carranza on January 16, 1917
       unrestricted sub warfare- is a type of naval warfare in which submarines sink merchant ships without warning, as opposed to attacks per prize rules. In 1917 

        

Victory gardens

                                                                   Victory Gardens

      Victory garden also known as "war garden" organized by Charles Lathrop Pack in 1917. The garden was to help reduce pressure on the public food supply brought on by the war effort. The garden was allowed to be planted on private residences as well as public land. Some people called it the "moral booster" that way they felt empowered by contributing and getting rewarded by the produce grown. The average garden produced up to 41 percent of all vegetables that was consumed in the nation. Over 800 gardens were in the golden gate park, plus every park was beginning to build gardens. Having 20,000,000 gardens planted across the united states.

     The victory garden helped us by providing food for the soldiers and as well saved money so we could buy more weapons. Gardens were responsible for bringing Swiss chard and kohlrabi onto the American dinner table because they were easy to grow. They gardens produces tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, beets, and peas. Everyone wanted a gardent that people with no land would grow them from boxes out of their windows.