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Sinking of the Lusitania
On May 7, a British owned ship called the Lusitania was sunk by a German submarine. This attack killed 1,198 passengers, which was more than half of the total passengers. Of all the passengers killed 128 of them were Americans. This attack resulted in American demanding that Germany stop targeting passenger and merchant ships. -
Jones Act
The Jones Act gave all Puerto Ricans born on the the island U.S. citizenship. This allowed the United States to use the Puerto Ricans as soldiers during World War 1. -
Zimmerman Telegram
On March 1, a telegram from Germany to Mexico was published on the front page of the United States newspapers. This telegraph requested an alliance between Mexico and Germany in case of a war between Germany and the United States. To get Mexico to agree to this alliance Germany promised that if they won they would return Mexico's lost territory to them. One President heard of this he began preparing and arming ships to fight against Germany. -
America Enters the War
After America broke their ties with Germany multiple ships were sunk by German U-Boats. On April 2, President Wilson went to congress and asked to declare war on Germany. Four days later, congress granted President Wilson's request and America was no longer neutral. -
Selective Service Act
Six weeks after the United States entered the war the congress passed the Selective Service Act. This act gave the United States President the power to draft soldiers for the war. As a result of this act, President Wilson sent 10 million men across the country. -
Battle of Cantigny
This was one of the very first battles that America fought in during World War 1. America defeated Germany and gained the village of Cantigny. It took a total of 72 hours for America to defeat the Germans, and there were a total of 1,000 deaths. -
The Battle of Belleau Wood
This was the first large scale battle fought by the Americans during World War 1. On the first day there were more than one thousand casualties. In the end, America won but as a result ten thousand soldiers were either dead, wounded, or missing in action. -
The Battle of Chateau-Thierry
It was in this battle that France and America set an offensive attack on Germany. This was the first time in a year that the Allies had done any offensive attack. It was because of the Americans that the Allies won this battle against Germany. -
World War Ends
The Germans signed an armistice with the Allies at five in the morning on November 11, 1918. As a result of this war, nine million soldiers were killed and twenty-one million were wounded. Also, at least five million civilians died during the war. -
Treaty of Versailles
This treaty is the treaty that officially marked the end of World War 1. The majority of the treaty was decided by the Allies with little help from Germany. Germany had lost World War 1, and had agreed to pay for all the damage of the war.