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Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
A Serb patriot killed the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand, in Saravejo. -
WW1 Begins & US Reaction
The assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand stirred up trouble in Europe. This led to the division of the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary, later joined with Turkey and Bulgaria) and the Allies (France, Britain, Russia, and later Japan & Italy). Woodrow issued the routine neutrality proclamation so that Americans would remain neutral in thought and in deed. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
German submarines attacked and sank a British passenger liner, Lusitania, off the coast of Ireland causing the loss of 1,198 lives including 128 Americans. The fact that the Lusitania was carrying small-arms ammunition was used by Germans to justify the sinking. -
Arabic Pledge
Woodrow Wilson protested against unrestricted submarine warfare after the sinking of the ships Lusitania and the Arabic. Germany then agreed to warn non-military ships 30 minutes before they sank them. -
Pancho Villa Raids Mexico
Francisco (Pancho) Villa challenged Mexican predisent Venustiano Carranza's authority & punished gringos. In January 11, 1916, Villa killed 16 American mining engineers off a train traveling through northern Mexico. Pancho Villa wanted to provoke war between Wilson & Carranza,, this cause him to corss the border to Columbus, New Mexico in March to murder 19 Americans. General John J. ordered a force of several thousand tropps to look for Villa but failed finding him. -
Sussex Pledge
When the Arabic Pledge was violated by the Germans when they attacked a French passenger steamer, the Sussex, Wilson threatened the Germans to stop the submarine warfare or Wilson would break diplomatic relations. Germans agreed to not ink passenger ships and vessels without warning but wanted the United States to convince the Allies to modify the illegal blockade on Berlin. Wilson only accepted the German pledge without accepting the second part of the pledge. -
"He kept us out of war" Slogan
In the campaign for the election of 1916, Woodrow Wilson came up with the slogan "He kept us out of war". The slogan convinced people to rely on Woodrow Wilson to keep the United States out of the great war, which ensured Wilson's victory. -
Resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare
Germans announced on Jan, 31, 1917 their decision to use unrestricted submarine warfare, which included sinking American ships in the war zone. This decision was made because Germans thought that by doing this, then England would soon give up before the U.S. would enter the war. -
Zimmerman Note
German foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmerman, had secretly proposed a German-Mexican alliance, tempting anti-yankee Mexico by promising to recover Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona back to Mexico. This action caused the Americans, especially the westerners, to get angry. -
Russian Revolution
In 1917, Russia had a revolution, ending imperial rule which lead to the formation of the Soviet Union. A new government was set up by radical Bolsheviks turning Russia into a Communist country. Vladimir Lenin was the new leader of Russia,
