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Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand led to a chain reaction. Austria-Hungry blamed the Serbian gov, leading Austria-Hungry to declare war on July 28 causing peace in Europe's great powers to collapse. Within a week Russia, Belgium, France, Great Britian and Serbia lined up agains Austria-Hungry and Germany and WW1 begun. -
WW1 begins & US reaction
Before WW1 began Woodrow Wilson tried to keep the US out of the war by remaining neutral, but after many german attacks on americans the US entered the war on April 6 1917. Siding with the allied powers the US offered many troops and increased the size of the US military. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
British Ocean liner Lusitania which was used to carry goods and people from the U.S to Great Britian was torpedoed by a German U-Boat. 1,198 of the 1,959 people died, 128 were Americans. This turned public opinion in many countries against Germany and hastened the U.S entrance into WW1. -
Arabic Pledge
After sinking both the Lusitania and Arabic, both British passenger ships, Woodrow Wilson again threatened to get the U.S involved in the war,The Arabic pledge was a promise made by the German Empire during World War I to limit unrestricted submarine warfare. Germany also pledged to warn non-military ships 30 minutes before they sank them to make sure passengers and crew got out safely. -
Pancho Villa raids New Mexico
Pancho Villa led an army of about 1,500 guerillas across the boarder to stage a brutal raid on Columbus, New Mexico. Killing 19 people and leaving the town in flames. U.S president Woodrow Wilson ordered General John Pershing to lead 6,000 american troops into Mexico and capture villa. They were unsuccesful. This also caused tensions to rise between the U.S and Mexico. -
Sussex Pledge
Responding to a demand by U.S president Woodrow Wilson to stop the German policy of "unristriced submarine warfare" or the U.S would break diplomatic relations with Germany, Germany signed the Sussex Pledge promising to stop the indiscriminate sinking of non-military ships. But would search merchant ships and keep sinking if contraband was found. -
He kept us out of war
Wilson's campaign used the slogan "He kept us out of war" to appeal to the voters who wanted to avoid a war in Europe or with Mexico. This helped him win a 2nd term and helped strengthen Wilson's image as an anti-war candidate. -
Zimmermann Note
Coded telegram intercepted by the British sent from Foreign Secretary of Germany Arthur Zimmermann to Germany's Ambassador Heinrich Von Eckardt in Mexico offering Mexico to join the central powers, this caused tension between the U.S and Mexico. This also outraged American public opinion and generated support for the U.S declaration of war on Germany. -
Resumption of unristicted submarine warfare
Hoping to end war soon the use of unristricted submarine warfare was resumed by Germany meaning they could simply torpedo carriers, and passenger ships. When German Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg announced this type of warfare he was cautious about the U.S responce. He did not want us joining the war. But instead it became one of the main reasons we joined the war. -
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a series of revolutions whos goals was to dismantled the Tsarist autocracy. Slowly "rebels" began removing high power officials and eventually established the Russian SFSR.
