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The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, who were from Austria-Hungary, traveled to Serbia to take care of military ordeals. The Serbian nationalist group, the Black Hand, was upset with Austria-Hungary for treating them like an inferior nation. Gavrilo Princip, who was only 19 years old at the time, shot the couple when they were on their way to an official procession. The Serbian nationalists assassinated him to demonstrate their strength, and to protest against Austria-Hungary. -
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Sinking of the Lusitania
When Great Britain created a naval blockade in the Atlantic, Germans were unable to get goods from the US. In order to open the trade path, the Germans decided that they would destroy any boat in their path. They attacked the blockade with submarines and destroyed the Lusitania, which was a British liner with tons of ammunition and 2,000 people on board (128 being Americans). -
National Defense Act
The National Defense Act of 1916 was a major military reform that improved the strength of the army. The law increased the general size of the US Army. Also, it incorporated the National Guard as a stronger responsive force. Although, it placed limitations of the size and activities of the war staff. It both supported and restricted the entry of the US into World War I. https://history.army.mil/news/2016/160500a_natDefAct1916.html -
US Declares War
When war fever began in the US against Germany, there was a formal ruling in the US Senate, which resulted as 82 to 6 to declare war. Then, two days after the Senate vote was the House of Representatives vote, which resulted as 373 to 50 to declare war. -
US Breaks Diplomatic Relations with Germany
Previously, the US provided goods to Germany and it was a major trade route. Even though the US weren't going to get involved in the war, the actions of the Germans angered the US. These actions include the sinking of the Lusitania and the Housatonic. This made the US feel like they should not continue their relations with Germany and they ended it. -
Germany Renews Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
At the beginning of the war, Germans used unrestricted submarine warfare which led to the sinking of many American and British liners with innocent civilians on board. Because of this, they restricted it from 1915 to 1917. Realizing they have no chance of winning the war with restricted submarine warfare, the Germans unrestricted it once again in 1917. This led to the US involvement in the war. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germany-resumes-submarine-warfare -
U.S.S. Housatonic Sunk
On its journey from Texas to Liverpool, England, it was stopped by a German U-boat. Three German crewmen boarded the Housatonic and sent the captain over to the U-Boat to talk to the German commander. He told the captain he was going to destroy the Housatonic because it was providing goods for the enemy (Britain) and that they must abandon ship. https://forgottenwrecks.maritimearchaeologytrust.org/wrecks-and-sites/explore-the-wrecks/articles/ss-housatonic -
Selective Service Act
The Selective Service Act created the Selective Service System, which allowed the government to draft civilian men into the military to fight in the war. https://www.britannica.com/event/Selective-Service-Acts -
First Liberty Loan
A Liberty loan/liberty bond is a war bond that was sold to civilians in order to fund the war efforts overseas. The government raised over 18 billion dollars for war funds just from the war bonds that people invested in. https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/liberty_bonds -
War Industries Board
The War Industries Board was created to coordinate the production of war materials and the purchase of war supplies. They encouraged companies to mass produce goods for better efficiency. http://www.american-historama.org/1913-1928-ww1-prohibition-era/war-industries-board.htm -
Lever Food and Fuel Control Act
This act gave the president the authority to regulate the transportation, price, and production of food, beverages, and fuel. Also, the federal government was allowed to pay landowners market price for their land for military purposes, https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/lever-food-control-act -
War Revenue Act
After the US declared war with Germany, they needed money to support the troops and provide supplies overseas. The War Revenue Act of 1917 raised income taxes considerably in order to fund the war. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/war-revenue-act-passed-in-u-s -
Second Liberty Loan
The Second Liberty Loan was announced in November of 1917. To persuade American citizens to buy Liberty Bonds, many posters of propaganda were created. All of them encourage citizens back home to buy them in order to support the troops overseas, and they create a feeling of nationalism within the people. Some of them even demonize the Germans to get the US citizens involved. https://cudl.colorado.edu/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=MISC/UCBOULDERCB1-58-NA/1459/i71767551.pdf -
Railroads are nationalized
Nationalizing an industry is when the federal government changes a private industry into a public organization by gaining ownership of it. In this case, Woodrow Wilson nationalized most railways in America which led to the creation of the United States Railroad Administration. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_nationalization#United_States -
Maximum prices for steel
The price of steel in 1918 was $3.54 per one hundred pounds. https://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre1938071800 -
Germans begin massive offensive on Western Front
In the Spring of 1918, the Germans proposed a series of attacks on the Western Front. After the US declared war with Germany, the Germans knew that they only had limited time to defeat the Western Front before the US arrived with a surplus of troops and materials. Therefore, it was their last chance before the US came and suppressed the war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Offensive -
Third Liberty Loan
Enacted on April 5, 1918, the Third LIbrety Loan Act allowed the government to issue $3 billion worth of bonds. The average price of a bond in 1918 was about $170. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3rd_Liberty_Loan_Act -
First independent action by the AEF
The American Expeditionary Force, led by John J. Pershing, made their first independent action in the Battle of Cantigny. This led to the first AEF victory on 28 May 1918. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Expeditionary_Forces -
Battle of Belleau Wood
The Battle of Belleau Wood was a response by the US to the aggressive German offensive in 1918. The US Marines were able to pick off German machine gun teams easily with their great marksman skills. Although the US came out with a victory, there were 9,777 US casualties. https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/battles-of-world-war-one/the-battle-of-belleau-wood/ -
Second Battle of the Marne
A doughboy is a term that arose during WWI that refers to the young soldiers in the US Army or Marine Corps. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doughboy -
Battle of Meuse-Argonne
After a series of surprise attacks led by John Pershing into the Argonne forest, the Germans realized they were being flanked from all sides so they retreated to avoid capture. This battle that included almost a million American troops led to the armistice by the Germans in November. -
Fourth Liberty Loan
The Fourth Liberty Loan led to a sale of $7 billion in October. Throughout the war, the US government raised a total of about $18 billion through Liberty Bonds. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_bond -
Armistice Day
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of November 1918, the Germans surrendered the war and it was named Armistice Day. Leading up to the armistice, President Woodrow Wilson gave a speech about his Fourteen Points, which was a statement of principles for peace. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteen_Points
