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Heir to Austro-Hungarian throne assasinated
The heir apparent to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, travels to Sarajevo, Bosnia, with his spouse. A bomb is hurled towards them, but it misses. Unfazed, they carry on with their visit, only to have a lone assassin shoot and kill them moments later. The Austrians direct their ire at Serbia since they think the murderer is a patriot from that country. -
The start
Great Britain declares war on Germany, All of the British Empire's dominions, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India, and Canada, are required to abide by the statement. The United States then declares its neutrality. -
Lusitania Sinks
Off the coast of Ireland, the British passenger liner Lusitania is torpedoed by a German U-boat. In eighteen minutes, it sinks, drowning 1,201 people—128 of them Americans. Following that, President Woodrow Wilson protests four times to Germany diplomatically. -
Battle of the Somme
American voters re-elect President Woodrow Wilson who had campaigned on the slogan, "He kept us out of war." -
Raging Of Men
A telegraph Alfred Zimmermann of the German Foreign Office dispatched to the German embassies in Mexico City and Washington, D.C. is intercepted by the British.Plans for an alliance between Germany and Mexico against the United States are outlined in its message.The British give the Zimmermann telegraph to the Americans, who subsequently make it public. This sparks a backlash from American interventionists who support US military engagement in the war, including former president Teddy Roosevelt. -
America's beginning
America Enters the war -
French Mutiny
First American troops land in France -
Sedition act
the United States Congress passes the Sedition Act which would protect their involvement in World War 1 -
The Armstice
- The Armistice is signed by the Germans at 5:10 a.m. in a train car in Compiègne, France. It goes into effect at 11 a.m., or the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. The fighting on the Western Front lasts until exactly 11 o'clock, with 2,000 losses on both sides that day. As 11 a.m. approaches, artillery barrages also break out as men want to say they fired the final shot of the conflict.
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End of War
At the Palace of Versailles in France, a German delegation signs the Treaty formally ending the war. Its 230 pages contain terms that have little in common with Wilson's Fourteen Points as the Germans had hoped. Germans back home react with mass demonstrations against the perceived harshness, especially clauses that assess sole blame for the war on Germany.