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USS Maine Explosion
Maine was a United States Navy ship that sank in Havana Harbor and it contributed to the outbreak of the Spanish American War. American newspapers claimed that the Spanish were responsible for the ship's destruction but in 1976, a team of American naval investigators concluded that the Maine explosion was likely caused by a fire that ignited its ammunition stocks, not by a Spanish mine or act of sabotage. -
Wars declared
Austria declares war on Serbia on 28 July 1914 and attacks Belgrade. On 1 August Germany, ally of Austria, orders the same. France, allied with Russia, immediately follows.
Germany declares war on Russia the same day. On 3 August it declares war on France and its troops invade Belgium.
The next day, Britain -- allied with France and Russia -- declares war on Germany for violating the neutrality of Belgium. -
The Great Migration
the movement of some six million African Americans from rural areas of the Southern states of the United States to urban areas in the Northern states. -
Battle of Verdun
German forces launch an offensive at Verdun, to "bleed France white" and force the country to the negotiating table. The German forces advance but are contained. By the time the fighting ends in December, the frontlines have barely changed despite staggering casualties. More than 300,000 men are killed altogether, each side losing more or less the same number, and hundreds of thousands more are wounded. -
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Revolution in Russia
Rioting snowballs into revolution and forces the abdication of Nicholas II, Russia's last tsar. The new socialist-led government battles to impose control and does not envisage a withdrawal from the conflict. Later Vladimir Lenin seize power. Their first decision is to seek a way out of the war.Lenin has decided an armistice with Germany. The Brest-Litovsk treaty is a disaster for Russia, ceding huge chunks of its western territories to Germany slashing its population by nearly a third. -
United States enters the war
In January 1917 Germany steps up a campaign of attacking British merchant vessels with U-boat submarines, aiming to throttle the island. It pushes the United States to enter the War, angered by the torpedoing of neutral ships in the Atlantic and vessels carrying US citizens. Washington declares war on Germany on 6 April and on 26 June the first US deployment arrives at the French port of Saint-Nazaire. -
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
Woodrow presented a program of fourteen points to a session of Congress. 8 of the 14 points treated specific territorial issues among the combatant nations. 5of the other 6 concerned general principles for a peaceful world open covenants and adjustment of colonial claims based on the principles of self-determination. The 14 points proposed what was to become the League of Nations to guarantee the political independence and territorial integrity great and small states alike. -
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Spanish Flu
It killed an estimated of 50 million victims people. More than 25 percent of the U.S. population became sick, and about 675,000 died. The flu was first observed in Europe, the United States, and parts of Asia before swiftly spreading around the world. Surprisingly, many victims were young, otherwise healthy adults. -
Armistice
the Allies launch a broad counter-offensive, using tanks on a large scale to make the vital breakthrough which had eluded them for so long. Planned by French forces commander General Ferdinand Foch, it changes the course of the war, forcing a German retreat on all sides. Germany's allies begin to collapse: Bulgaria agrees an armistice by the end of September; Austria is defeated late October; and Turkey is forced to call a halt a few days later. A German delegation, agrees to an armistice. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919 in the Palace of Versailles.
