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Assassination of Archduke of Austria
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empireand his wife Sophie are shot by a Bosnian Serb nationalist during an official visit to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. The killings sparked a chain of events that led to the outbreak of World War I by early August. -
German declaration of war
Two days after declaring war on Russia, Germany declares war on France resulting in a two-front war. Hours later, France makes its own declaration of war against Germany, readying its troops to move into the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, which it had forfeited to Germany in the settlement that ended the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. -
US Policy on War Loans to Belligerents
"There is no reason why loans should not be made to the governments of neutral nations, but in the judgment of this Government, loans by American bankers to any foreign nation which is at war are inconsistent with the true spirit of neutrality."
- Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan -
US Declaration of Neutrality
President Woodrow Wilson addressed Congress and made public the U.S. policy of neutrality. During his address he warned U.S. citizens against taking sides in the war for fear of endangering the policy. -
United States Protests Against Maritime Warfare
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Germany Declares Unrestrcted Submarine Warfare
Germany declares a submarine blockade of Great Britain. Any ship approaching England is considered a legitimate target.This included sinking America's neutral ships without any warning. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
German U-boat sinks the Lusitania, which primarily ferried people and goods across the Atlantic Ocean between the United States and Great Britain. There were 1,198 civilians, including 128 Americans who died. -
President Wilson Re-elected
Wilson's Second Inaugural Address
Wilson secured re-election in the U.S. presidential elections of 1916 on a platform of continued peace (and therefore neutrality) for America. His campaign slogan was "He kept us out of the war." On March 5th, 1917 Wilson gave his second term inauguration address. -
Zimmermann Telegram
British cryptographers deciphered a telegram from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the German Minister to Mexico, von Eckhardt, offering United States territory to Mexico in return for joining the German cause. The British waited until February 24 to present the telegram to Woodrow Wilson in an effort to capitalize on growing anti- German sentiment in the US. -
US Declaration of War
Earlier in 1917, the Germans resumed unrestricted submarine warfare and the US policy of neutrality would soon come to an end. The US declared war on Germany four days after Wilson's War Message to Congress on the grounds that the world must be made safe for democracy.
