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The Election of President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson was elected president in 1912 after serving only two years as governor of New Jersey. President of Princeton University from 1902 until his election as New Jersey governor, Wilson succeeded in his campaigns for both governor and president with significant aid from practical political organizers. -
The Battle of the Verdun
The Battle of Verdun was a major battle fought in the First World War between Germany and France. The battle is sometimes called the longest battle in history because it lasted from February to December 1916. -
The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand: The Outbreak of WW1
Two shots in Sarajevo ignited the fires of war and drew Europe toward World War I. Just hours after narrowly escaping an assassin’s bomb, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to Austro-Hungarian throne and his wife, the Duchess of Hohenberg, are killed by Gavrilo Princip. A month later, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia and Europe rapidly descends into chaos. -
America Proclaims Neutrality in World War 1
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The Battle of the Marne
an offensive during World War I by the French army and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) against the advancing Germans who had invaded Belgium and northeastern France and were within 30 miles (48 km) of Paris. The French threw back the massive German advance and thwarted German plans for a quick and total victory on the Western Front. -
The Sinking of the Lusitania
The sinking of RMS Lusitania caused international outrage and helped turn public opinion against Germany, particularly in the then-neutral United States. Of the 1,200 people killed, 128 were American citizens. But the incident did not immediately bring the United States into the war. Instead, the American government issued a severe protest to Germany. -
The Sussex Incident
a German submarine, leaving 80 casualties, including two Americans wounded. The attack prompted a U.S. threat to sever diplomatic relations. The German government responded with the so-called Sussex pledge (May 4, 1916), agreeing to give adequate warning before sinking merchant and passenger ships and to provide for the safety of passengers and crew. -
The Battle of the Somme
a major battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of the upper reaches of the River Somme in France. The battle was intended to hasten the Allies' victory. More than three million men fought in the battle, of whom more than one million were either wounded or killed, making it one of the deadliest battles in human history. -
The Re-Election of President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson was elected president in 1912 after serving only two years as governor of New Jersey. President of Princeton University from 1902 until he was elected New Jersey governor, Wilson succeeded in his campaigns for governor and president with significant aid from practical political organizers. -
The Interception of the Zimmermann Telegram
1917 British signals intelligence intercepted and decrypted a coded German telegram from German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann that was intended for Germany’s ambassador to Mexico. Though the United States was not yet a participant in the war, Zimmermann signaled Germany’s intention to unleash its U-boats in the Atlantic Ocean in a fully unrestricted campaign against all Allied shipping, including American transports. -
The Declaration of New Unrestricted Submarine Warfare by Germany
Britain's blockade across the North Sea and the English Channel cut the flow of war supplies, food, and fuel to Germany during World War I. Germany retaliated by using its submarines to destroy neutral ships that were supplying the Allies. U-boats were Germany’s only weapon of advantage as Britain effectively blocked German ports to supplies. The goal was to starve Britain before the British blockade defeated Germany. -
The United States Enters World War 1
Wilson cited Germany’s violation of its pledge to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as well as its attempts to entice Mexico into an alliance against the United States, as his reasons for declaring war. On April 4, 1917, the U.S. Senate voted in support of the measure to declare war on Germany. The House concurred two days later. The United States later declared war on German ally Austria-Hungary on December 7, 1917. -
The Selective Service Act
On May 18, 1917, Congress passed the Selective Service Act, which authorized the Federal Government to temporarily expand the military through conscription. The act eventually required all men between the ages of 21 to 45 to register for military service. Under the act, approximately 24 million men registered for the draft. Of the total U.S. troops sent to Europe, 2.8 million men had been drafted, and 2 million men had volunteered. -
The Espionage Act
The Espionage Act broadly sought to crack down on wartime activities considered dangerous or disloyal, including attempts to acquire defense-related information with the intent to harm the United States or acquire code and signal books, blueprints, and other such documents to pass them to America’s enemies. The Act also outlawed false statements intended to interfere with military operations; attempts to challenge troops; and false statements promoting the success of America’s enemies. -
The Landing of the American Expeditionary Force in France
The arrival of the first units of American soldiers was a much anticipated and welcome symbol of relief to the war-weary French. American sailors arriving from ships at Saint-Nazaire were the first from that location to arrive in Paris. They found a city speckled with American flags of all sizes, and citizens were extremely grateful that their new allies, the Americans, had arrived. -
The Fourteen Points by President Wilson
Guidelines for the rebuilding of the postwar world, points included the conduct of foreign policy, including freedom of the seas and free trade and the concept of national self-determination, with the achievement of this through the dismantling of European empires and the creation of new states. Most importantly, Point 14, called for a “general association of nations” that would offer “mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small nations alike.” -
The Beginning of the Spanish Flu Epidemic
Influenza is caused by a virus that is transmitted from person to person through airborne respiratory secretions. The influenza pandemic of 1918–19 resulted from such an occurrence and affected populations throughout the world. An influenza virus called influenza type A subtype H1N1 is now known to have been the cause of the extreme mortality of this pandemic, which resulted in an estimated 25 million deaths, though some researchers have projected that it caused as many as 40–50 million deaths. -
Russia Pulls Out of World War 1
Russia left WW1 because it was in the interest of Russian Communists (Bolsheviks) who took power in November 1917. The Bolsheviks' priority was to win a civil war against their domestic opponents, not to fight in WW1. They also thought that Germany would soon lose the war in any case. Otherwise, Russia no longer had sufficient resources to continue fighting. -
The Passing of the Sedition Act
Passed by a Federalist-controlled Congress on July 14, the Sedition Act of 1798 was part of a series of measures, commonly known as the Alien and Sedition Acts, ostensibly designed to deal with the threats involved in the “quasi-war” with France. -
The Battle of Argonne Forest
The Meuse-Argonne Offensive was a part of the final Allied offensive of World War I. It was one of the attacks that brought an end to the War and was fought from September 26 – November 11, 1918, when the Armistice was signed. The Meuse-Argonne Offensive was the largest operation of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in World War I, with over a million American soldiers participating. -
Armistice Day Ends World War 1
On Nov. 11, 1918, after more than four years of horrific fighting and the loss of millions of lives, the guns on the Western Front fell silent. Although fighting continued elsewhere, the armistice between Germany and the Allies was the first step to ending World War I. The global reaction was one of mixed emotions: relief, celebration, disbelief, and a profound sense of loss. -
The Paris Peace Conference & Treaty of Versailles
The United Kingdom, France, and Italy fought together as the Allied Powers during the First World War. The United States entered the war in April 1917 as an Associated Power. While it fought alongside the Allies, the United States was not bound to honor pre-existing agreements among the Allied Powers. These agreements focused on the postwar redistribution of territories. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson strongly opposed many of these arrangements, including Italian demands on the Adriatic.