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Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand sparks world war I.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip on June 28th, 1914. With tensions already running high among Europe’s powers, the assassination sparked a chain of events that led to the outbreak of world war 1 by early August of 1914. After the assassination, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Soon after, Europe, and much of the world, spiraled into war as one country after another and established alliances and took sides with either the central powers or the allies. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
The British ocean liner, Lusitania, ferried people and goods across the Atlantic between the United States and Great Britain. On May 7th,1915 the boat was torpedoed by a German U-boat which caused the ship to sink. Of the 1,959 on board 1,198 people died, including 128 Americans. The American reaction to the sinking of the Lusitania caused the Germans to temporarily halt their policy of unlimited submarine warfare. The United States did not enter the war until almost two years after the sinking. -
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Battle of the Somme begins in France in July of 1916 and ends in November of the same year
The Battle of the Somme was fought near the Somme River in France in 1916. The goals of the battle were to relieve the French Army fighting at Verdun and to weaken the German Army. The Battle of the Somme was one of the largest and bloodiest battles of world war. In just the first day of the battle, the British army suffered more than 60,000 causalities and by the end more than 420,000 had been killed. By the end, the central and allies powers would lose more than 1.5 million men. -
Zimmerman Telegram proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico
The Zimmerman telegram was a secret diplomatic communication that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico. The German foreign minister offered to help Mexico if they would start a borderland war with the United States and ask Japan to join them. The Germans would provide military and financial support for a Mexican attack on the United States, and in exchange Mexico would be free to annex lost territory in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. -
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The Doughboys
The Doughboy was an informal term for a member of the United States Army, most commonly used to refer to infantry men during world war I. There are a variety of theories about the origins of the nickname. Although, the most common is this. American infantrymen made long treks over dusty terrain, giving them the appearance of being covered in flour, or dough, hence "doughboy". Doughboys helped change the course of the war, because they helped keep the western allies intact and fighting in 1917. -
Sedition Act of 1918 passed
The Sedition Act of 1918 was an Act of the United States Congress to protect America’s participation in the war. The act outlawed speech and the expression of opinion about the war effort and was an extension to the Espionage Act of 1917. The Sedition act was aimed at socialists, pacifists and other anti-war activists, and imposed harsh penalties on anyone found guilty. Furthermore, the act made it illegal to say or publish anything "disloyal" about the American government or armed forces. -
Woodrow Wilson delivers Fourteen Points speech for long lasting peace in Europe and an end to world war I
Woodrow Wilson’s fourteen points speech outlined his vision for a stable, long-lasting peace in Europe, the Americas and the rest of the world following World War I. One of Wilson’s purposes in delivering the Fourteen Points speech was to ensure national security and world peace. Wilson’s speech outlined a post war world dominated democracy, free trade, disarmament, the settlement of territorial disputes in Europe and a league of nations to further mediate international crises.
