-
Allies Form
France, Britain, and Russia form the Triple Entente, later known as the Allies. Triple Alliance is formed by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. -
Central Powers
Germany and Austria-Hungary and with the Ottoman Empire controll the middle eastern lands later known as the Central Powers. -
1914 Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Gavrilo Princip stepped from the crowd and shot the the Archduke and his wife. -
Schlieffen Plan
On August 3, 1914, Germany invaded Belgium, following a startegy known as the schlieffen. -
Sinking of British liner Lusitania
On May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner Lusitania, was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sunk. Of the 1,959 people on board, 1,198 died, including 128 Americans. -
Sinking of British liner Arabic
Germany U-boat sinks another British liner that killed 2 Americans. -
Sinking of French passenger liner Sussex
In March 1916 breaks its promise to not attack any more passenger ships. They torpedoed an unarmed French passenger steamer and about 80 passengers including Americans were killed. -
Battle of the Somme
During the first battle of the Somme which began on July 1, 1916, and lasted until mid-November. British suffered 60,000 casualties on the first day. The Final casulties were totaled around 1.2 million. -
Zimmermann note
Zimmermann note, secret telegram sent on Jan. 16, 1917, by German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann to Count Johann von Bernstorff, the German ambassador to the United States. In it Zimmermann said that in the event of war with the United States, Mexico should be asked to enter the war as a German ally. In return, Germany promised to restore to Mexico the lost territories of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. British intelligence intercepted and deciphere the telegram. -
Committee on Public Information
The Committee on Public Information, also known as the CPI or the Creel Committee, was an independent agency of the government of the United States created to influence U.S. public opinion regarding American participation in World War I. Over just 28 months, from April 13, 1917, to August 21, 1919, it used every medium available to create enthusiasm for the war effort and enlist public support against foreign attempts to undercut America's war aims. -
Food Administration
When the United States entered the War, President Wilson appointed Herbert Hoover to the post of United States Food Administrator (1917). Food had become a weapon in World War I and no country produced more food than America. Hoover succeeded in cutting consumption of foods needed overseas and avoided rationing at home, yet kept the Allies fed. America had to produce the food needed by the new large army America was building as well as for Allied armies and civilians. -
Espionage and Sedition Acts
On this day in 1917, some two months after America's formal entrance into World War I against Germany, the United States Congress passes the Espionage Act. -
Selective Service Act of 1917
Some six weeks after the United States formally entered the First World War, the U.S Congress passes the Selective Service Act on May 18, 1917, giving the U.S. president the power to draft soldiers. -
Convoy System
On this day in 1917, driven by the spectacular success of the German U-boat submarines and their attacks on Allied and neutral ships at sea, the British Royal Navy introduces a newly created convoy system, whereby all merchant ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean would travel in groups under the protection of the British navy. -
War Industries Board
The War Industries Board (WIB) was a United States government agency established on July 28, 1917, during World War I, to coordinate the purchase of war supplies.[1] The organization encouraged companies to use mass-production techniques to increase efficiency and urged them to eliminate waste by standardizing products. The board set production quotas and allocated raw materials. It also conducted psychological testing to help people find the right jobs. -
National War Labor Board
March 29, 1918, by the War Labor Administrator (Secretary of Labor), upon recommendation of the War Labor Conference Board. Composed of representatives from labor, management, and the general public. -
Second Battle of the Marne
The battle took place over the course of 15 July-5 August 1918, in the final year of the war. Erich Ludendorff, effectively the German Chief-of-Staff (although Paul von Hindenburg was the ostensible commander), was convinced that the war could best be won by an attack in Flanders. To that end he determined to lure Allied forces from Belgium to the Marne in a huge diversionary attack, preparatory to a renewed offensive further north. -
Austria-Hungary surrenders to the Allies
-
Cease-fire and armistice
On November 11, 1918 at 11 a.m., a cease fire was declared between the warring nations of War I. The war largely consisted of Germany and Austria on one side with Russia, France, the United States, and the United Kingdom (including England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) on the other. The Great War, the war to end all wars, did not officially end, however, until Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles on May 7, 1919. -
Establishment of the German Republic
After World War II, Germany was occupied and divided into four zones administered by the main Allied powers. After tensions mounted between the Soviet Union on the one side, and the United States, Great Britain, and France on the other, the Western powers combined their zones and allowed the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Soviets responded by forming the German Democratic Republic (GDR) to govern their occupation zone.
