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Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne. While on a state visit with his wife Sofia to Bosnia he was assassinated. He was assassinated Gavrilo Princip, who was a Serbian nationalist. This sparked the fire of World War 1. -
The war begins.
On July 23 Austria-Hungary gave Serbia a serous ultimatum. Serbia then appealed for Russia's help this led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia on July 28th. Germany then declared war on Russia on August 1st. Germany also Launched an attack on France, one of Russia's allies. The attack went through Belgium which led to Great Britain getting into the war as well. -
The Lusitania sinks.
The Lusitania was British passenger ship. It was carrying 1,198 people 128 of them were Americans. The ship was sunk by a German submarine (U-boat) all 128 Americans died. This led to tension between the U.S. and Germany. -
Zimmerman Telegram.
The Zimmerman telegram was a message from Germany to mexico. The message was an offer to mexico, saying that if mexico joined there side of the war they would regain former provinces like Texas, new mexico, and Arizona. Mexico declined there deal. British intelligence gave President this telegram. It angered america and gave even more tension between the U.S. and Germany. At this point the U.S. had remained neutral. -
U.S. joins the war.
The sinking of the Lusitania along with the Zimmerman telegram convinced the U.S. to join the war. They joined the war on side of the allies. On April 6, 1917 congress signed a declaration of war against Germany. The U.S. from there forward had a huge contribution in the war -
The Selective Service Act
Congresses passed this act, putting the draft into motion. This was criticized by a lot of the american people for ruining its democracy. President Wilson claimed he saw no other option. He then signed the bill into law. -
Lloyd Brown joined the war
He was only 16 at the time. He lied about his age saying he was 18. On his drivers license he said he was born in 1899 when his real birthday was 1901. -
Lloyd Brown went into basic training
He was thrown into basic training for 2-3 weeks. They sent him to a training camp in Chicago, Illinois. He learned how to row boats and how to splice big ropes. -
Lloyd Brown had his first encounter with they enemy.
While sailing along, protecting the English channel they saw a submarine in the distance. He recalls the moment the men at the watchtowers spotted them. They could only see the tower top part of the submarine the rest was under water. He remembers them taking a shot at the submarine which it quickly ducked under water, he never would know if they sunk that submarine or not. -
Lloyd Brown captures a German submarine
Him and his crew had captured a German submarine while sailing the English channel. They took it back to their port. The Germans aboard were taken prisoners. Brown recalled many people, tourist, visiting the boat to get a feel for what it looked like. -
Germany and Russia make peace
Germany signed a peace treaty with the new Russian government. This gave Germany back lands like Poland and Ukraine. This also meant that there was peace on the eastern front. This let Germany move all there troops to the western front which caused problems for America, France, and Britain. -
Battle of Cantigny
This was the first battle where america took the offensive in the war. It was a smaller scaled battle. However it led america to start launching harder attacks on Germany. -
Kaiser Wilhelm Abdicates.
Abdicates means that he stepped down from his position. This ended all of Germans hope of victory. Kaiser quietly moved to the Netherlands to live out the rest of his life. He wrote a self-promoting memoir justifying his reasons for war. -
Armistice day
The day the armistice was signed between the allies during WWI. This was the end of WWI. It is celebrated every year on November 11th, we call it veterans day. -
Brown hears that the armistice has been signed.
His ship was in the Philadelphia Navy yard when he heard that the armistice had been signed. He decided though to stay in the navy. He became an “ordinary seaman”. By the time he left the navy he was still only 17, about to turn 18.
