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Kaiser declares “open season” on ships
unrestricted warfare -
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, occurred on 28 June 1914 in Sarajevo when they were mortally wounded by Gavrilo Princip. -
Great War begins
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo was the cause of the war. -
Lusitania sank
British ocean liner Lusitania is torpedoed without warning by a German submarine off the south coast of Ireland. -
Battle of the Somme
First World War fought by the armies of the British and French empires against the German Empire -
Wilson re-elected
During Wilson's speech he talked about his accomplishments. A favored slogan of his was "he kept us out of war" -
Zimmerman note intercepted
instructed the ambassador, Count Johann von Bernstorff, to offer significant financial aid to Mexico if it agreed to enter any future U.S-German conflict as a German ally. -
US declares war on Germany
President Woodrow Wilson went before a joint session of Congress to request a declaration of war against Germany. ... The United States later declared war on German ally Austria-Hungary on December 7, 1917. -
Selective Service Act
authorized the United States federal government to raise a national army for service in World War I through conscription. -
Convoy system
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 -
Espionage Age passed
United States federal law, shortly after the U.S. entry into World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code (War) but is now found under Title 18, Crime. -
Flu Epidemic
unusually deadly influenza pandemic, the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus -
Fourteen Points speech
statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I -
Russia pulls out of war
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between the new Bolshevik government of Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire). This causing Russia to stop fighting in the war -
Sedition Act passed
Act of the United States Congress that extended the Espionage Act of 1917 to cover a broader range of offenses, notably speech and the expression of opinion that cast the government or the war effort in a negative light. -
Germany signs armistice
ended fighting on land, sea and air in World War I between the Allies and their last opponent, Germany. Previous armistices had eliminated Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire
