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Allies
By 1907 there were two major defense alliances in Europe. The triple entente, later known as the allies, consisted of France, Britain, and Russia. The triple alliance consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. Germany and Austria-Hungary, together with the ottoman empire, an empire mostly middle eastern lands controlled by the turks, were later known as the Central Powers. -
1914 Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
In June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the austrian throne, visited the Bosnian capital Sarajevo. As the royal entourage drove through the city, Serbian nationalists gavrilo princip stepped from the crowd and shot the Archduke and his wife Sophie. Princip was a member of the Black Hand, an organization promoting serbian nationalism. The assassinations touched off a diplomatic crisis. On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared what was expected to be a short war against serbia. -
Schlieffen Plan
This plan called for a holding action against Russia, combined with a quick drive through Belgium to Paris after France had fallen, the two German armies would defeat Russia. -
Battle of the Somme
The battle began on july 1, 1916, and lasted until mid-November. The British suffered 60,000 casualties the first day alone. Final casualties totaled about 1.2 million, yet only about seven miles of ground changed hands. -
Sinking of British liner Lusitania
One of the worst disasters occured on may 7, 1915, when a u boat sank the British liner Lusitania off the southern coast of Ireland. Of the 1,198 persons lost, 128 were Americans. American public opinion turned against Germany and the central powers. -
Sinking of British liner Arabic
Three months later in August 1915 a U boat sank another British liner, the Arabic, drowning two Americans. Again United States protested, and this time Germanyou agreed not to sink any more passenger ships. -
Sinking of French passenger liner Sussex
But in March 1916 Germany broke it's promise and torpedoed an unarmed French passenger streamer the Sussex. The Sussex sank and about 80 passengers including Americans were killed or injured. Once again the United states warned that it would break off diplomatic relations unless Germany changed its tactics. -
Zimmerman note
The over acts came. First was the Zimmerman note a telegram from the German foreign minister to the German ambassador in Mexico that was intercepted by British agents. The telegram proposed an alliance between Mexico and Germany and promised that if war with the United States broke out, Germany would support Mexico in recovering lost territories. -
Selective Service Act of 1917
To meet the government's need for more fighting power, Congress passed the selective service act in May 1917. The Act required men to register with the government in order to be randomly selected for military service. By the end of 1918, 24 million men had registered under the Act. Of this number, almost 3 million were called up. -
Convoy System
German U boat attacks on merchant ships in the Atlantic were a serious threat to the Allied war effort. American vice admiral William S. Sims convinced the British to try the convoy system, in which a heavy guard of destroyers escorted merchant ships back and forth across the Atlantic in groups. By fall of 1917, shipping losses had been cut in half. -
Second battle of the Marne
The americans arrived just in time to help stop the German advance at cantigny in France. Several weeks later, us troops played a major role in throwing back German attacks at chateau Thierry and belleau wood. In july and August, they helped win the second battle of Marne. The tide had turned against central powers. -
Austria-Hungary surrenders to the Allies
On November 3, 1918 Austria-Hungary surrendered to the allies. That same day German sailors mutinied against government authority. The mutiny spread quickly. -
Establishment of the German Republic
Everywhere in Germany groups of soldiers and workers organized revolutionary councils. On November 9, socialist leaders in the capital, Berlin, established a German Republic. The kaiser gave up the throne. -
Cease-fire and armistice
Although there were no allied soldiers on German territory and no truly decisive battle had been fought, the Germans were too exhausted to continue fighting. So at the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, in the eleventh month of 1918, Germany agreed to cease fire and signed the armistice, or truce, that ended the war. -
War industries Board
It was established in 1917 and recognized in 1918 under the leadership of Bernard M. Baruch. The board encouraged companies to use mass production techniques to increase efficiency. It also urged them to eliminate waste by standardizing products. The WIB set production quotas and allocated raw materials. -
National War Labor Board
To deal with disputes between management and labor, president Wilson established the national war labor board in 1918. Workers who refused to obey board decisions could lose their draft exemptions. Work or fight the board told them. However the board also worked to improve factory conditions. It pushed for an eight hour workday, promoted safety inspections, and enforced the child labor ban. -
Food Administration
To help produce and conserve food Wilson set up food administration under Herbert hoover. Instead of rationing food, he called on people to follow the gospel of the clean. Restaurants removed sugar bowls from the table and served bread only after the first course. -
Committee on public information
To popularize the war, the government set up the nation's the first propaganda agency, the committee on public information. Propaganda is kind of biased communication designed to influence peoples thoughts and actions. The head of the CPI was a former mucracking journalist named George Creel. -
Espionage and Sedition Acts
In June 1917, Congress passed the Espionage act. Under the Act a person could be fined up to 10,000 and sentenced to 20 years in jail for interfering with the war effort or for saying anything disloyal, profane, or abusive about the government or the war effort.
