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Archduke Franz Ferdinand is murdered by a Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip. He also killed the Archduke's wife.
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Fueled by their anger over death of Archduke, Austria-Hungry declares war on Serbia
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Austria-Hungry declares war on Russia. This is because Germany and Austria-Hungry are both part of the Central Powers.
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Germany declares war on Russia. France and Belgium mobilize.
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Germany declares war on France. They also invade neutral Belgium
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The Battle of the Marne was the first major battle in the war. In this battle, the Germans attempted to take Paris before the Allies were fully mobilized. This was the start of trench warfare.
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The battle of the Marne ends with a Allies victory. The casualties were about 250,00 each side.
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The Germans sink the British passenger liner, the Lusitania with a submarine. 1,200 people are killed, along with 128 American passengers.
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President Woodrow Wilson is elected for second term. He uses the slogan "He kept us out of war" to win.
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The Battle of Somme was fought between the French and British against the Germans. The British had a very large loss of men; around 420,000. The Germans lost around 650,000.
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The Battle of Somme ends. Neither side was victorious.
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A telegram from the Germans to the Mexicans, attempting to bribe them in to the Central Powers. The Germans said they would help Mexico get back it's stolen states. This telegram was intercepted by the British Secret Service.
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President Woodrow Wilson get's permission from Congress to declare war on Germany.
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American troops join with Allies to fight the Germans in last major battle of the war. It ends 47 days later on the 11th of November.
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The Allies force Central powers to sign the Treaty of Versailles in France. This said that peace would start with Germany and other world powers.
