-
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip shot the Archduke and his wife Sophie as they were visting the Bosnian capitol Sarajevo. Princip was a member of an organization promoting Serbian nationalism group called the Black Hand. -
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
The Archduke’s assassination started a diplomatic crisis. Austria-Hungary declared what was expected to be a short war against Serbia. -
Germany declares war on Russia and France
They were obliged by treaty to support Austria-Hungary and declared war on Russia. Two days later on August 3, they did the same to France, Russia’s ally. -
Britain declares war on Germany
After Germany invaded Belgium, England declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary. This started the Great War. -
United States declares neutrality
Most Americans saw no reason to join a struggle 3,000 miles away. However, the people were very interested in discussing who they felt would win, as the public opinion was divided. -
Battle of the Marne
Unable to save Belgium from the German troops, the Allies retreated to the Marne River in France, where they halted the German advance. After struggling to outflank each other’s armies, both sides dug in for a long siege. This battle lasted until September 12. -
Lusitania sunk
A German U-boat sank the British liner off the southern coast of Ireland. Of the 1,198 persons lost, 198 were Americans, which angered the United States and turned many of our people against Germany and the Central Powers. -
Battle of the Somme
This war’s strategy of trench warfare, in which armies fought for mere yards of ground, continued being used for years. On November 18, the battle finally ended, with final casualities totalling about 1.2 million people. -
Woodrow Wilson reelected
He won against Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes using the slogan “He Kept Us Out of War”. This was a close election, and Hughes originally thought he won the race. -
Zimmermann telegram
This was a telegram from the German foreign minister to the German ambassador in Mexico that was intercepted by British agents. It 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. -
Germany announces unrestricted sub warfare
The kaiser announced that U-boats would sink all ships in British waters on sight. The Germans’ decision ignored President Wilson’s calls for peace and meant that the United States would eventually go to war. -
Russian Revolution
The oppressive Russian monarchy was replaced with a representative government. Supporters of American entry into the war claimed that this was a war of democracies against brutal monarchies. This revolution eventually ended on November 8. -
U.S. declares war on Germany
After President Wilson delivered his war resolution, Congress passed it a few days later. The president and many other Americans believed that the United States had to join the war to pave the way for a future order of peace and freedom. -
Selective Service Act
This 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 and almost 3 million were called up. -
Espionage Act and Sedition 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. On May 16, 1918, the Sedition Act was passed. These laws clearly violated the spirit of the First Amendment. -
Wilson's Fourteen Points
The first five points of his speech were issues that he felt should be addressed in order to prevent another war. The next eight points dealt with boundary changes. Finally, the fourteeth point called for the creation of an international organization to address diplomatic crises like those that had sparked the war. -
U.S. flu epidemic
The United States suffered a home-front crisis when an international flu epidemic affected about one-quarter of the U.S. population. The effect of the epidemic on the economy was devastating. Officially, the pandemic started in January 1918 and lasted until December 1920, but peaked in the fall of 1918. -
Armistice
The Germans were too exhausted to continue fighting even though there were no Allied soldiers on their territory and no truly decisive battle had been fought. Therefore, they agreed to a cease-fire and signed the truce that ended the war. -
Paris Peace Conference
After four years of slaughter and destruction, the time had come to forge a peace settlement. Leaders of the victorius nations gathered at Versailles outside Paris to work out the terms of peace, and President Wilson traveled to Europe to ensure it. This conference officially ended on June 28 with the Treaty of Versailles. -
Treaty of Versailles
This established nine new nations and shifted the boundaries of other nations, amongst other provisions. However, its poor treatment of Germany weakened the treaty’s ability to provide a lasting peace in Europe. Also, several basic flaws in the treaty sowed the seeds of postwar international problems that eventually would lead to the Second World War.
