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Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
a teenage Serbian nationalist gunned down Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, as their motorcade maneuvered through the streets of Sarajevo -
Great War Begins
Gavrilo Princip assassinated Franz Ferdinand which started the war -
Kaiser Declares "open season" on ships
Kaiser Wilhelm announces an important step in the development of that policy, proclaiming the North Sea a war zone, in which all merchant ships, including those from neutral countries, were liable to be sunk without warning -
Lusitania Sank
Germany waged submarine warfare against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Royal Navy blockaded Germany -
Battle of the Somme
Somme Offensive, was one of the largest battles of the First World War. Fought between July 1 and November 1, 1916 near the Somme River in France, it was also one of the bloodiest military battles in history -
Wilson re-elected
wanted to be re-elected to keep the US out of the war because in his first presidency they didn't have to go into the war -
Zimmerman note Intercepted
offer significant financial aid to Mexico if it agreed to enter any future U.S-German conflict as a German ally. If victorious in the conflict, Germany also promised to restore to Mexico the lost territories of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona -
US Declares War on Germany
At 8:30 on the evening of April 2, 1917, President Wilson appeared before a joint session of Congress and asked for a declaration of war against Germany in order to "make the world safe for democracy." On April 4, Congress granted Wilson's request. -
Selective Service Act
authorized the federal government to raise a national army for the American entry into WWI through the compulsory enlistment of people -
Espionage Age Passed
United States federal law passed on June 15, 1917, shortly after the U.S. entry into World War I. -
Convoy system
group of merchant vessels sailing together, with or without naval escort, for mutual security and protection, has a much longer history than sometimes suggested -
Russia Pulls out of the War
communists wanted to focus on internal rather than external problems after they seized power in the February Revolution of 1917 -
Fourteen Points Speech
on War Aims and Peace Terms, President Wilson set down 14 points as a blueprint for world peace that was to be used for peace negotiations after World War I -
Sedition Act passed
a piece of legislation designed to protect America’s participation in World War I -
Flu Epidemic
an unusually deadly influenza pandemic, the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus -
Germany Signs Armistance
Germany, bereft of manpower and supplies and faced with imminent invasion, signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiégne, France
