-
Franz Ferdinand Assassination
Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated while visiting Bosnia, Sarajevo. They were next in line to see the throne. -
Austria-Hungary Declares War on Serbia
When Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, it caused a couple of countries to join in and help out the countries that were in the starting of the war. -
First Use of Gas as a Weapon by the Germans
The Germans used the gas so when they unleashed the gas, poisonous chlorine clouds formed all around the battle field to make the opposing army either suffocate or die of breathing in the fumes. It was a very effective weapon to use if I do say so myself. To make it more interesting, though, the US started to use the Germans weapon against them. It went on like that in the trench warfare for a while. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
The Lusitania was identified and torpedoed by the German U-boat U-20. It was a result of the submarine warfare with Germany and the United Kingdom. -
Wilson reelected; pledged American neutrality
The Democratic Party, led by Woodrow Wilson, sought to build a stable majority by co-opting many of the activist ideals previously espoused by the "Progressive" wing of the Republican Party, while the latter struggled to heal the ideological fractures laid bare in 1912 election. -
Zimmermann Note
The Zimmermann Note forced United States President Woodrow Wilson to reverse his initial position in American involvement in European conflict and commit the United States to the war against Germany. It was sent to Arthur Zimmermann, the one who wrote and sent the Note, to his ambassador in Mexico, Heinrich von Eckhardt. -
US Declares War
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." -
Bolsheviks Led by Lenin Overthrow Russian Government
Under the leadership of Russian communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik Party seized power in the Russian Republic during a coup known as the October Revolution. -
War Ends
At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends. At 5 a.m. that morning, 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. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was the most important of the peace treaties that brought World War I to an end.
