World War One

Neutral America

Mar 8, 1914

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson announces the U.S. will remain neutral. America was, and did not want to get invovled or take sides in this war. Unless they had to.

Schlieiffen Plan takes Place

Apr 10, 1914

Germany didn't want to fight both Russia in the east and France in the west, so they enacted their long-standing Schlieffen Plan. The Schlieffen Plan was created by Alfred Graf von Schlieffen, who was the chief of the German general staff from 1891 to 1905.Schlieffen believed that it would take about six weeks for Russia to mobilize their troops and supplies. So, if Germany placed a nominal number of soldiers in the east, the majority of Germany's soldiers and supplies could be used for a quick

Assasination of the Archduke

Jun 28, 1914

The spark that started World War I was the assassination of Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. The assassination occurred on June 28, 1914 while Ferdinand was visiting the city of Sarajevo in the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Declare War!!!

Jul 28, 1914

Austria-Hungary officially declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914, an entire month after the assassination, much of Europe had already become entangled in the dispute.

Trench Warfare Begins

Sep 7, 1914

By September 1914, neither side could force the other to move, so each side began to dig trenches. For the next four years, the troops would fight from these trenches.

U-Boat sinks an American ship

Mar 7, 1915

A German U-boat (submarine) sunk the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania. Considered by Americans to be a neutral ship that carried mostly passengers, Americans were furious when the Germans sank it, especially since 159 of the passengers were Americans.

The Zimmermann Telegram

Mar 7, 1917

In early 1917, Germany sent Mexico a coded message promising portions of U.S. land in return for Mexico joining World War I against the United States. The message was intercepted by Britain, translated, and shown to the United States. This brought the war to U.S. soil, giving the U.S. a real reason to enter the war on the side of the Allies.

America Enters the War

Mar 7, 1917

On April 6, 1917, the United States officially declared war on Germany. As the United States was entering World War I, Russia was getting ready to get out. In 1917, Russia became swept up in an internal revolution that removed the czar from power. The new communist government, wanting to focus on internal troubles, sought a way to remove Russia from World War I.

The Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty

Mar 7, 1918

Negotiating separately from the rest of the Allies, Russia signed the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty with Germany on March 3, 1918. With the war in the east ended, Germany was able to divert those troops to the west in order to face the new American soldiers.

World War One has Ended

Mar 8, 1918

By the time World War I ended in the defeat of the Central Powers in November 1918, more than 9 million soldiers had been killed and 21 million more wounded. The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, determined post-war borders from Europe to the Middle East, established the League of Nations as an international peace organization and punished Germany for its aggression with reparations and the loss of territory.