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Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife, visit Sarajevo in Bosnia.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg were assassinated in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. They were shot to death by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian student and member of the Serbian secret society Black Hand -
The United States declares its neutrality.
The United Kingdom declaration of war upon Germany occurred on 4 August 1914. The declaration was a result of German refusal to remove troops from neutral Belgium.After weeks of speculation and mounting tension, Great Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914. -
- A German U-Boat torpedoes the British passenger liner Lusitania off the Irish coast.
the German submarine (U-boat) U-20 torpedoed and sank the Lusitania, a swift-moving British cruise liner traveling from New York to Liverpool, England. Of the 1,959 men, women, and children on board, 1,195 perished, including 123 Americans. -
American voters re-elect President Woodrow Wilson who had campaigned on the slogan, "He kept us out of war.
Democratic U.S. President Woodrow Wilson narrowly defeated Republican Charles E. Hughes in the U.S. presidential election. Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives. -
- The British intercept a telegram sent by Alfred Zimmermann in the German Foreign Office to the German embassies in Washington, D.C., and Mexico City.
According to the scheme, Germany would provide tactical support while Mexico would benefit by expanding into the American Southwest, retrieving territories that had once been part of Mexico. The Zimmermann telegram is passed along by the British to the Americans and is then made public, causing an outcry from interventionists in the U.S., such as former president Teddy Roosevelt, who favor American military involvement in the war. -
The United States of America declares war on Germany.
the United States declared war on the German Empire, joining France, Great Britain, Russia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Italy. They were arrayed against Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. -
The first American troops land in France.
25th Jun 1917: First US troops arrive in France. The first 14,000 U.S. infantry troops landed in France at the port of Saint Nazaire. The landing site had been kept secret because of the menace of German submarines Such was the situation on April 6, 1917, when the United States formally declared war on the German Empire and joined the Allied camp. -
The Sedition Act of 1918
May 16, 1918 to extend the Espionage Act of 1917. The Sedition Act covered a broader range of offenses, notably speech and the expression of opinion that cast the government or the war effort in a negative light or interfered with the sale of government bonds. Passed in preparation for an anticipated war with France, the Alien and Sedition Acts tightened restrictions on foreign-born Americans and limited speech critical of the government. -
, France, the Germans sign the Armistice which is effective at 11 am--
This Day in History, November 11, 1918: World War I Ends. On November 11, 1918 an armistice was signed between the Germans and the Allies, ending World War I.Germany was the last of the Central Powers to sue for peace. The Armistice with Germany was agreed to come into effect at 11am to allow time for the news to reach combatants. -
At the Palace of Versailles in France, a German delegation signs the Treaty formally ending the war
Its 230 pages contain terms that have little in common with Wilson's Fourteen Points as the Germans had hoped. Germans back home react with mass demonstrations against the perceived harshness, especially clauses that assess sole blame for the war on Germany.