-
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife, visit Sarajevo in Bosnia. A bomb is thrown at their auto but misses. Undaunted, they continue their visit only to be shot and killed a short time later by a lone assassin. Believing the assassin to be a Serbian nationalist, the Austrians target their anger toward Serbia. -
Great Britain declares war on Germany
The declaration is binding on all Dominions within the British Empire including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa. -
The Lusitania Disaster
A German U-Boat torpedoes the British passenger liner Lusitania off the Irish coast. It sinks in 18 minutes, drowning 1,201 persons, including 128 Americans. President Woodrow Wilson subsequently sends four diplomatic protests to Germany. -
Presidential Election
American voters re-elect President Woodrow Wilson who had campaigned on the slogan, "He kept us out of war." -
British naval intelligence intercepted telegram
The Zimmermann Telegram, intercepted by the British, revealed Germanys proposal for a Mexican alliance against the U.S. promising Mexico lost territories. Its release outraged Americans and bolstered support for U.S. entry into World War 1. -
War with Germany and U.S.
The United States of America declares war on Germany. Wilson cited Germany's violation of its pledge to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as well as its attempts to entice Mexico into an alliance against the United States, as his reasons for declaring war. -
First landing of Troops
The first American troops land in France. Just after their arrival in France some American soldiers became a symbol of deliverance for the French people. The first American Expeditionary Forces' (AEF) contingent landed in France in late June 1917 at Saint-Nazaire. -
The Sedition Act of 1918
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. -
War over
At 5:10 am, in a railway car at Compiègne, France, the Germans sign the Armistice which is effective at 11 am--the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Fighting continues all along the Western Front until precisely 11 o'clock, with 2,000 casualties experienced that day by all sides. Artillery barrages also erupt as 11 am draws near as soldiers yearn to claim they fired the very last shot in the war. -
The Versailles Peace Treaty
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.