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World War I
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Archduke Franz Ferdinand Assassinated
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenburg were both shot dead in Sarajevo by a Bosnian Serb assassin Gavrilo Princip, a member of teh "Black Hamd". -
British Blockade of Germany
In an effort to restrict the maritime supply of raw materials and foodstuffs to the Central Powers, Britain set up a blockade in front of Germany's main ports. This weakened the Central Powers because military supplies and food surplus could not pass the blockade, and many civilians died from starvation due to this. -
Germany declared war on France
On the afternoon of this day in 1914, two days after declaring war on Russia, Germany declares war on France. With Germany officially at war with France and Russia, a conflict originally centered in the tumultuous Balkans region—with the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. -
Germany announces unrestricted submarine warfare
Germany declared the area around the British Isles a war zone, in which all merchant ships, including those from neutral countries, would be attacked by the German navy. This culminated in teh sinking of the Lusitania, a British vessel, and also prompted U.S. involvment into the war. -
Lusitania is sunk
On May 1, 1915, the Lusitania left port in New York for Liverpool, GB to make her 202nd trip across the Atlantic. On board were 1,959 people, 159 of whom were Americans. Due to bad weather conditions, the Captain slowed down the Lusitania and kept her on a straight path nearing Britain, and she was spotted by German U-boats and they fired a torpedo, which sunk the massive ocean liner in 18 minutes, losing the lives of 128 U.S. civilians -
President Wilson wins reelection
Running against Supreme Court Justice and Republican candidate Charles Evans Hughes, Wilson won his re-election by the Electoral vote of 277 to Hughes' 254. It is one of only three elections in which a nominee was elected president without the support of his state of residence (New Jersey). -
U.S. Banks loaned $2.3 billion to the Allies
The war ravaged the Allies' economies, so the U.S. stepped in and loaned billions to England, France and Italy on the condition that they be paid back after the war was over. The Allies were not able to repay the debts as their countries were in such bad shape. -
Zimmerman Note
A message from the Germans to Mexico as a proposal to start a war with the U.S., intercepted by British Intelligance. Outraged American public, led to U.S. declaring war on Germany in April. -
U.S. Congress ratified War Resolution
Woodrow Wilson addressed Congress about the reckless principles of Germany in the European war on April 2. He explained how they were now using their submarines to sink every ship that tried to get into ports of Britain, Ireland and more, no matter if they are neutral or not. Germany sunk an American ship and took American lives, and the U.S. has to act for something like that cannot go unpunished. -
Selective Service Act is ratified by Congress
President Wilson tried to build up the army to enter WWI with only volunteers, and even though tens of thousands entered, it still wasn't enough to meet the demands the war would bring. In order to aquire the man power needed, Wilson took the advice of the Secretary of War and decided to implement a draft for the military. -
Bolshevik Revolution in Russia
A revolution founded by Vladimir Lenon and Alexander Bogdanov against Joseph Stalin, consisting of working class Russians knowns as the "Bolsheviks" who eventually became the Communist Party in Russia.
