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Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia.
An escalation of threats and mobilization orders followed the incident, leading by mid-August to the outbreak of World War I -
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and the tenuous peace between Europe’s great powers collapsed.
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Within a week, Russia, Belgium, France, Great Britain and Serbia had lined up against Austria-Hungary and Germany, and World War I had begun.
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The “Great War” pitted the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire against the Allied forces of Great Britain, the United States, France, Russia, Italy and Japan.
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German troops under Erich Ludendorff crossed the border into Belgium, in violation of that country’s neutrality. In the first battle of World War I, the Germans used the most powerful weapons in their arsenal–enormous siege cannons–to capture the city by August 15.
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A German submarine sinks the passenger liner Lusitania. The ship carries 1,198 people, 128 of them Americans.
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The British employ the first tanks ever used in battle, at Delville Wood.
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Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare in European waterways. This act, more than any other, draws the United States into the war and causes the eventual defeat of Germany.
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British President Wilson outlines his case for war to Congress.
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Congress authorizes a declaration of war against Germany. The United States enters World War I on the side of France and Britain.
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Congress passes the Selective Service Act authorizing the draft. President Wilson claims he sees no other option and signs the bill into law.
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The Germans sign a peace treaty with the new Bolshevik government of Russia.
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The Battle of Cantigny is the first major American offensive of the war.
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The Americans attack the Germans at Chateau-Thierry. This battle would morph into the larger Battle of Belleau Wood.
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The Battle of Belleau Wood begins as the U.S. Marine Corps attacks the Germans across an open field of wheat, suffering huge casualties.
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It ends with the final expulsion of the Germans from the wood, which marks the farthest German advance on Paris. The area has changed hands six times during the three-week battle, which has caused nearly 10,000 American casualties.
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300,000 American troops under the direct command of General Pershing fling themselves into the German lines.
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Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates, ending all German hope for a victory. He and his retinue quietly slip over the border into the Netherlands where he lives out the remainder of his life in relative peace and writes a self-promoting memoir defending his actions in the war.
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An Armistice is signed ending fighting on the Western Front. Ending the Firts World War.
