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Archduke Franz ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo. His death is the event that sparks World War 1.
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Germany invades Belgium, begining World War 1
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The Germans fire shells filled with chlorine gas at Allied lines. This is the first time that large amounts of gas are used in battle, and the result is the near collapse os the French lines.
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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. Although they are useful at breaking through barbed wire and clearing a path for the infantry, tanks are still primitive and they fail to be the decisive weapon, as their designers thought they would be.
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Reacting to international outrage at the sinking of the Lusitania and other neautral passenger liners, Kaiser Wilhelm suspends unrestricted submarine warfare.
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British intelligence gives Wilson the so-called Zimmerman Telegram, a messege from German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman proposing that Mexico side with Germany in case of war between Germany and the United States.
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Congress authorizes a declaration of war against Germany. The United States eneters World War 1 on the side of France and Britain.
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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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World War I was finally over. This first global conflict had claimed from 9 million to 13 million lives and caused unprecedented damage. Germany had formally surrendered on November 11, 1918, and all nations had agreed to stop fighting while the terms of peace were negotiated.
