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On June 28, 1914, the Archduke of Austria-Hungary was shot by Gavrilo Princip. This event is often considered the spark for WW1, which would grow because of entangling alliances.
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Germany and Austria-Hungary were allis and so was France and Russia. So when Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a terrorist in Serbia, they wanted to go to war with Russia. Germany knew France would honor its alliance with Russia. So they declared war on France.
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Germany invaded Belgium ( who was neutral) and Britain used that as a reason to get involved in the war. Britain was also reacting to France and Germany being in the war.
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On the Western Front in December 1914 there was a sudden outburst of hostility towards the killing. "On 24th December, arrangements were made between the two sides to go into No Mans Land to collect the dead. Negotiations also began to arrange a cease-fire for Christmas Day."
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In 1914 Fritz Haber, a talented chemist offered his services to the German Army. He began experimenting with chlorine gas to be used in Trench Warfare. The first time the German Army used the Chlorine gas was in April 1915."French soldiers reported seeing yellow-green clouds drifting slowly towards the Allied trenches... Chlorine gas destroyed the respiratory organs of its victims and this led to a slow death by asphyxiation.
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On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed the British-owned luxury steamship Lusitania, killing 1,128 people including 128 Americans. This immediately strained relations between Germany and the United States, that eventually led to the United States entering World War I.
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Woodrow Wilson was the 28th president and led America through World War 1."Wilson tried to keep the United States neutral during World War I but ultimately called on Congress to declare war on Germany in 1917."
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The Zimmermann note was a telegram between Germany and Mexico. In the telegram, intercepted by the Britsh, Zimmermann instructs Count Bernstorff, to offer money to Mexico if it agreed to enter any future U.S-German conflict as a German ally.
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In August 1914, Wilson made a speech declaring the U.S. neutral. On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany, saying, “The world must be made safe for democracy.” Days later, Congress voted overwhelmingly in favor of a war declaration.
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Two months after the United States entered WW1, congress passed the Espionage Act which was meant to keep citizens from speaking information about the war that could help their Enemies win.
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The Spanish flu was the second deadliest plage in history that killed at least 50 million people. Although it is called the Spanish flu, it did not originate from Spain. "The 1918 flu was first observed in Europe, the United States and parts of Asia before swiftly spreading around the world." At the time, there weren't any effective drugs or vaccines to treat the flu. Citizens were ordered to wear masks.
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On the 8th of January, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson presented his Peace Programme to Congress. "The fourteen Points became the basis for a peace program, suggesting that a League of Nations should be established to guarantee the political and territorial independence of countries."
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The battle of Cantigny was the first American offensive of World War I. About 4,000 United States soldiers captured the village of Cantigny, on the Somme River in France, from their German enemy.
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Germany and its allies had grown exhausted. Their armies were defeated and their citizens were suffering and starting to rebel. So Germany's government came to the United States requesting an armistice ("an agreement made by opposing sides in a war to stop fighting for a certain time; a truce.") The day the armistice was signed became known as Armistice Day.
