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began with the official proclamation by President Woodrow Wilson on August 4, 1914, driven by a desire to avoid "entangling alliances" and to act as an impartial mediator. This policy was initially supported by the country's history of non-intervention in European affairs and the desire to capitalize on the economic opportunities of a neutral nation. However, events like the sinking of the Lusitania and the interception of the Zimmermann Telegram in 1917 eroded public -
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Bosnian Serb nationalist named Gavrilo Princip because of rising Slavic nationalism and a desire to free Bosnia and Herzegovina from Austro-Hungarian rule. Princip and other Serbian nationalists viewed the Archduke, as the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, as a symbol of their oppression and saw his assassination as a way to ignite a movement for a united South Slav state -
In saving Paris from capture by pushing the Germans back some 72km (45 miles), the First Battle of the Marne was a great strategic victory, as it enabled the French to continue the war. However, the Germans succeeded in capturing a large part of the industrial north east of France, a serious blow -
The Battle of Verdun was a long, devastating World War I engagement where the French repelled a major German offensive in 1916. Lasting for about 10 months, the battle became a symbol of brutal attrition warfare, -
he Sussex' was a French passenger ship that was torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1916. The ship was severely damaged and many passengers were killed, but it remained afloat and was eventually towed into Boulogne harbour -
The sinking of the Lusitania was important because it caused the deaths of 128 Americans and outraged the public, significantly increasing anti-German sentiment and pressuring the U.S. to move away from neutrality -
The term "Sedition Act" most commonly refers to the Sedition Act of 1798, a U.S. law that made it a crime to publish "false, scandalous, and malicious" writings against the federal government. Passed by the Federalist-controlled Congress, it was intended to suppress criticism from Democratic-Republican newspapers, particularly during the Quasi-War with France. -
The Battle of the Somme began with a week-long Allied artillery bombardment followed by a massive infantry attack on July 1, 1916. The attack was a disaster for the British, who suffered about 57,000 casualties, including -
The Zimmermann Telegram was a secret proposal from Germany to Mexico during World War I, offering financial support and the return of lost territories (Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona) if Mexico joined an alliance against the United States. It was intercepted and decoded by British intelligence, which then shared it with the U.S. government. Its publication -
German unrestricted submarine warfare was a naval tactic in World War I and World War II where submarines, or U-boats, attacked enemy and neutral merchant ships without warning -
after President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany. The primary causes were Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram, which -
a series of laws, with the first being the 1917 act that authorized the first mass draft in the U.S. for World War I. The most recent version is the Military Selective Service Act -
The Espionage Act is a 1917 US law originally passed during World War I to punish and prevent interference with military operations and the disclosure of classified information that could harm national security. Today, it is frequently used in cases involving leaks of classified information -
the United States army sent to Europe in 1917 to fight in World War I. Commanded by General John J. \"Black Jack\" Pershing, the AEF's primary mission was to help the Allied forces of France and Britain, who had been fighting since 1914 -
President Wilson's Fourteen Points were a plan for peace to end World War I, presented in 1918. The points included proposals for open diplomacy, free trade, and disarmament, but a central element was the creation of a League of Nations to prevent future wars. Other key points focused on national self-determination and redrawing the borders of European nations to address territorial disputes -
The Spanish flu was caused by an H1N1 influenza A virus with genes of avian (bird) origin. Its unprecedented deadliness likely resulted from a combination of factors, including the virus's ability to efficiently spread between humans and a potentially unique immune response in young adults, which was often exacerbated by secondary bacterial pneumonia. The exact geographic origin is debated, but theories point to loca -
Russia officially withdrew from World War I by signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers on March 3, 1918. This withdrawal was the result of internal upheaval, including the Bolshevik Revolution, which prioritized securing power and winning a civil war over continuing to fight in WWI. As a consequence, Russia ceded vast territories, including Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states, and Finland, to Germany and its allies -
The main significance of the Battle of the Argonne Forest was that it was the crucial final push by the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in World War I that weakened the German army and ultimately led to the signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918. This major campaign, the largest and deadliest for the AEF in the war, strained German resources and morale, disrupted their positions, and contributed to their decision to seek an end to hostilities -
Armistice Day for World War I marks the end of the fighting, which occurred at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. The armistice was an agreement between Germany and the Allied forces that resulted in a ceasefire and led to the signing of the formal peace treaty in 1919. It is commemorated annually on November 11 to honor the end of the war and the service members who fought in it. -
The Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920) was a meeting of Allied powers to establish peace terms after World War I, resulting in several treaties, with the most prominent being the Treaty of Versailles with Germany. The treaty held Germany responsible for the war, demanded reparations and territorial concessions, severely limited its military, and required it to pay reparations to the Allies. The conference also established the League of Nations, although the U.S. not made it