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Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
Gavrilo Princip, a teenage Serbian nationalist gunned down Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, as their motorcade maneuvered through the streets of Sarajevo -
Great War begins
The trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo. Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. -
Kaiser declares “open season” on ships
Germany proclaimed the North Sea a war zone, in which all merchant ships, including those from neutral countries, were liable to be sunk without warning. They would sink these ships with U-boats. -
Lusitania sank
Germany waged submarine warfare against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Royal Navy blockaded Germany. This happened because of the "open season". -
Battle of the Somme
It was also known as the Somme Offensive. It was a battle in WW1 and the British and French fought against the Germans. -
Wilson re-elected
It was the 33rd election. President Wilson was the Democratic candidate and Charles Evans Hughes was the Republican candidate running for the election. -
Zimmerman note intercepted
It was a message from the German foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmermann, to the German ambassador to Mexico proposed an alliance in case of war against the US. The telegram was posted on the front page of American newspapers. -
Selective Service Act
authorized the federal government to raise a national army for the American entry into World War I through the compulsory enlistment of people -
Convoy system
It is when a group of ships will sail together for protection. This system wanted to protect cargo ships and passenger ships. -
Espionage Age passed
a United States federal law passed shortly after the U.S. entry into World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code (War) but is now found under Title 18, Crime. -
Russia pulls out of the war
A group of Communists led by Vladimir Lenin, the Bolsheviks, overthrew the government and created a Communist government. Lenin wanted to concentrate on building up a communist state and wanted to pull Russia out of the war. -
US declares war on Germany
Wilson requested a declaration of war against Germany to Congress on April 2, 1917. Wilson cited Germany’s violation of its pledge to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as well as its attempts to entice Mexico into an alliance against the United States, as his reasons for declaring war. The Senate voted to support the idea of going to war on April 4 and then the House agreed two days later. The US declared war on Germany in December of that year. -
Fourteen Points speech
Fourteen goals of the United States in the peace negotiations after World War I. President Woodrow Wilson's speech. -
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Flu Epidemic
killed more people than the Great War, known today as World War I (WWI), at somewhere between 20 and 40 million people. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history. -
Sedition Act passed
An Act of the United States Congress that extended the Espionage Act of 1917 to cover a broader range of offenses, notably speech and the expression of opinion that cast the government or the war effort in a negative light or interfered. -
Germany signs armistice
an armistice during the First World War between the Allies and Germany – also known as the Armistice of Compiègne after the location in which it was signed – and the agreement that ended the fighting on the Western Front.
