-
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand and Sophie were touring Sarajevo in an open car and a Serbian nationalist threw a bomb at their car which wounded and officer. On their way to visit the injured officer the Archduke's procession accidently took a wrong turn where one of Cabrinovic's cohorts, a 19 year old, Gavrilo Princip, happened to be there. Gavrilo saw an opportunity and took it. He fired into the car and shot Franz Ferdinand and Sophie. Princip then tried shooting himself, but was stopped. -
Great War begins
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand set off a chain of events that led to the start of World War 1. Austria-Hungary's government suspected Serbia was responsible for the assassination and declared war. -
Lusitania sank
At 2:10 in the afternoon the ship neared the coast of Ireland when a torpedo was fired by the German submarine U 20 and slammed into the ship's side. Then a mysterious second explosion ripped the liner apart. The ship was in such bad shape that lifeboats crashed into passengers. Within 18 minutes the ship slipped underneath the sea. 1,119 of the 1,924 aboard died. 114 of which were Americans. -
Kaiser declares “open season” on ships
Kaiser Wilhelm proclaimed the North Sea a war zone where all merchant ships including those who are from neutral countries could be sunk without warning. On February 4, 1915, Kaiser announced that Germany wanted to sink all ships sailing under the flags of Britain, Russia, or France found in the British waters. He warned neutral countries that it was not safe traveling around the British Isles but if they chose to enter after February 18, they would be doing so at their own risk. -
Period: to
Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme was one of the largest of the first world war one and is also known as the Somme Offensive. It was fought near the Somme River in France and was one of the bloodiest battles in history. On the first day, there were 57,000 british casualties and at the end the Allies and Central Powers lost more than 1.5 million men. -
Wilson re-elected
During Wilson's speeches he talked about his accomplishments. A favored slogan of his was, "He kept us out of war." After the presidential election of 1916 and the presidential election held on November 7, 1916. Wilson had 49.4% of the popular cote and 277 electoral votes. Hughes had 46.2% of the popular vote and 254 electoral votes -
Zimmerman note intercepted
Was a mesage from Arthur Zimmermann to the German ambassador to Mexico telling them they wanted to form a Mexican-German alliance between the United States and Germany. -
US declares war on Germany
At 8:30pm on April 2, 1917, President Wilson asked for a declaration of war against Germany in order to make the world safe for democracy. His request was granted on April 4. -
Selective Service Act
Required all men between the ages of 21 and 30 to register for military conscription, but the age limit was later extended to 18 to 45. President Woodrow Wilson accepted the recommendation for the new draft law, It was drafted by General Enoch H. Crowder and Captain Hugh Johnson. The Selective Service Act was canceled in November, 1918. -
Convoy system
Was designed to help protect cargo in passenger ships. The system was introduced in British in 1917. It was mainly centered on the ENglish Channel, but when the U.S entered the war ships started traveling in deeper open ocean from one end of the Alantic to the other. -
Espionage Age passed
Mainly enforced by Mitchell Palmer and made it a crime for any person to convey information that was intended to interfere with the U.S armed force's war effort. Anyone that was found guilty would have to pay a fine of $10,000 and a prison sentence of 20 years. -
Russia pulls out of the war
A group of communists led by Vladimir Lenin overthrew the government and created a communist government in November 1917. Vladimir wanted to pulll Russia out of the war while he was building up a communitst state. This was accomplished when he agreed to the Treaty of Brest-Litvosk with Germany on March 3, 1918 which gave Germany Ukraine, FInland and Polish and Baltic territories but Germany had to remove their army from Russian lands. -
Fourteen Points speech
Woodrow Wilson gave a speech to Congress on January 8, 1918 that outlined the Fourteen Points which he believed would form peace after World War 1. He planned on forming peace by getting rid of secret treaties, reduce armaments, adjust colonial claims, and freedom of the seas. -
Sedition Act passed
The Sedition Act was aimed at socialists and pacifists. It imposed harsh penalties on anyone that was found guilty of making false statements that interfered with war. This included insulting the government, flag, constitution, or military. Anyone who were found guilty were to be punished by a fine of $10,000 or imprisonment for no longer than twenty years and they could be punished with both. -
Period: to
Flu Epidemic
This epidemic occurred in three waves in the United States and was also known as the spanish flu. It killed more people than the Some people woke up feeling fine but they did died by night. Those who did not die from the flu often died from problems caused by bacteria. In those two years it existed, a fifth of the world's population was effected and was most deadly for people aged between 20 and 40. Twenty-eight percent of all Americans were infected and 675,000 of them died from influenza. -
Germany signs armistice
The armistice was an agreement between the Germans and the allies to end the war. There were several armistices but the most significant one was signed at 5 a.m. on November 11, 1918. This armistice came into effect six hours later at 11 a.m. It was signed in Foch's railway and ran for thirty days but was renewed until the peace treaty was signed at Versailles a year later. The armistice required the Germans to evacuate the Western Front within two weeks.
