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The Election of President Woodrow Wilson
President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law. The act created a Federal Reserve System, comprised of a Federal Reserve Board, twelve regional reserve banks, and the underpinnings of a smooth central banking system. -
The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand: The Outbreak of WW1
The spark that ignited World War 1 was struck in Sarajevo, Bosnia, where Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Austro-Hungarian-Empire was shot to death along with his wife Sophie by the Serbian nationalist Gavrillo Princip on June 28, 1914. -
America Proclaim s Neutrality in World War 1
When war broke out in Europe, the United States immediately declared its neutrality. President Woodrow Wilson stated that America must be "impartial in thought as well as in action." -
The Battle of the Marne
The Marne signaled the demise of Germany's aggressive two-front war strategy, known as the Schlieffen Plan. The also marked the end of the general belief held on both sides of the line. The conflict that broke out in the summer of 1914 would be a short one. -
The Sinking of the Lusitania
This disaster set off a chain of events that led to the U.S. entering World War 1. A German U-boat torpedoed the British-owned steamship Lusitania, killing 195 people including 128 Americans on May 7,1915. This disaster also set off a chain of events that led to the U.S. entering World War 1. -
The Battle of the Verdun
World War 1 engagement in which the French repulsed a major German offensive. It was one of the longest, bloodiest, and most-ferocious battles of the war; French casualties amounted to about 400,000, German one to about 350,000 were killed. -
The Sussex Incident
Torpedoing of a French cross-channel passenger steamer, the Sussex, by a German submarine, leaving 80 casualties, including two Americans wounded. The attack prompted a U.S. threat to sever diplomatic relations. -
The Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles of World War 1, and among the bloodiest in all of human history. A combination of a compact battlefield, destructive modern weaponry and several failures by British military leaders led to the unprecedented slaughter of wave after wave of young men. -
The Re-Election of President Woodrow Wilson
The 1916 United States presidential election was the 33rd quadrennial presidential election held on Tuesday, November 7,1916. Wilson was a leader of the Progressive Movement of the United States. After a policy of neutrality at the outbreak of World War 1, Wilson led America into war in order to "make the world safe for democracy." -
The Interception of the Zimmermann Telegram
In the telegram, intercepted and deciphered by British intelligence in January 1917, Zimmermann instructed the ambassador, Count Johann von Bernstorff, to offer significant financial aid to Mexico if it agreed to enter any future U.S-German conflict as a German ally. -
The Declaration of Unrestricted Submarine Warfare by Germany
Unrestricted submarine warfare was first introduced in World War 1 in early 1915, when Germany declared the area around the British Isles a war zone, in which all merchant ships, including those from neutral countries, would be attacked by the German Navy. They hoped to break the British stranglehold blockade of crucial German supply ports and knock Britain out of the war within the year. -
The United States enters World War 1
The entry of the United States was the turning point of the war because it made the eventual defeat of Germany possible. It had been foreseen in 1916 that if the United States went to war, the Allies military effort against Germany would be upheld by U.S. supplies and by enormous extensions of credit. -
The Selective Service Act
The Selective Service System and the registration for America's young men provide our nation with a structure and a system of guidelines which will provide the most prompt, efficient, and equitable draft possible, if the country should need it. -
The Passing of the Espionage Act
The Espionage Act was passed to protect the war effort from disloyal European immigrants. It also punished acts of interference with the foreign relations, and the foreign commerce of the United States, to punish espionage, and better to enforce the criminal laws United States and for other purposes. -
The Beginning of the Spanish Flu Epidemic
The virus was new, very few people, if any, had some immunity to the disease. The 1918 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was and exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza virus. -
The Fourteen Points by President Wilson
The Fourteen Points was a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War 1. The principles were outlined in January 8,1918 speech on war aims and peace terms to the United States Congress by President Woodrow Wilson. -
Russia Pulls Out of World War 1
On March 3, 1918 in the city of Brest-Litovsk, located in modern-day Belarus near the Polish border, Russia signs a treaty with the Central Powers ending its participation in World War 1. -
The Passing of the Sedition Act
The Sedition Act of 1918 curtailed the free speech rights of U.S. citizens during time of war. Passed on May 16,1918, as an amendment to title 1 of the Espionage Act of 1917, the act provided for further and expanded limitations on speech. -
The Landing of the American Expeditionary Force in France
The first American Expeditionary Forces' contingent landed in France in late June 1917 at Saint-Nazaire. General John J. Pershing launched their first major offensive in Europe as an independent army. Their successful campaign was a major turning point in the war for the Allies. The U.S. forces helped to defeat Germany earlier than expected. -
The Battle of Argonne Forest
It was one of the attacks that brought an end to the War and was fought from September 26 - November 11, 1918, when the Armistice was signed. -
Armistice Day Ends World War 1
Armistice on the Western Forest. On November 11,1918, after more than four years of horrific fighting and the loss of millions of lives, the guns on the Western Front fell silent. Although fighting continued elsewhere, the armistice between Germany and the Allies was the first step to ending World War 1. -
The Paris Peace Conference & Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles articulated the compromises reached at the conference. It included the planned formation of the League of Nations, which would serve both as an international collective security arrangement.