-
Franz Ferdinand Assassination
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand instigated the beginning of World War I. -
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
Gavilo Princip intended to knock down the Austro-Hungarian Empire and unite the Slavic people, but his plan did not turn out the way he wanted it to. Gavrilo Princip was the one who shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand, but all of Serbia was blamed for Princip's mistake, which is why Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. -
First use of gas as a weapon by the Germans
Poison gas was first used against the Allied Powers by Germany. The gas was a very effective weapon that could injure or seriously harm the soldiers on the battle field. Soon , the Allies learned how to make poison gas so both side on the battle field began to use it. Eventually after that, the soldiers began carrying sufficient gas masks. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
Near the coast of Ireland, a German submarine had torpedoed a British passenger liner called the Lusitania. Before that President Wilson said that he would hold Germany accountable for any American lives lost in German attacks. About 1000 people died and within those 1000, 128 of them were American. The sinking angered many Americans and was one the main reasons why the United States didn't remain neutral during WWI. -
Wilson reelected; pledged American neutrality
President Wilson didn't believe in U.S involvement in WWI, and most Americans supported his belief. The phrase "He Kept Us Out of the War" was the Democratic slogan of 1916, Wilson stayed true to this slogan for as long as he possibly could. If the U.S didn't enter the war then its status as a world power would have been taken away from the U.S. -
Zimmerman Note
The Zimmerman Note was a telegram that was sent by Arthur Zimmerman and it offered an alliance between Germany and Mexico, it also said that Germany would help Mexico recover territory it had lost. The note was supposed to reach Mexico, but the British intercepted it. Then the British gave it President Wilson, and Wilson asked Congress for declaration of War against against Germany. -
Bolsheviks led by Lenin overthrow Russian government
In Russia's first revolution, Nicholas II had stepped down from being the czar of Russia. The new government that replaced the czar supported the war, but couldn't take care of Russia's problems at that time, like scarcity of food and fuel. Then the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, overthrew the provisional government. The Bolsheviks wanted to pull Russia out of the war and make it a communist state. So Lenin set up the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, which gave most of Russia's land to Germany. -
U.S declares war
On April 2, 1917, President Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany, because the United States could no longer remain neutral. The declaration was passed and then signed on April 6, which meant that the U.S states had to raise an army very quickly. The Selective Service Act helped raise an army quickly, people were registering by the millions. -
War ends
The Allied Powers were fine at the end of the war, but the Central Powers were in ruins. Austria- Hungary broke apart and many countries declared independence. Then the Ottoman Empire and Austria Hungary surrendered to the Allied Powers. Germany realized that they could no longer win so they asked President Wilson for an armistice. Wilson agreed as long as Germany promised to not renew fighting and if they Germany took out all of its troops from Belgium and France. -
Treaty of Versilies
It is a treaty between Germany and the U.S. Under its terms the Germany had to say that all of the conflicts were caused by Germany. Germany also had to pay the Allies billions of dollars and it had to disband completely and some territory in Europe and oversea colonies to the Allied Powers.
