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Chinese Exclusion Act Signed
Signed by President Chester A. Arthur. It was one of the most significant restrictions on free immigration in US history, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers. -
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand visited the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo. Gavrilo Principa, Yugoslav nationalist supplied by the Black Hand, shot the Archduke and his wife. This erupted the Balkan Powder Keg and would eventually lead to World War I. -
Austro-Hungarian Ultimatum Presented to the Serbian Government
Demanded from the Serbian state to formally and publicly condemn the "dangerous propaganda" against Austria-Hungary, the ultimate aim of which, it claimed, is to "detach from the Monarchy territories belonging to it". -
Austria Declares War on Serbia
With this declaration of war, allies on both sides were dragged into the war. -
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World War I
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Germany Declares War on Russia
The Russian Empire, unwilling to allow Austria-Hungary to eliminate its influence in the Balkans, and in support of its longtime Serb protégé, ordered a mobilization of troops. Germany mobilized its troops in responce and ordered Russia to withdraw its troops. Germany declared war after attempted negotiations by Russia. -
Germany Declares War on France
Germany began to carry out the Schlieffen Plan, in which Germany would have to go on the offensive to end the war and in it, all of the German army was deployed on the German-Belgian border for an offensive into France through Belgium. The plan assumed that Italian and Austro-Hungarian troops would defend Alsace-Lorraine. -
Germany Declares War on Belgium
After Belgium refused to permit German troops to cross its borders into France, Germany declared war on Belgium. -
Britain Declares War on Germany
Britain protested the violation of Belgian neutrality, guaranteed by a treaty. The German Chancellor replied that the treaty is just a chiffon de papier (a scrap of paper). -
Austria-Hungary Declares War on Russia
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Serbia Declares War on Germany
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Japan Declares War on Germany
Japan proposed to Britain, its ally since 1902, that Japan would enter the war if it could take Germany's Pacific territories. -
Britain Begins a Naval Blockade on Germany
An effort to restrict the maritime supply of raw materials and foodstuffs to the Central Powers. It is considered one of the key elements in the eventual allied victory in the war. -
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First Battle of the Marne
The battle was the culmination of the German advance into France and pursuit of the Allied armies. It was an immense strategic victory for the Allies, wrecking Germany's bid to 'unhinge' the Verdun-Marne-Paris line in their first campaign of the war and forcing them to breach it directly in their next campaign against France. -
Germany Begins Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
The U-boat had several deficiencies for a commerce raider; its low speed, even on the surface, made it scarcely faster than many merchant ships, while its light gun armament was inadequate against larger vessels. To use the U-boat's chief weapon, torpedoes, meant abandoning the stop-and-search required to avoid harming neutrals. -
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Second Battle of Ypres
Fought for control of the strategic Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. It marked the first mass use by Germany of poison gas on the Western Front. The end result was a stalemate. -
Italy Declares War on Austria-Hungary
Nominally allied with the Central Powers of the German Empire and the Empire of Austria-Hungary in the Triple Alliance, the Kingdom of Italy refused to join them when the war started in August 1914. Instead, after a period of wavering and after secret negotiations with France and Great Britain where Italy negotiated for territory if victorious, Italy entered the war on the side of the Allies. -
RMS Lusitania Sunk
The British ocean liner was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat, causing the deaths of 1,198 passengers and crew. The sinking caused a storm of protest in the United States, as 128 Americans were among the dead. It also influenced the decision by the U.S. to declare war in 1917. -
HMHS Britannic Sunk
Sunk after hitting a German mine. There were 1,066 people on board, with 1,036 survivors taken from the water and lifeboats. The Britannic was the biggest ship lost in the First World War -
The U.S. Declares War on Germany
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The Zimmermann Telegram Sent
A diplomatic proposal from the German Empire for Mexico to join the Central Powers, in the event of the United States entering World War I on the side of the Entente Powers. The proposal was intercepted and decoded by British intelligence. Zimmermann sent the telegram in anticipation of the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare by Germany on 1 February, an act which Germany presumed would lead to war. -
Bolshevik Revolution
Created Soviet Russia and began the Russian Civil War. -
Wilson Issues the "Fourteen Points" Statement
This speech outlined a policy of free trade, open agreements, democracy and self-determination. It also called for a diplomatic end to the war, international disarmament, the withdrawal of the Central Powers from occupied territories, the creation of a Polish state, the redrawing of Europe's borders along ethnic lines and the formation of a League of Nations. -
Sedition Act Enacted
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 with the sale of government bonds. It was signed by President Wilson. -
Armistice of Compiègne Signed
Ended all fighting between the Allies and Germany. -
18th Amendment Ratified
Established the prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United States by declaring the production, transport and sale of (though not the consumption or private possession of) alcohol illegal. The police, courts and prisons were overwhelmed with new cases; organized crime increased in power, and corruption extended among law enforcement officials. -
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The First Red Scare
A period during the early 20th-century history of the UU.S. marked by a widespread fear of Bolshevism and anarchism. At its height in 1919–1920, concerns over the effects of radical political agitation in American society and the alleged spread of communism and anarchism in the American labor movement fueled a general sense of paranoia. -
Treaty of Versailles Signed
Ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. Germans denounced the treaty, building high tensions and leading to the Second World War. -
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The Roaring Twenties
A period of the 1920s in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, characterizing the decade's distinctive cultural edge in New York City, Chicago, Paris, Berlin, London, Los Angeles and many other major cities during a period of sustained economic prosperity. -
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Prohibition in the U.S.
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19th Amendment Ratified
Prohibits any United States citizen from being denied the right to vote on the basis of sex. The amendment was the culmination of the women's suffrage movement in the United States, which fought at both state and national levels to achieve the vote. -
Immigration Act of 1924 Enacted
Limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of people from that country who were already living in the United States in 1890. The law was aimed at further restricting immigration of Southern Europeans, Eastern Europeans, and Jews, in addition to prohibiting the immigration of Arabs, East Asians, and Indians. It was signed by President Coolidge. -
Scopes Trial Decided
A substitute high school teacher, John Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school. The trial publicized the Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy, which set Modernists, who said evolution was not inconsistent with religion, against Fundamentalists, who said the word of God as revealed in the Bible took priority over all human knowledge. Scopes was found guilty and fined $100. -
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States. It began the Great Depression. -
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The Great Depression
A severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The Great Depression had devastating effects in countries rich and poor. Personal income, tax revenue, profits and prices dropped, while international trade plunged by more than 50%. Unemployment in the U.S. rose to 25%, and in some countries rose as high as 33%. -
20th Amendment Ratified
Moved the beginning and ending of the terms of the President and Vice President from March 4 to January 20, and of members of Congress from March 4 to January 3. It also has provisions that determine what is to be done when there is no President-elect. -
21st Amendment Ratified
Repealed the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. It is unique among the 27 Amendments of the U.S. Constitution for being the only one to repeal a previous Amendment, and for being the only one to have been ratified by the method of the state ratifying convention.