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This is what sparked WWI
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“This is a dark day and a dark hour. The sword is being forced into my hand. This war will demand of us enormous sacrifice in life and money, but we shall show our foes what it is to provoke Germany.”
– Kaiser Wilhelm II, July 31, 1914 -
Held by the Germans since 1898, Tsingtao is a lightly garrisoned port city on the Yellow Sea. The Germans surrender on November 6.
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The sound of Christmas carols across No Man’s Land encourages troops from both sides to exchange greetings. The truce is spontaneous and was experienced by hundreds, perhaps thousands, of soldiers.
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A German officer, Werner Horn, is arrested in Maine for a bombing that damages the Saint Croix-Vanceboro Railway Bridge, which connects the U.S. and Canada.
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German troops begin to round up Belgian workers for deportation to Germany. They are assembled in daily batches of 1,400 men and women in equal numbers.
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The Democrats run on the slogan, “He kept us out of war.” The Republican candidate, Charles Evans Hughes, is perceived as a warmonger and loses the election.
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President Wilson tells a joint session of Congress that Germany’s policy of unrestricted U-boat warfare poses an unacceptable threat to “freedom of the seas.”
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Intercepted weeks earlier by the British intelligence service, the United States is alerted about the Zimmermann Telegram. In the decoded message, German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann promises the return of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona to Mexico as reward for siding with Germany if the U.S. enters the war.
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The American steamer Aztec is torpedoed without warning by a German U-boat as it enters British waters. Twenty-eight Americans drown.
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President Wilson delivers his war message in a historic joint session of the House and Senate, stating that the world must be made “safe for democracy” and asks for a declaration of war
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The day after an overwhelming majority in the Senate votes for war, President Wilson signs the declaration. The United States quickly puts the entire country on the road to war. Going from a standing army of 133,000 men with almost no heavy artillery pieces, millions of men were inducted into the armed forces over the next two years and given basic combat training.
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On the first day of the draft, millions of American men register for service under the Selective Service Act signed on May 18. Throughout the country, 9,586,508 men, ages 21 to 31, register at their local draft boards; in many places they are greeted by military bands and cheering onlookers.
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The new law allows the government to censor publications sent through the mail; it makes it a crime to aid enemy nations or interfere with the draft.
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Heywood Broun, a correspondent with the American Expeditionary Forces, stated,
“American blacks in stevedore service were the first American arrivals in France in June 1917. They had been outfitted with old overcoats of the period shortly after the Civil War: blue coats with gold buttons and a lining of crimson.” -
Soldiers of the First Division enter combat on the Western Front under French command. It is less than two weeks later, on Nov. 1, when First American soldiers, members of the 1st Division, are killed in action: James Gresham, Merle D. Hay and Thomas F. Enright
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The Eighteenth Amendment outlaws the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic liquors. The law is sent to the states for ratification.
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Clocks are set forward one hour. The Congressional Act for “saving” daylight accompanies food, fuel, and other conservation programs. Canada joins the U.S. in saving daylight on April 15.
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The CWS coordinates all aspects of chemical warfare including administration, research, gas defense, gas offensive, development, and medical training.
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Representatives of Germany and the Allied and Associated Powers sign the Treaty of Versailles. The Chinese delegates refuse to sign in protest against the Shantung settlement that turns over German mines railroads and telegraph cables in China to the Japanese.
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President Wilson submits the Versailles Treaty to the Senate and the great debate ensues.
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Women’s suffrage amendment passes U.S. Congress in June 1919 and is ratified in August, 1920, giving American women the right to vote.
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Again, the terms were harsh, as the Treaty divided the Middle East with a British-controlled Palestine and Iraq, French governed Syria and Lebanon, and an independent Kingdom of Hejaz (present-day Saudia Arabia).
