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This event was important because it was the first spark that began World War 1.
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This move starts a chain reaction that leads to the mobilization of the rest of the European Great Powers, and to the outbreak of hostilities.
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Germany invades Belgium, beginning World War I
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The Germans fire shells filled with chlorine gas at Allied lines. This is the first time that large amounts of gas are used in battle, and the result is the near-collapse of the French lines, but the Germans are unable to take advantage of the breach
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At a secret meeting held in England on 26th April 1915, representatives of the Italian government agreed to enter the war in return for financial help and the granting of land currently under the control of Austria-Hungary. The Treaty of London resulted in Britain granting an immediate loan of £50 million and a promise to support Italian territorial demands after the war
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British give Wilson the Zimmermann Telegram, a message from German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann proposing that Mexico side with Germany in case of war between Germany and the United States. Germany promises to return to Mexico the "lost provinces" of Texas and much of the rest of the American Southwest.
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Congress authorizes a declaration of war against Germany. The United States enters World War I on the side of France and Britain
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Congress passes the Selective Service Act authorizing the draft. President Wilson claims he sees no other option and signs the bill into law.
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The Germans sign a peace treaty with the new Bolshevik government of Russia. The terms of the treaty give Germany huge tracts of land that had been the Ukraine and Poland, and peace on the Eastern Front
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The Battle of Cantigny is the first major American offensive of the war. The Americans fight bravely and soon go on to larger attacks against German positions.
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The Americans attack the Germans at Chateau-Thierry. This battle would morph into the larger Battle of Belleau Wood.
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The Battle of Belleau Wood ends with the final expulsion of the Germans from the wood, which marks the farthest German advance on Paris
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The Battle of St. Mihiel begins when 300,000 American troops under the direct command of General Pershing fling themselves into the German lines.
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Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates, ending all German hope for a victory. He and his retinue quietly slip over the border into the Netherlands where he lives out his life.
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An Armistice is signed ending fighting on the Western Front.
