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The Election of President Woodrow Wilson
Wilson defeated incumbent Republican William Howard Taft and third-party nominee Theodore Roosevelt to easily win the 1912 United States presidential election, becoming the first Southerner to do so since 1848. -
The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand: The Outbreak of WWI
Austria-Hungary issues an ultimatum to Serbia. Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. The declaration of war sets off a series of cascading declarations that lead to World War I. -
America Proclaims Neutrality in World War I
President Woodrow Wilson declared U.S. neutrality on August 4, 1914, and many Americans saw little reason to entangle themselves in what they viewed as European quarreling and intrigue. -
The Battle of the Marne
The First Battle of the Marne was a battle of the First World War fought from 5 to 12 September 1914. The German army invaded France with a plan for winning the war in 40 days by occupying Paris and destroying the French and British armies. -
The Sinking of the Lusitania
The sinking of the Lusitania led to widespread criticism of Germany, and so Germany soon re-imposed its own restrictions on its submarines. But by early 1917, Germany was on the verge of losing the war. -
The Sinking of the Lusitania
The sinking of the Lusitania led to widespread criticism of Germany, and so Germany soon re-imposed its own restrictions on its submarines. But by early 1917, Germany was on the verge of losing the war. -
The Battle of the Verdun
World War I 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 ones to about 350,000. -
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 Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. -
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. Incumbent Democratic President Woodrow Wilson narrowly defeated former associate justice of the Supreme Court Charles Evans Hughes, the Republican candidate. Presidential election results map. -
The Interception of the Zimmermann Telegram
On January 17, 1917 British signals intelligence intercepted and decrypted a coded German telegram from German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann that was intended for Germany's ambassador to Mexico. -
The Declaration of New Unrestricted Submarine Warfare by Germany
German Ambassador to the United States Count Johann von Bernstorff presented U.S. Secretary of State Robert Lansing a note declaring Germany's intention to restart unrestricted submarine warfare the following day. -
The United States Enters World War I
On April 4, 1917, the U.S. Senate voted in support of the measure to declare war on Germany. The House concurred two days later. The United States later declared war on German ally Austria-Hungary on December 7, 1917. -
The Selective Service Act
The Selective Service Act of 1917 or Selective Draft Act authorized the United States federal government to raise a national army for service in World War I through conscription. -
The Espionage Act
The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. -
The Landing of the American Expeditionary Force in France
Although the first American troops arrived in Europe in June 1917, the AEF did not fully participate at the front until October, when the First Division, one of the best-trained divisions of the AEF, entered the trenches at Nancy, France. -
The Beginning of the Spanish Flu Epidemic
The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. -
The Fourteen Points by President Wilson
Wilson's Fourteen Points primarily supported the idea of lasting peace. Many of the points focused on: trade equality, ending of secrete treaties, and alliances, freedom of the seas, and the establishment of the League of Nations. -
Russia Pulls Out of World War I
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I. -
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 I of the Espionage Act of 1917, the act provided for further and expanded limitations on speech. -
The Battle of Argonne Forest
During the nearly seven weeks of combat, the Allied forces made significant advances against the exhausted Germans, breaking the stalemate in the trenches and nearly pushing the Germans out of France. -
Armistice Day Ends World War I
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 I. -
The Paris Peace Conference & Treaty of Versailles
The Paris Peace Conference was an international meeting convened in January 1919 at Versailles just outside Paris. The purpose of the meeting was to establish the terms of the peace after World War.