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Archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir to the Austrian throne), visits Sarajevo in Bosnia. 1st attempt to kill them fails because of a missed bomb throw. They continue their visit. The archduke and his wife are shot and killed later by a lone assassin. People believed the assassin to be a Serbian nationalist which made Austrians grow tension with Serbia. -
Great Britain declares war on Germany, holding the British Empire to those terms. The British Empire included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa. The U.S. declares its neutrality. The Siege of Liege occurs. -
A German U-Boat torpedoes a British passenger liner, the Lusitania, off the Irish coast and sinks it in 18 minutes. 1,201 people drowned including 128 Americans. President Woodrow Wilson sends Germany four diplomatic protests in anger. -
President Woodrow Wilson is re-elected into office. His campaign slogan was, "He kept us out of war." -
The British intercept a German message over telegram sent by Alfred Zimmerman to Mexico. It tells Mexico its plans to ally and fight against the U.S. It stated that Germany would provide military support and get Mexico its old territories back from the U.S. The British told us about it, causing a panic in the U.S. Many Americans, even former president Teddy Roosevelt believe we should join the war. -
America declares war on Germany. A few days before this, on April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson stood before Congress and claimed, "...the world must be made safe for democracy..." -
The first American troops land in France, ready to fight for their country. -
Representatives from Great Britain and France secretly reach an accord called the Sykes-Picot Agreement. -
In a railway car at Compiegne, France, the Germans sign the Armistice. It is effective at 11AM, hence the end of the war being the eleventh hour of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month. Fighting doesn't stop until exactly 11am, for the soldiers wish to be the one who fired the last shot in the war. -
A German delegation signs the treaty at the Palace of Versailles in France, formally ending the war. Germans dislike their reputation now, since everyone blames the war on Germany.
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