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Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
A teenage Serbian nationalist gunned down Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, as their motorcade maneuvered through the streets of Sarajevo. -
Great War begins
In 1914, when war did erupt, Germany and Austria-Hungary fought on the same side. They became known as the Central Powers. On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a member of a Serbian terrorist group, killed Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. -
Kaiser declares “open season” on ships
proclaimed that the North Sea was a war zone -
Lusitania sank
The sinking of the Cunard ocean liner RMS Lusitania occurred on Friday, 7 May 1915 during the First World War. -
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 and French empires against the German Empire -
Wilson re-elected
The United States presidential election of 1916 was the 33rd quadrennial presidential election -
Zimmerman note intercepted
Zimmermann instructed the ambassador, Count Johann von Bernstorff, to offer significant financial aid to Mexico if it agreed to enter any future U.S-German conflict as a German ally. -
US declares war on Germany
President Woodrow Wilson went before a joint session of Congress to request a declaration of war against Germany. -
Selective Service Act -
Authorized the federal government to raise a national army for the American entry into World War I through the compulsory enlistment of people. -
Convoy system
involved organizing ships into large groups under the protection of armed naval vessels to provide better defense and countermeasures against German U-boat attacks. -
Espionage Age passed
prohibited many forms of speech, including "any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States ... or the flag of the United States. -
Flu Epidemic starts
The 1918 flu pandemic was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic, the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus. -
Period: to
Flu Epidemic
The 1918 flu pandemic was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic, the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus. -
Fourteen Points speech
President Wilson set down 14 points as a blueprint for world peace that was to be used for peace negotiations after World War I. -
Russia pulls out of the war
Communists wanted to focus on internal rather then external problems. -
Sedition Act passed
An Act of the United States Congress that extended the Espionage Act of 1917 to cover a broader range of offenses. -
Germany signs armistice
The agreement that ended the fighting on the Western Front.
