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Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie were assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. This caused many countries to Declare wars thus starting WW1. -
This day confirmed the U.S's neutrality. President Wilson issued a proclamation of neutrality. In this he stated that the United States would remain neutral in the war between Germany and France, Austria-Hungary and Serbia, and Germany and Russia. -
On this day the German U-boat (U-20) torpedoed and sank the British luxury liner RMS Lusitania This resulted in killing 1,195 people. 28 of these deaths were Americans. -
U.S voters re-elected President Wilson. President Wilson campaigned on the slogan "He kept us out of war". -
The United States have decided to declare war on Germany. This had a shift of power in favor of the Allies. -
The first American Troops land in France. This signified the start of large-scale troop deployment to Europe. -
The British intercept a telegram sent by Alfred Zimmermann, the message outlines plans for an alliance between Germany and Mexico against the United States. The plan was Germany would provide tactical support while Mexico would benefit by expanding into the American Southwest, retrieving territories that had once been Mexico's.
The telegram is passed along by the British to the Americans and is then made public, which caused an outcry from interventionists in the U.S. -
The United States Congress passed the Sedition Act. The purpose of this act was to make it illegal to criticize the US government, military, or flag, or to support enemy countries. The law was intended to prevent comments that could harm morale or undermine the war efforts. -
In a railway car at Compiègne at 5:10 am, France and the Germans sign the Armistice which is effective at 11 am--the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. The fighting would continue all along the Western Front until precisely 11 o'clock. There were 2,000 casualties experienced that day by all sides. Artillery barrages also erupt as 11 am draws near as soldiers yearn to claim they fired the very last shot in the war. -
A German delegation signs a Treaty at the Palace of Versailles in France, which formally ends the war. 230 pages contain terms that have little in common with Wilson's Fourteen Points as the Germans had hoped. Germans back home react with mass demonstrations against the perceived harshness, especially clauses that assess sole blame for the war on Germany.