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Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist. This made Austria-Hungary declare war on Serbia which was the beginning of World War I. Many countries would become involved and be effected by the war. Eventually the United States would also be affected by the war and join in the war. -
President Woodrow Wilson declared that the U.S. would be neutral and did not want to be part of the war. On the same day Great Britain declared war on Germany. The rest of the world was getting involved in the war but the U.S. was staying out of it. -
A German U-boat, which is like a submarine, torpedoed and sank the Lusitania which was a cruise liner with almost 2,000 people on board. Around 1,200 people drowned including 128 Americans. President Wilson sent four diplomatic protests to Germany but still said that the U.S. would not go to war. This started to get people angry at Germany and made the U.S. more against Germany. -
President Woodrow Wilson was reelected president of the United States by defeating the Republican candidate Charles E. Hughes. Wilson campaigned on the fact that he kept the U.S. out of the war and used the slogan "He kept us out of war." The U.S. was maintaining its neutrality. -
Great Britain intercepted a telegraph from Germany to Mexico about an alliance between the two against the United States. Germany said they would give Mexico U.S. territory if they joined the German cause. The telegraph was made public and citizens' opinions against Germany were inflamed and more people wanted the U.S. to enter the war. -
The U.S. declared war on Germany. It joined with France, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Italy to fight against Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman empire, and Bulgaria. This ended the years of U.S. neutrality. -
The first American troops landed in France to support France against German attacks. About 14,000 infantry troops arrived but they were not prepared for the fighting. They had to set up training camps so the American troops could get ready to fight. This meant the U.S. was officially part of the war and ready to fight. -
The Sedition Act of 1918 made multiple offensives criminal while the country was in war. It was illegal to say that the war or the government were bad and limited free speech. President Wilson's administration said that this act was essential to the war effort since people who spoke against the war could make others against the war and effect U.S. involvement. -
An armistice was signed between Germany and the Allies ending the fighting of World War I. Most of Europe was destroyed from the war and around 40 million people died during World War I. This day became a national holiday in the U.S. to honor those who served in the war. Since the U.S. no longer had to fight in the war it could focus on the problems at home. -
The Versailles peace treaty was signed by the Allied and associated powers and by Germany which officially ended World War I. President Wilson was one of the Big Four leaders who made important decisions about the treaty. The treaty included the creation of the League of Nations which was part of Wilson's Fourteen Points but the U.S. Senate rejected the treaty and did not join the League because it did not want to be involved in other country's problems.