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Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie are shot to death by a Bosnian Serb nationalist during an official visit to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. This was the major catalyst that set the chain of events leading to World War I in motion, meaning if this never happened, WWI wouldn't have happened, meaning the U.S. wouldn't have to get involved with anything.
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On July 28, 1914, one month to the day after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were killed by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, effectively beginning the First World War. Austria-Hungary presented Serbia with the ultimatum that anti-Austria/Hungary propaganda would be suppressed, and Austria-Hungary would be able to look into the assassination of the Archduke. Now, the U.S. had something to get involved in.
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Great Britain declared war on Germany at 11:00 p.m. for violating Belgian neutrality. The U.S. declared neutrality on the war, something that wouldn't last. It was also this day where all political parties in the German Reichstag voted unanimously to support Germany in the war, in what would be called the Spirit of 1914.
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On the afternoon of May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner Lusitania is torpedoed without warning by a German submarine off the south coast of Ireland. Within 20 minutes, the vessel sank into the Celtic Sea. Of 1,959 passengers and crew, 1,198 people were drowned, including 128 Americans. This was the straw that broke the camel's back, entering the U.S. into the war, because Germany lied to the U.S. many, MANY times before, and Great Britain was a U.S. ally.
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The Royal Navy torpedoed and sunk the German Cruiser SMS Undine, and that tipped off Germany to attack Great Britain. Great Britain was initially providing supplies to Belgium, and the U.S. cared more about Belgium at the time. So, if they didn't get involved soon, they would be seen as, essentially, traitors.
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In January 1917, British cryptographers deciphered a telegram from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the German Minister to Mexico, Heinrich von Eckhardt, offering United States territory to Mexico in return for joining the German cause. That massively upset the U.S.. That was THEIR territory, and now the U.S. had a reason to counterattack Germany.
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The United States formally declared war against Germany and entered the conflict in Europe. Fighting since the summer of 1914, Britain, France, and Russia welcomed news that American troops and supplies would be directed toward the Allied war effort. Under the command of Major General John J. Pershing, over two million U.S. troops served in France during the war.
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The first American troops land in France, bringing in supplies.
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At 5:10 am, in a railway car at Compiègne, France, the Germans sign the Armistice which is effective at 11 am--the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Fighting continues all along the Western Front until precisely 11 o'clock, with 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.
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At the Palace of Versailles in France, a German delegation signs the Treaty formally ending the war. Its 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.
