Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is assassinated by Bosnian-Serb Gavrilo Princip
The first declarations of war in World War I
French and British troops clash with German forces in the Battle of the Frontiers.
French and British troops halt the first attempted German invasion of France at the first Battle of the Marne. From this point forward, Germany will fight a two front war.
The First Battle of Ypres resulted in an Allied victory over the German army.
Germany establishes a naval blockade of Britain; U-Boats terrorize civilian and commercial ships in the Atlantic Ocean.
A German U-Boat sinks the passenger liner RMS Lusitania off the coast of Ireland. 1,198 people perish, including 128 American civilians.
Seige of Kut Al Amara begins on December 7, 1915; British forces battle Ottoman Army in Mesopotamia (now Iraq); the British are eventually forced to surrender.
The Battle of Verdun, the longest battle of the war, results in almost one million casualties. It is considered one of the bloodiest battles of the war.
The Battle of Jutland, the only major battle between British and German naval forces, results in a stalemate.
The Battle of the Somme leads to one million casualties. It is one of the costliest battles in history.
Woodrow Wilson defeats Republican Charles Evans Hughes and is reelected President of the United States. Wilson campaigns on the slogan, “He kept us out of the war.”
The Zimmerman Telegram, in which German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmerman invited Mexico to join the Central Powers should the United States become involved in the war, is intercepted by the British and revealed to the world.
Russian Czar Nicholas II abdicates and a provisional government is formed.
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson asks Congress to declare war on Germany. In his speech, Wilson famously declares, “The world must be made safe for democracy.”
The United States passes the Selective Service Act. Thousands of Americans will be drafted into military service.
The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) lands in France. U.S. Army General John J. Pershing, a Missouri native, commands the AEF for the duration of the war. American forces were nicknamed “doughboys.”
After Vladimir Lenin and his fellow Bolsheviks overthrow the Russian Provincial Government in November, Russia announces an armistice with the Central Powers.
First signs of the Spanish flu are observed in Haskell County, Kansas. One of the deadliest influenza epidemics in history, the Spanish flu outbreak lasts until December, 1920.
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson delivers his “Fourteen Points” speech in which he explains his plan for postwar peace.
Russia and Germany sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, ending hostilities between the two countries.
The American Expeditionary Force participates in its first major battle at Chateau-Thierry, France.
During the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the last major Allied offensive of the war, the 35th Division made up of Missouri and Kansas National Guard troops, performs poorly.
German leader Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates and goes into exile.
Germany and the Allies sign an armistice ending the war at eleven o’clock on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918.
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson leaves for Europe hoping to broker a lasting peace agreement at the Paris Peace Conference. He was the first American president to visit Europe while in office.
Treaty of Versailles, ending hostilities between Germany and the Allied Powers, is signed by all parties. The United States Senate, however, refuses to ratify the treaty.
The United States and Germany sign the U.S.-Germany Peace Treaty after the U.S. Senate refuses to ratify the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.
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