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Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated by the black hand, who were a serbian group of militants. A small group of men planned a few different ways to kill him, which all failed. The leader of the assassination stumbled upon the archduke accidentally after 3 attempts had failed and proceeded to shoot the archduke and his wife. -
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Restricted submarine warfare
This period was when Germany started to surface their submarines before firing on opposing ships. This was instated when Germany feared America would join the war after they sunk a British passenger ship with 120 Americans on board. -
Sinking of lusitania
The HMS Lusitania was a British passenger ship which was sunk by a German U-boat on its way back to Britain. Germany had taken out an advertisement in the newspaper warning Americans not to board the ship as it was sailing into dangerous waters. 120 Americans ignored this advice, got on the ship, and died. It is also worth noting the HMS Lusitania was also transporting amunations and equipment. -
National Defence Act
This act expanded the Army and National Guard, the creation of an Officers' and an Enlisted Reserve Corps, Reserve Officers' Training Corps. The President was given authority to federalize the National Guard.This act had also added an air arm of the US army. -
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Unrestricted submarine warfare
This period was when Germany used submarines to ambush ships and destroy them without the opposing ship noticing their presence. -
U.S.S Housatonic Sunk
The USS Housatonic was a private American ship that was sunken by the German U-boat. No crew was killed, as the U-boat captain had let everybody safely evacuate the ship before striking it with a torpedo. The captain had said “You are carrying foodstuffs to an enemy of my country, and though I am sorry, it is my duty to sink you" -
U.S breaks diplomatic relations with germany
Woodrow Wilson spoke to congress for hours convincing them that breaking relations was good and then proceeded to go to war with germany. -
U.S declares war
Woodrow Wilson apeared before congress and asked them to declare war on Germany -
Selective Service Act
The selective service act allowed the United States to raise a national army for service in WW1. This caused unprepared men to go to war in order to meet the demands of the government. -
First Liberty loan
Liberty bonds were uised to raise money for the war, these bonds were essentially loans given to the government by people. The loans came with a small amount of interest and were successfull in raising money. -
War Industries Board
The board was created in order to maintain communication between the branches of the military. The board coordinated spending and made sure neither branch spent more money than they needed to. -
Lever food and Fuel Control Act
The Lever Food and Fuel Control act allowed the president to manage the price, quantity and various other aspects of alcohol, food, beverages etc. so they could be saved for the soldiers oversea. -
War Revenue Act
The revenue act increased income taxes to the highest they had ever been. They raised the lowest tax from 1 to 2% and anyone making over 1.5 million could be taxed at 15%. -
Second Liberty Loan
America needed more money to fight the war, and decided to sell more bonds. They sold 3 billion dollars worth of bonds during the loan and had decreased the interest rate in order to save money in the future.The government used propaganda to sell these bonds, with posters like this: -
Railroads are Nationalized
The United States Railroad Administration(USRA) was the company that nationalized the railroads. They broke up the company into north south and west. Together the branches added thousands of new cars and managed to streamline passanger and supply trains in order to support the demand from the war. -
Steel prices maximized
Steel was used a lot in WW1, for many things, tanks, artillery pieces, artillery shells and many more necessities to the war. Prices went up when there was a shortage of materials to make steel -
Third Liberty Loan
The Third Liberty Loan Act was a liberty bond sold during World War I that helped cover the war expenses of the United States. The bonds were loans from citizens to the US Government which would be repaid with interest in the future. -
Germans begin offensive on western front
The Kaiserschlacht, was a series of German attacks along the western front during the first World War. -
First independent action by american Expeditionary Force (the Battle of Cantigny
The battle of Cantigny was the first major action done independently by the US in WW1. The US was lead by Robert Lee Bullard, and It resulted in the capture of the village of Cantigny. 100 Germans captured during the battle -
Fourth Liberty Loan
These bonds were issued by the U.S. Treasury. The Fourth Liberty Bond Act was passed by Congress in order to raise more money for the war effort. -
Battle of Belleau Wood
This battle occurred near the Marne River in France. The US suffered thousands of casualties, and almost two thousand killed. It is a historic win for the Marines because the during the battle, the Marines proved their strength against another army -
Second battle of the Marne
This battle was one of the final battles of WW1. Germany lost horribly when they were counter-attacked by the allies who were backed up by hundreds of tanks. -
Battle of Meuse-Argonne
Over 700 allied tanks along with troops and planes traveled along the Meuse river and eventually fought the Germans. The allies managed to capture or kill more than 33,000 in only a day, making it one of the biggest victories for the allies -
Armistice Day
The war ended when the German government approached the U.S. and requested an armistice. America agreed but had Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated the throne and formed a democratic government. It is a celebrated holiday around the world, and the US celebrates it as Veterans Day