The Top Events of WWI Digital Timeline Project

  • The Election of President Woodrow Wilson

    The Election of President Woodrow Wilson
    President Wilson's goal was to ensure world peace in the future.
  • Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand: The Outbreak of WW1

    Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand: The Outbreak of WW1
    The heir of Austro-Hungarian throne Archduke Franz Fernidad was secretly assassinated by officials of Serbia. It was an immediate cause of the war in Europe.
  • America Proclaims Neutrality in World War 1

    America Proclaims Neutrality in World War 1
    The United States remained neutral and didn't become involved in WWI. President Woodrow Wilson said 'Ill keep us out of war."
  • The Battle of the Marne

    The Battle of the Marne
    The German army invaded France with a plan for winning the war in 40 days by occupying Paris and destroying the French and British armies.
  • The Sinking of the Lusitania

    The Sinking of the Lusitania
    The RMS Lusitania was a British-registered ocean liner that was torpedoed by an Imperial German Navy U-boat during the First World War.
  • The Battle of the Verdun

    The Battle of the Verdun
    The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north of Verdun-sur-Meuse.
  • The Sussex Incident

    The Sussex Incident
    torpedoing of a French cross-Channel passenger steamer, the Sussex, by a German submarine, leaving 80 casualties, including two Americans wounded. The attack prompted a U.S. threat to sever diplomatic relations.
  • The Battle of the Somme

    The Battle of the Somme
    A battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire.
  • The Re-Election of President Woodrow Wilson

    The Re-Election of President Woodrow Wilson
    Wilson prevailed in the 1916 election, becoming the first Democrat to win a second consecutive term since Andrew Jackson.
  • The Interception of the Zimmermann Telegram

    The Interception of the Zimmermann Telegram
    the tipping point persuading the U.S. to join the war.
  • The Declaration of New Unrestricted Submarine Warfare by Germany

    The Declaration of New Unrestricted Submarine Warfare by Germany
    Germany declared a war zone around Britain, within which merchant ships were sunk without warning. This 'unrestricted submarine warfare' angered neutral countries, especially the United States.
  • The United States Enters World War I

    The United States Enters World War I
    the toll in sunken U.S. merchant ships and civilian casualties rising, Wilson asked Congress for “a war to end all wars” that would “make the world safe for democracy.”
  • The Selective Service Act

    The Selective Service Act
    Authorized the United States federal government to raise a national army for service in World War I through conscription.
  • The Espionage Act

    The Espionage Act
    a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years.
  • The Landing of the American Expeditionary Force in France

    The Landing of the American Expeditionary Force in France
    When the First Division, one of the best-trained divisions of the AEF, entered the trenches at Nancy, France.
  • Armistice Day Ends World War I

    Armistice Day Ends World War I
    after more than four years of horrific fighting and the loss of millions of lives, the guns on the Western Front fell silent. Although fighting continued elsewhere, the armistice between Germany and the Allies was the first step to ending World War I.
  • The Beginning of the Spanish Flu Epidemic

    The Beginning of the Spanish Flu Epidemic
    Known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus.
  • The Fourteen Points by President Wilson

    The Fourteen Points by President Wilson
    The Fourteen Points was a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I.
  • Russia Pulls Out of World War I

    Russia Pulls Out of World War I
    A separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I.
  • The Passing of the Sedition Act

    The Passing of the Sedition Act
    Curtailed the free speech rights of U.S. citizens during time of war.
  • The Battle of Argonne Forest

    The Battle of Argonne Forest
    A major part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along the entire Western Front.
  • The Paris Peace Conference & Treaty of Versailles

    The Paris Peace Conference & Treaty of Versailles
    the primary treaty produced by the Paris Peace Conference at the end of World War I.