On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson addressed Congress and asked for a declaration of war. His speech ended:

But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts, for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world at last free.

To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, everything that we are and everything that we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured. God helping her, she can do no other.

1915

1916

1917

1918

1919

1920

Date	Europe	The Seas	Elsewhere
1914
June			1st Colonel House mission
June 28	Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
July 28	Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
August 1	Germany declares war on Russia
August 3	Germany declares war on France
August 4	Germany invades Belgium
August 4	Britain declares war on Germany
August 4			U.S. declares neutrality
August 6	Austria Hungary declares war on Russia
August 5-16	Siege of Liege
August 12	Austria Hungary invades Serbia
August 14	France invades Lorraine
August 22-23	Battle of Mons		Japan declares war on Germany
August 26-30	Battle of Tannenburg
August 28		Battle of Heligoland
August 30	Paris Zeppelin raid
September 5-9	1st Battle of the Marne
October 15 - November 24	1st Battle of Ypres
October 29			Turkey joins Central Powers
November 21			Britain and India invade Middle East
December 24-26	Christmas Truce
1915	top of page
January 19	London Zeppelin raid
January 28		William P. Frye sunk
February 4		Germany declares war zone around British Isles
February 19			Dardanelles naval attack
April			Turkey moves against Armenians
April 22	2nd Battle of Ypres begins
April 25			Gallipoli landing
May 1		Gulflight sunk
May 7		Lusitania sunk
May 23	Italy declares war on Austria Hungary
May 31	Zeppelin raid on London
June 30			Colonel House peace mission
July 2			Bomb in U.S. Senate
August 6			Suvla Bay (Gallipoli)
August 19		Arabic sunk
October 15	Bulgaria joins Central Powers
November 7		Ancona sunk
December 7			Wilson calls up reserves
1916	top of page
January 7		German pledge to abide by submarine rules
February 21	Verdun begins
March 15			Army Reorganization Act in U.S.
March 24		Sussex sunk
April 24			Easter Uprising in Ireland
May 4		Sussex pledge
May 31		Battle of Jutland
July 1	Battle of the Somme begins
November 7			Wilson defeats Hughes
December 12	Germany proposes peace talks
December 20			Wilson seeks peace terms from both sides
1917	top of page
January 22			Wilson calls for an association of nations and peace without victory
February 1		Germany resumes unrestricted sub warfare
February 3			U.S. breaks diplomatic relations with Germany
February 24			Zimmerman Telegram revealed
March 9			Wilson arms merchant ships
March 11			Baghdad falls to British
March 15			Czar Nicholas II abdicates
April 2			Wilson asks for war declaration
April 6			U.S. declares war on Germany
April 12	Battle of Vimy Ridge
May 18			U.S. Selective Service Act
May 19			Pershing heads AEF
June 15			Espionage Act passed
June 25	U.S. soldiers arrive in France
July 6			T.E. Lawrence heads Arab revolt
July 31	3rd Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele)
October 24	Caporetto offensive
November 2			Lansing-Ishii Agreement
November 6			Bolshevik Revolution in Russia
November 8			Balfour Declaration
November 20	Tanks at Cambrai
December 7			U.S. declares war on Austria Hungary
December 9			British take Jerusalem
1918	top of page
January 8			Wilson announces Fourteen Points
March 3			Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
March	Germans begin Western Front offensive
April 14	Foch heads Allies
June 25	Belleau Wood
July 17	2nd Battle of the Marne begins
August			U.S. Intervention in Russia
August 8	Amiens offensive
September 12 - 16	Saint Mihiel
September 26 - November 11	Meuse Argonne offensive
October 5	Hindenburg Line falls
October 25			Wilson's October Appeal
October 28		Kiel mutinies
November 11	Germany signs armistice
1919	top of page
January 18			Paris Peace Conference begins
June 28			Treaty of Versailles signed
September 10			Treaty of Saint-Germain signed
September 25			Wilson collapse in Colorado
November 19			1st Senate defeat of Treaty of Versailles
November 27			Treaty of Neuilly signed
1920	top of page
March 19			2nd Senate defeat of Treaty of Versailles
April 1			Last U.S. troops leave Siberia
June 4			Treaty of Trianon signed
August 10			Treaty of Sèvres signed
November 2			Republican election triumph

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