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Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot by a Serb nationalist. He was on a visit to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo with his wife. A group of Serb nationalists had been planning to assassinate him when he came to Sarajevo. A nineteen-year-old boy, Gavrilo Princip, was able to shoot the couple, killing them both almost instantly. This event is what initially started World War I. -
The Germans attack Liege, a city in Belgium, causing the first battle of World War I. This violated Belgium’s guaranteed neutrality with the rest of Europe. 1.5 million German soldiers lined up along Belgium’s border, preparing to invade. Germany charged Liege, which was located right on the Belgium-German border. The Germans were trying to go through Belgium to get to France. This battle is one of the reasons that caused the British to enter the war. -
A German U-boat sank the Lusitania, a British passenger ship, which was taking people from New York to Liverpool, England. A torpedo hit the ship, which caused an explosion on the inside of the boat. The ship sank within 18 minutes of getting hit. 128 Americans were killed. This was one of the events that changed how the United States felt about the war. -
The Battle of the Somme was the most brutal battle in World War I. It was primarily between the British and French and the Germans. The battle was 141 days long, and there were over a million soldiers captured, wounded, or killed. No one clearly won the battle, as it ended in a stalemate where both sides suffered heavy casualties; however, the Allies considered it a strategic victory due to the significant German losses.
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On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went to Congress to ask for a declaration of war on Germany. This was after Germany violated the pledge that kept them from using submarine warfare and sent Mexico the Zimmerman Note. On April 4, 1917, the Senate voted in support of declaring war. Then, on April 6, 1917, the U.S declared war on Germany and officially entered the War. -
Captain E.M. Bill left America on a ship with other soldiers who were all being sent to France. The sea had been fairly smooth for the first three days of the ride. He and some other men in the Battery got infected with Spanish influenza. Even though they were sick, the men on the Battery were still in good spirits. -
Captain E.M. Bill was in charge of censoring the mail sent by men in the Battery. This was a very tedious and time-consuming job. He came across many love letters written by the men. They remove any information from the letters that could potentially be used by enemies if it fell into the wrong hands. This is why he censors even his own letters to his family and friends.