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Timeline for World War I
1914
(06/28)  The assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sofia, by a Serbian nationalist, provides the spark that touches off World War I.
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1915
(05/08)  William Jennings Bryan resigns as Secretary of State because he fears that President Woodrow Wilson’s policies are leading the United States into World War I. (Digital History ID 1337)
1917
(04/02)  Declaring that “the world must be made safe for democracy,” President Woodrow Wilson asks a joint session of Congress to declare war against Germany. (Digital History ID 852)
(04/06)  United States formally declares war against Germany and enters the conflict in Europe.
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1918
(01/08)  President Woodrow Wilson presents his 14 Points, outlining U.S. aims in World War I. He calls for an end to secret treaties, freedom of the seas, free trade, arms reductions, universal self determination, and the creation of a League of Nations after the war.
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(01/26)  To ensure adequate food for American troops in World War I, the federal government asks the public to observe wheatless Mondays and Wednesdays and meatless Tuesdays. (Digital History ID 1263)
(06/02)  President Woodrow Wilson issues an executive order exempting conscientious objectors from military service. (Digital History ID 1515)
(09/12)  Eugene V. Debs is convicted of violating the Espionage Act and sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment. (Digital History ID 1025)
(10/08)  Alvin C. (“Sargeant”) York almost single-handedly kills 25 German soldiers and captures 132 in the Argonne Forest in France. (Digital History ID 941)
(11/11)  World War I ends as Germany and the Allies sign an armistice that halts the fighting at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of November. The armistice between the Allies and Germany is signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest. (Digital History ID 157)

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