A few years before WWI nobody believed a war would break out. It was so irrational and destructive. Woodrow Wilson's program  for the elections of 1912 was called the New Freedom and opposed the Roosevelt's Square Deal. He first committed the country to neutrality. However he changed from neutrality to war making within a few months. WWI became "the war to end all wars" (Wilson).

I. Outbreak in Europe

On June 28, 1914, Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and the heir to the throne was assassinated in Sarajevo. Two alliance systems that divided Europe emerged:

* The Triple Entente (Great Britain, France and Russia)

* The Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire)

1914

* July, 28: Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia

* August, 1: Germany declared war on Russia

* August, 3: Germany declared war on France

* August, 4: Germany invaded Belgium

* August, 4: Great Britain declared war on Germany

Everyone thought that it would be a short war and that it would be over by Christmas. In Sept., 1914, the first battle of the Marne took place. Over the next three years the battle line remained more or less stationary. Every attempt to break through this line led to slaughter on both sides: Verdun in February 1916 and the Somme in July 1916.