World War I, once called "The Great War," started because of the
June 28, 1914 murder of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the
Austro-Hungarian throne, by a Serbian assassin. Austria-Hungary
immediately declared war on Serbia. Treaty obligations brought
Germany, Bulgaria and Turkey to the aid of Austria-Hungary,
while similar alliances united Britain, France and Russia in
support of Serbia. Each side believed it would emerge
victorious, and that the war would be short, but by 1915 the
opposing armies in Europe had fought to a standstill and were
trapped in trenches along static fronts. The battles at the
Marne, at Verdun, and on the Somme were nightmares, and fighting
continued as additional countries were swept into the war.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were killed in the next three
years, without results. The American people watched in horror as
the Europeans slaughtered themselves in useless fighting.
Americans wanted nothing to do with the war. President Woodrow
Wilson agreed and kept the country o