U.S.A. 157th Division Infantryman - WWI - Soldiers of the World

The assassination of Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914 proved to be the spark that ignited World War I which involved all the great powers of Europe and most countries of the world. This war cost the lives of more than 8 million soldiers.

On July 28th, 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia-Russia. Russia immediately ordered mobilization against Austria, whereupon, on August 1, 1914, Germany declared war on Russia. Russia’s ally, France, then began to mobilize, prompting Germany to declare war on France August 3rd. On August 4th, Britain declared war on Germany when Germany began marching towards Franch through Belgium.

On May 7, 1915, the British ship Lusitania was torpedoed without warning by a German U-Boat. Among the 1,198 lives lost were 124 Americans. Over the next two years, U-Boats sunk American ships which aroused Americans to a warlike stance. By April 6, 1917, U.S. Congress approved a war resolution against Germany. In June of 1917 the first American troops were sent to France. Many months would pass before Americans could bolster depleted Allied manpower. Over 2 million Americans would serve in Europe before the end of the war. The American Army added a final increment of numbers and fresh initiative, permitting the much larger and more experienced Allied Armies to achieve equally spectacular success in the final weeks of the war. An armistice became effective November 11, 1918.