All Chapters of The Trying Times : Chapter 1 - Chapter 2

As the Wilson Administration entered into its Second year, however, other events began to overshadow these efforts. The Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo in June of 1914 lead to the outbreak of the largest and bloodiest war the world had ever seen. This conflict would eventually come to be known as the Weltkrieg. When the war broke out, Wilson, who was still focused on his agenda of domestic reform, was determined to keep the United States out of these devastating conflict. In this, he had the overwhelming support of the American people, who still clung George Washington's warning of getting the United States involved in "Entangling Alliances", the very thing that had start the war in the first place, as if it was Holy Writ. As the death counts continued to soar, the American people became less and less inclined to join the war. Things nearly came to a head though on May 7 1915 with the Sinking of the RMS Lusitania, which carried 139 American passengers. Of these Ameri