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Grade 6World War I

U.S. Entry and Role in World War I

A Grade 6 analysis worksheet covering why the United States entered World War I in 1917, key American military engagements, and how the war ended.

18 questions · Timeline · Multiple choice · Fill in the blank · Short answer · Analysis

This worksheet guides sixth-grade students through one of the most consequential decisions in American foreign policy: the choice to enter World War I in April 1917. Students will sequence key events from the war's outbreak in 1914 through the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, analyze the causes of U.S. entry, and evaluate how American military involvement changed the course of the conflict. The sheet is designed to move from recall to analysis, beginning with a timeline and ending with written responses that ask students to trace cause-and-effect relationships and compare Wilson's peace goals with the treaty that actually emerged. It works well as a review activity after covering the chapter on American involvement in the Great War.

U.S. Entry and Role in World War I — Grade 6

Read each section's directions carefully and complete all four parts using what you have studied about World War I.

Remember

  • World War I began in 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand triggered a network of European military alliances.
  • Growing threats to American ships and a secret diplomatic communication revealed in early 1917 pushed the United States toward declaring war.
  • Fresh American troops helped reverse German gains in 1918; an armistice on November 11, 1918 halted all fighting on the Western Front.

Part A — Place each event on the World War I timeline

Write the number of each event next to the correct year on the printed timeline.

World War I and American Involvement, 1914-1919

1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
  1. 1.

    Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo

  2. 2.

    German U-boat sinks the British ocean liner Lusitania

  3. 3.

    United States Congress declares war on Germany

  4. 4.

    American forces defeat German troops at Belleau Wood, France

  5. 5.

    Treaty of Versailles formally ends World War I

Part B — Choose the best answer for each question

Circle the letter of the best answer for each question.

  1. 6.

    Which German policy, resumed in January 1917, most directly caused the United States to break diplomatic ties with Germany?

    1. A.Unrestricted submarine warfare against all ships in the war zone
    2. B.The military alliance Germany had signed with Austria-Hungary in 1914
    3. C.Germany's occupation of neutral Belgium in August 1914
    4. D.Germany's refusal to allow American diplomats to travel to Berlin
  2. 7.

    What did the intercepted Zimmermann Telegram of January 1917 propose that Germany offer Mexico?

    1. A.Return of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona to Mexican control
    2. B.German naval protection of Mexican ports in the Gulf of Mexico
    3. C.Financial support to help Mexico resolve its ongoing civil conflict
    4. D.A permanent military alliance to protect Mexico from British intervention
  3. 8.

    Who commanded the American Expeditionary Forces sent to Europe after the United States declared war in April 1917?

    1. A.General John J. Pershing
    2. B.General Douglas MacArthur
    3. C.Admiral George Dewey
    4. D.General Leonard Wood
  4. 9.

    The Battle of Belleau Wood in June 1918 was strategically significant because it showed that American forces could do what?

    1. A.Advance against and defeat experienced German units in sustained combat
    2. B.Supply the Allied armies with enough food and ammunition to outlast Germany
    3. C.Break through German lines and advance toward Berlin by the end of 1918
    4. D.Force Germany to redeploy troops from the Eastern Front to defend Paris
  5. 10.

    Why did the United States Senate ultimately refuse to ratify the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 and 1920?

    1. A.Fear that membership in the League of Nations would limit U.S. sovereignty
    2. B.Opposition to the war guilt clause, which senators believed was too lenient toward Germany
    3. C.Disagreement over how much territory France and Britain received from German colonies
    4. D.Concern that Wilson had negotiated the treaty without consulting Congress at any stage

Part C — Write the missing term to complete each statement

Write the word or phrase that correctly completes each statement on the line provided.

  1. 11.

    The policy of ____ submarine warfare, announced by Germany in 1917, threatened all ships in war zones.

  2. 12.

    The ____ Telegram proposed a German-Mexican alliance against the United States in January 1917.

  3. 13.

    General John J. Pershing commanded the ____, the U.S. military force sent to fight in Europe.

  4. 14.

    The United States Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, keeping America out of the ____.

  5. 15.

    The armistice that ended fighting in World War I took effect on November 11, ____.

Part D — Answer each question in two to three complete sentences

Write two to three sentences explaining your reasoning, using evidence from your study of World War I.

  1. 16.

    Why did the United States maintain neutrality for nearly three years after 1914, and what events in early 1917 led Congress to declare war?

  2. 17.

    Compare Wilson's Fourteen Points with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. What was the most important difference, and why did it matter?

  3. 18.

    How did U.S. entry in 1917 shift the military balance on the Western Front, and what role did American forces play in the 1918 Allied offensives?

Answer key

Part A — Place each event on the World War I timeline

  1. 1.1914 - the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand set off a chain of alliance obligations that drew Europe into war.
  2. 2.1915 - the sinking of the Lusitania killed 1,198 people including 128 Americans, turning U.S. public opinion against Germany.
  3. 3.1917 - the United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, joining the Allied powers on the Western Front.
  4. 4.1918 - American forces held and advanced at Belleau Wood in June 1918, proving their effectiveness against experienced German units.
  5. 5.1919 - the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, formally ending World War I and setting the terms of peace.

Part B — Choose the best answer for each question

  1. 6.Unrestricted submarine warfare against all ships in the war zone
  2. 7.Return of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona to Mexican control
  3. 8.General John J. Pershing
  4. 9.Advance against and defeat experienced German units in sustained combat
  5. 10.Fear that membership in the League of Nations would limit U.S. sovereignty

Part C — Write the missing term to complete each statement

  1. 11.unrestricted
  2. 12.Zimmermann
  3. 13.American Expeditionary Forces
  4. 14.League of Nations
  5. 15.1918

Part D — Answer each question in two to three complete sentences

  1. 16.Example: The United States stayed neutral because many Americans had ties to nations on both sides of the conflict, and President Wilson believed the country should avoid entangling itself in a distant European war. In 1917, Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare, directly threatening American ships and lives in the Atlantic. Then the Zimmermann Telegram revealed that Germany had tried to persuade Mexico to attack the United States, and those two developments together convinced Congress that neutrality could no longer protect American interests.
  2. 17.Example: Wilson's Fourteen Points called for a fair peace built on self-determination, open diplomacy, and a League of Nations to resolve future disputes without war. The Treaty of Versailles instead placed sole blame for the war on Germany, required it to pay massive reparations, and stripped it of territory. The most important difference was that the punishing terms Wilson accepted contradicted his vision of a peace without victory, leaving Germany resentful and undermining the stability the settlement was supposed to create.
  3. 18.Example: By 1917, France and Britain were exhausted after three years of trench warfare, and Germany launched major spring offensives hoping to win before American troops could arrive in strength. Fresh American soldiers and industrial supplies gave the Allies the reinforcements they needed to absorb those attacks without collapsing. In the fall of 1918, the American Expeditionary Forces played a leading role in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, pushing German lines back steadily until Germany agreed to the armistice on November 11, 1918.

What this sheet teaches

  • Identify the diplomatic events that brought the United States into World War I in April 1917.
  • Trace the military contributions of American forces on the Western Front during 1917 and 1918.
  • Explain why the U.S. Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles and what that decision meant.

Notes for the adult

  • Students often cite the 1915 sinking of the Lusitania as the cause of U.S. entry; stress that America waited nearly two more years.
  • Show a side-by-side comparison of Wilson's Fourteen Points and the Versailles terms to help students see how the peace plan was altered.
  • Students are ready to move on when they can explain the Senate's rejection of Versailles using the concept of national sovereignty.

What is on the page

There are four parts to U.S. Entry and Role in World War I, 18 exercises between them. Timeline, multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank and short-answer work, in that order, so a student who has understood the material has to show it in more than one form before the page is finished.

Part A Place each event on the World War I timeline prints a timeline labeled "World War I and American Involvement, 1914-1919", six ticks running from 1914 to 1919 — 5 years across the page — and five events to place on it. Part B Choose the best answer for each question asks five multiple-choice questions with four printed options each. Part C Write the missing term to complete each statement gives five sentences with a blank each and no word bank, so the wording has to come from the student. Part D Answer each question in two to three complete sentences is three short-answer questions with nine ruled lines between them, which is the part of the sheet that takes the longest.

Nine ruled lines are printed for written answers on U.S. Entry and Role in World War I, which decides how long it takes more than the question count does. The answer key prints on its own page at the end, so the sheet can be handed out without it.

What it asks of the student

U.S. Entry and Role in World War I puts about 589 words of reading in front of the student — the fact box, the directions, every question, and every printed option. That is the number worth checking against a class before it goes out, because a sheet that is pitched right on the history and wrong on the reading fails for the same child either way. The longest single prompt on it runs to 26 words.

Writing runs the other way on U.S. Entry and Role in World War I: nine ruled lines for three of the 18 exercises, and the full answer key comes to 402 words. Everything else is answered in a blank, in a box, or on the map itself, which is why the sheet takes a lesson rather than a homework slot.

Where this one sits

U.S. Entry and Role in World War I is one of ten US History: Wars & Battles sheets on this site and one of 16 written for grade 6. two of them share its topic, world war i, which is worth knowing before printing two that overlap.

The closest things to it are Civil War Battles: Strategy and Consequence (grade 6) and Civil War Battles: Fort Sumter to Appomattox (grade 7). If U.S. Entry and Role in World War I lands well, those are the ones to reach for next; if it lands badly, the analysis sheets a grade either side are usually the adjustment rather than a different topic altogether.

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