US Events During World War I

The Sinking of the Lusitania (1915)

In response to an increasingly strict blockade enforced by Great Britain, Germany began the controversial practice of unrestricted submarine warfare in an attempt to disrupt the Allied Force's supply chain. By enacting this policy, German U-boats were permitted to attack and sink any Allied ship suspected to be carrying war supplies. While this did prove to be effective, it also resulted in the sinking of a passenger ship the Lusitania, a costly mistake for the Central Powers. In May of 1915 the Lusitania left New York City carrying passengers as well as a load of munitions intended for the British War effort. Several days later she was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland, and sunk almost immediately. A total of 1924 passengers would die, including 114 Americans. This would provoke tremendous public outrage in the United States and push the nation ever closer to entering World War I on the Allied side.

Connection Across Time

Similar to the sinking of the Lusitania, the loss of life brought on by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 brought on tremendous outrage in America, prompting President George Bush to push for action to be taken to eliminate terrorist threats around the world in the War on Terror. This would culminate to the United States entering Afghanistan later that year to combat the native Taliban and Al-Queda Terrorist Networks.

The Spanish Influenza (1918)

During World War I, shortly after the United States became involved in the war, a new, particularly virulent strain of influenza struck the United States and Europe. This new strain proved to be incredibly lethal, particularly to people ages 20 to 40, as compared to common influenza which severely affects the very young and very elderly. The Spanish Flu was so infectious that 28% of the American population would contract it, killing an estimated 675,000 people. This would have a dramatic effect on America, shortening the average lifespan in the United States by ten years during this period. After the pandemic had passed it was determined that the Spanish Flu would kill ten times the amount of Americans killed in World War I.

Connection Across Time

Following the devastation of the Spanish Influenza there has been a constant fear of another pandemic of similar proportion. A recent example of this can be found in the H1N1 scare, when a previously unknown strain of influenza, transmitted by swine, made its way into the United States resulting in a large number of fatalities.