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Trench Warfare
Both sides constructed elaborate trench and dugout systems opposing each other along a front, protected by barbed wire, mines, etc. At this point, Germany had betrayed their pledge to the U.S. to suspend submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean, and they tried to entice Mexico to join an alliance against the United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trench_warfare
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/wwi -
Sinking of the Lusitania
A German U-boat sank the Lusitania while en route to England, killing more than 1,100 people. This caused American opinions of Germany to change, thus causing them to enter the war. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/lusitania -
Zimmerman Note
British typographers deciphered a telegram from Arthur Zimmerman, which offered the United States land from Mexico in return for helping Germany. It had such an effect on American opinion that "No other cryptanalysis has had such enormous consequences." https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/zimmermann -
Espionage and Sedition Acts
The Espionage Act of 1917 is a law passed on June 15, 1917. The Sedition Act of 1918, enacted May 16, 1918, was an Act of the United States Congress that extended the Espionage Act of 1917. It targeted those who spoke against the US during the war. However, it basically took away peoples' ability to speak. Schenck v. United States ruled on March 3, 1919 that freedom of speech could be restricted if spoken or written media presents a “clear and present danger.” -
Spanish Flu
The 1918 flu pandemic (January 1918 – December 1920) was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic, the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus. It infected 500 million people around the world, including remote Pacific islands and the Arctic, and resulted in the deaths of 50 to 100 million (three to five percent of the world's population), making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history. -
Fourteen Points
The Fourteen Points was a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I. The principles were outlined in a January 8, 1918 speech on war aims and peace terms to the United States Congress by President Woodrow Wilson. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919 in Versailles, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. It brought an end to the war and declared reparations that included Germany paying all debts from the war as well as the other nations involved making payments of some type. -
Women/19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted American women the right to vote. When the U.S. was founded, female citizens did not share the same rights as men, including the right to vote. During the war, large numbers of women were recruited into jobs vacated by men who had gone to fight in the war. New jobs created included munitions factories.
http://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/19th-amendment
http://www.striking-women.org/module/women-and-work/world-war-i-1914-1918
