(1914-1918) a global war originating in Europe. The United States formally entered the war in 1917, after a German submarine sunk the New York-bound British passenger ship the Lusitania, killing 128 Americans. The attack turned American public opinion against immigrants, fueling a wave of xenophobia. As a result, immigration decreased and war-time industries were desperate to fill jobs normally occupied by immigrants. African Americans seized on this opportunity to escape the South, and thus began the Great Migration.
