America's Contribution To World War I

When President Wilson sought to enter the war, however, his objectives went beyond the defense of U.S. maritime interests. In his War Message to Congress, he stated that the U.S. objective was “to vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the life of the world.” The U.S. Senate voted On April 4, 1917, in support of the measure to declare war on Germany. Two days later the House concurred. [5]

World War I was a great loss both physically and emotionally. It was a conflict between the Allies and the Central Powers from 1914 to 1918. More than 15 million people were killed in battled, making it one of the most deadly conflicts in history. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria- Hungary was seen as the trigger of the war. The war was described as a world war, a total war, and a modern war. A world war because it involved the whole world. A total war because people used maximum resources for the purpose of the war. A modern war because the people used technological and industrial mobilization.

World War 1 was a war that lasted from 1914 to 1918 and was a war that involved and was molded around alliances. This war in Europe would eventually turn into a global war that would involve 32 countries. United States involvement was crucial to the outcome of World War 1 and made a serious impact in our country. Both positive and negative effects were felt by Americans during and even long after the war. Mixed feelings were felt from many Americans for entering the war that would affect society.

President Woodrow Wilson responded by sending a set of three notes to Germany. The first note was in direct protest over the sinking of the Lusitania, which cost about 110 American lives; and defended the rights of Americans to travel on merchant vessels. The second was an argument protesting German claims that the British blockade was illegal (Germany argued because the blockade was illegal, this gave them the right to fight against it, by any means). The third note said that if such a thing happened again, the US would consider it "deliberately unfriendly." As stated by www.globalresearch.ca, “The sinking of the Lusitania was a major catalyst for America’s later entry into the World War.”

The First World War began in 1914, also known as World War I. A european war in which an alliance including Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and the United states defeated the alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria. It was believed that the fighting would be over quickly but sadly the war lasted 4 years (from August 1st, 1914 to November 11th, 1918. It soon became clear that the fighting would continue for a long time and that it would result in massive casualties. Although the United States attempted to avoid involvement in the war. Finally by 1917 they joined the Allied Powers.

Second, another goal of American participation in the war was to ensure financial security. A great number of businessmen from the U.S loaned money out to Great Britain and France with the interest of helping the Allies succeed. Their total contribution was around three billion dollars, all of this was loans, however. The U.S realized that if the allies didn’t win the war against the axis powers, the likelihood of the loans being repaid to the businessmen was fairly slim. The ‘Preparedness Movement’ arose out of this concern, which stated that the U.S should enter the war and support the Allies in order to better ensure their victory. As long as the allies won, the loans would most likely be repaid. A final goal for American participation in the war was to stop unrestricted submarine warfare, which was damaging American ships and crippling the shipping industry. Protecting American shipping was a pretty major goal in entering the war. On January 9, 1917, Germany announced that it would start using unrestricted submarine warfare. The reason for Germany doing this was desperation. They

U-boats were military submarines used by Germany in the war as a weapon. When the German Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg proclaimed Germany’s purpose to use unrestricted submarine warfare, his one main concern was that it would aggravate an American response – in this he was to be precise. By 1917, the war was not going okay for Germany on the Western Front. Unrestricted submarine warfare was an outcome of anxiety and the belief that the fierceness of such a tactic might just keep America out of the war if the outcomes were remarkable and outrageous enough.

The United States never wanted to join the war, but as time went on, the events that happened made it almost impossible not to join. The trouble for the U.S arose when the belligerent powers tried to stop supplies from reaching the enemy. Great Britain having the stronger navy was the first to declare a naval blockade against Germany, by mining the North Sea and seizing ships, including U.S ships – attempting to run the blockade. President Wilson protested British seizure of American Ships as a violation of a neutral nation’s right to freedom of the seas. But Germany’s supplies from America were getting cut off by the British warfare. And this was making Germany mad, that they were not getting supplies. Germany’s one hope for challenging British warfare at sea lay with a new naval weapon: the submarine. When Germany sank another five unarmed U.S merchant ships in March, Wilson was ready for

Sam Bauer Ms.Rice/Mr.Howe Honors American Studies, 5/10 13 November 2015 United States Entering in World War I World War I, according to the internet article, "WW1 Casualty and Death Tables," published by PBS, was one of the bloodiest and deadliest wars ever fought with about 22 million casualties ("WW1"). The war was sparked through the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria an quickly grew into a war between the Allies against the Central Powers. However, the United States did not join the Allies until 1917 which helped break the ongoing stalemate of destruction. Although the United States did not enter the war until after three years of fighting, the United States contributed to the fight against the Central Powers by

Germany was trying to overtake the world. US could not let this happen. In the telegram, Zimmermann stated that in the event of war with the United States, Mexico should be asked to enter the conflict as a German ally. In return, Germany would promise to restore to Mexico the lost territories of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. On March 1, the U.S. State Department published the note and America was against Germany instantly. US was officially against Germany in late March. Germany sank four more U.S. merchant ships. On April 2, President Wilson appeared before Congress and called for a declaration of war against Germany. On April 4, the Senate voted 82 to six to declare war against Germany. Two days later, the House of Representatives endorsed the declaration by a vote of 373 to 50 and America formally entered World War

In May of 1915, a German submarine sank the passenger liner Lusitania, killing 128 American

The United States got involved in WWI in 1917. Tensions began between the U.S. and Germany with the sinking of civilian and commercial ships using U-boats (submarines). An example of this was the sinking of a passenger liner called the Lusitania. About 1,200 people died in this incident, which included 128 Americans. These sinkings caused President Woodrow Wilson to threaten to break diplomatic relations in the case the Germans did not stop. The already existing tensions grew in 1917 when the Germans said they would sink merchant ships heading toward British or other Western European ports. To add to this, it was later discovered that the Germans had promised to help Mexico takeover the American state New Mexico if they assisted the Germans

With the arming of British merchants ships as an effort to protect its passengers and crew came a potential loophole for the Germans, essentially allowing them unrestricted submarine warfare. Though international law did not directly involve submarines, it was previously agreed that attacks on merchant ships must follow prize rules. Germany agreed that they would avoid sinking neutral ships, however, in addition to the unlikeliness of a submarine surfacing to notify a ship of an attack, as such would endanger its own safety, the arming of a merchant ship made it unclear as to whether it was simply a neutral vessel for commerce, or if it was a warship. Germany could easily claim they mistook an armed merchant ship for a warship, and attacked it as a precaution. On February 10, 1915, the United States announced in a note that Germany would be held absolutely, unconditionally responsible for any losses of American lives or property. Yet, on March 15, 1915, the Falaba was sunk by a German submarine, who claimed it was shipping contraband, with the loss of over 100 lives, one of which was an American named Leon Thrasher. The United States, despite the fact that Thrasher entered the designated war zone, condemned the Germans for the immoral act and lack of warning, knowing that if they did not, such a disaster would recur, and that their stance on the Thrasher case would set the standard for America’s reactions to future catastrophes during the war. On May 7, 1915, the British ship Lusitania was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland. Though simply a passenger ship, the Lusitania was transporting small arms ammunition, and because of this was, according to the Germans, unneutral. The sinking of the Lusitania was of such importance to the

By January 1917 representatives from the German navy convinced the military leadership and Kaiser Wilhelm II that a resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare could help defeat Great Britain within five months. German policymakers argued that they could violate the “Sussex pledge” because the United States was not being neutral (Office of the Historian). In January of 1917, British cryptographers deciphered a telegram from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to Mexico, offering United States’ territory to Mexico in return for joining the German cause (Childress). Accordingly, on January 31, 1917, the German Ambassador, Count Johann von Bernstorff, presented U.S. Secretary of State Robert Lansing with a note declaring Germany’s intention to restart unrestricted submarine warfare the following day. Stunned by the news, President Wilson went before Congress on February 3 to announce that he had severed diplomatic relations with Germany (Office of the Historian). Throughout February and March 1917, German submarines targeted and sunk several American ships, and many American passengers and seamen died (Office of the Historian). On February 26, Wilson asked Congress for authority to arm American merchant ships with U.S. naval personnel and equipment.

Wilson became convinced early in the war that the best way for the United States to remain at peace would be to end the conflict in Europe. Thus, in January of 1915 and again a year later, he sent his personal adviser, Colonel Edward M. House, on peace missions to Europe to see if a peace initiative could be conducted between Germany and England with America as the intermediary. On February 22nd, 1916, the House-Grey memorandum was signed which put on paper Wilson’s plan for mediation. Unfortunately the sinking of the paddle steamer ‘Sussex’ by a U-boat on March 24th, 1916, all but ended this venture. After this incident Wilson warned that the United States would sever diplomatic relations with Germany if she did not abandon her monstrous tactics. This threat led to Germany issuing the ‘Sussex’ pledge on May4th, 1916, declaring that no more merchant ships would be sunk without warning.