Who Joined World War 1 Essay

The United States entered World War I because of German submarine warfare against merchant ships trading with Britain and France, which led to the sinking of the RMS Lusitania in which 128 American lives were lost. [3] The US had also intercepted the Zimmerman Telegram which had been sent between Germany and Mexico, urging Mexico to declare war against the United States. [4]

Politics executed a part in America entering the war also. Propaganda from both sides determined America’s decision. President Wilson did not want to go to war, but when Teddy Roosevelt wanted to run for anther term, Wilson felt intimidated and declared that there would be a preparation program and a chance that America would go to war. By taking part in the war, America was validating itself as a world power.

Whenever war broke out overseas in 1914, many Americans had ties to countries involved. Many of citizens living here were immigrants or children of immigrants who came from Germany, France, or other countries involved in the war. Out of the 92 million citizens living in the states, one-third of them were hyphenated Americans. There was strong support of the Central Powers in the states due to the 8 million German-Americans and the 4 million Irish-Americans who disliked English rule. Yet, many Americans were pro Allies due to the language bond with Great Britain. America wanted to keep to their selves as war broke out in Europe and not get involved. President Woodrow Wilson would announce in 1914 that the Unites States would stay neutral during the war. Wilson would run by the slogan “Keep Us Out of the War” whenever he was running for re-election for presidency. Americas would trade with both parties and bankers could lend money to both sides involved in the war. Trading with Germany would eventually be blockaded and trade with Allies would increase.

WWI started on July 28, 1914 and ended on November 11, 1918. At the time a man named Woodrow Wilson was president at the time. President Wilson did not want to go to war. In DBQ 16: Why Did We Enter World War I?-Historical Context by J. Weston Walch, it says “People were determined to keep out of the conflict and applaud president Wilson when he asked that his fellow citizens remain “neutral in fact as well as in name.””Then Germany started unrestricted warfare and a telegram was intercepted saying that a few of our states were going to be given to mexico if they helped germany attack the U.S. These are the main reasons why the U.S should join WWI.

The United States government announced a policy of neutrality at the outbreak of the war in Europe because it did not want to risk what was at stake by entering the war. It was also believed that the fighting would be contained in Europe and would have no threat of violence for Americans. Since the imports and exports were so important for Americans they did not want to enter the war and complicate the trade. It was not until the threat to sink all ships did the United States government feel as though they needed to enter the war. It was very important for the United States to get involved to stop Germany from taking over Europe and creating a major threat for Americans.

The United States of America, one of the most powerful and strongest countries in the world, originally had a policy of isolationism. But it's unexpected entry into World War I, still remains controversial. Many reasons are thought to be factored into the United States’ decision for entry into the war, such as the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, the Zimmerman Telegram, and the prohibition of unrestricted submarine warfare. There are many reasons why the U.S entered the war however these are the most significant ones, as they had the most impact on the United States decision of entry into World War I.

“Every man who really loves America will act and speak in the true spirit of neutrality”.1 These are the words of President Woodrow Wilson during his “Declaration of Neutrality” on August 19, 1914. Something crazy would happen, the United States would enter The Great War a three years later. A lot of things influenced the United States to finally get to their eventual declaration of war on Germany. The two factors I thought most significant were: the United States’ economic interests favoring Great Britain and Wilson’s insatiable need to have a voice at the peace talks in Europe.

By the time President Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany and its allies, the World War I had already been raging for four years (Doenecke, 2010, p. 1). Prior to this declaration of war, America had tried to remain neutral, while Germany, Autria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria waged war against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Rumania, and Japan. Many of these belligerents joined the war at various times during this four year period, so the war continued to expand during this four year period. Wilson and a significant percentage (49%) of the American public had wanted to stay out of this conflict as possible when it first started (Doenecke, 2010, p. 20), but a series of events forced America's hand.

America had no intention of entering WWI as President Woodrow Wilson had declared their policy of neutrality in 1914 after the continent of Europe had erupted in conflict. President Wilson aimed to deal with all participants in the war in a fair way that did not show signs of allegiance to either side as he tried to help find a way towards peaceful resolution. Happenings in Europe soon changed Wilson’s view of neutrality. Many American lives had been lost at sea after the sinking of the Lusitania and other ships due to Germany’s unrestricted submarine attacks. Germany refused to alter their methods which forced Wilson to ask Congress for a declaration of war in 1917.

On April 6 of 1917 America officially entered WWI as an ally power after much vouching of their neutrality. Up to that point many government officials preached to America the great strategy of neutrality especially the president of the time Wilson. At the beginning of WWI in 1914 America did stick to practiced isolationists point of view but as the war progressed and German aggression increased the American extent of neutrality decreased leading to their eventual entrance into the war. Germany blamed much of Britain’s

Another reason of why America had to participate in the war was because of America violating the “Sussex Pledge.” America supplied munitions and financial assets to the Allies, because of this Germany didn’t consider America “neutral” anymore. I believe America’s entry into the war was inevitable at this point. I believe

Why did the American position regarding entrance to World War I shift? How did it affect America? It had been tradition to stay neutral during the war and not get involved. However, despite tradition and many Americans' position on staying neutral in the war, the government decided to join the Allies in the fight. During World War I, American concerns of trade with Europe and for the future of democracy influenced major developments in transportation and communication; this led to an impact in American society politically, socially, and economically.

Another reason the U.S. joined World War II was because the Germans were sinking United States’ ships while taking supplies to England.  The Germans were, also, using unrestricted submarine warfare even after they promised not to two years before that. The German submarines began shooting at United States war ships.  At that point, the Germans declared war on the United States.  Hitler declared war on the United States because he believed that it was an opportunity to be seized.  He thought that it would be easy to knock the United States out of the war and continue on his dominance throughout the world.  “He was convinced that the United States would soon beat him to the punch and declare war on Germany.  The U.S. Navy was already attacking German U-boats, and Hitler didn’t care for Roosevelt because of his repeated verbal attacks against his Nazi ideology” (History.com).  This states that Hitler did not like the United States and wanted to get rid of them and the rest of the Allies and continue to get what he wanted.  It is clear why the United States should have entered the war and kept Germany from being the most dominant country in the world, although some disagree.

Also, if the United States was to enter the war, national production would switch from civilian products to war materials (Economic). In the years leading up to the war, America was already in a state of recession and they did not want to spend millions of dollars on this conflict. The following quote states how much the war affected the economy of the United States. "The total cost of World War I to the United States (was) approximately $32 billion, or 52 percent of gross national product at the time" (Economic). If you were the president of the United States, would you want to put out $32 billion dollars when your country is in recession as it is? Second, another reason the United States stayed out of the war for so long was because of their policy of neutrality. On August 19, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson addressed the congress and informed them of the U.S. policy of neutrality (First). In doing this, President Wilson was saying that the United States would stay neutral during the war and not intervene. During the president’s address to congress, he states, “Every man who really loves America will act and speak in the true spirit of neutrality” (First). By saying this, the president is saying that the policy of neutrality is the absolute best choice for the United States in this situation, and any citizens that did not believe in this did not truly care for the country or its people.

Throughout history there has been competition for resources and domination. This competition has led to conflicts that have caused destruction, social disruptions and death. World War I was no exception to this competition. World War I was known as the war to end all wars and was caused by a combination of factors. Some causes of World War I was nationalism, imperialism, militarism, and the main cause which was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip of Serbia. While the United States attempted to remain neutral and stay out of the war, Germany choose actions that gave the U.S. no choice but to enter and help their Allies defeat the other powers.