US entry into WWI

EMERGENCE OF THE AMERICAS: UNITED STATES AND WWI

US ENTRY INTO WWI

Historical Context

-          “Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world” George Washington in his farewell address.

-          The policy of isolationism Washington of has been a recurrent issue throughout U.S. history.

-          During World War I, President Woodrow Wilson advocated a policy of non-intervention because he considered the war a ‘European problem’.

Neutrality to involvement

1.       At outbreak of war, Wilson proclaimed isolationism and urged the American public to be “impartial in thought”. The public, however, was sympathetic to the Allied cause.

a.        It was difficult to maintain neutrality because:

                                                   i.      Strong emotional and historic ties to Britain and France—one third of the American population was of European descent.

2.       While American investment in the Central Powers nations dwindled between 1914 and 1917, it surged in the Allied nations.

a.        There were strong economic ties between Allies and the US, which existed before WWI as well.

b.       American sources provided weapons, food, and funding to the Allies equal to nearly one hundred times that provided to the Central Powers.

3.       When Germany officially declared a U-boat blockade of Allied ports in early February 1915, Wilson sternly warned Germany that it would be held to "strict accountability" for any attacks on U.S. vessels or citizens.

a.        The blockade was held in response to Britain, as she began forcing American vessels into British ports which, despite U.S. protests, proved effective in virtually ending U.S.-German trade

b.       It became increasingly clear that American neutrality would be difficult to maintain, as British actions were condoned while German ones were scolded.

4.       In May 1915, a U-boat sank the British ocean liner Lusitania, killing close to 1,200 people, including 128 Americans.

a.        This event provoked an anti-German backlash in American public opinion, and this was seen by many as beginning of U.S. road to entry into the war.

b.        At Wilson’s encouragement in response to the Lusitania incident, Congress passed the National Defense Act in 1916, which called for the build-up of military forces in anticipation of war—a policy known as “preparedness.”

5.       After the Lusitania incident, Germany stopped attacking passenger ships for a few months.

6.       But in August 1915, Germany resumed attacks. In 1916, Wilson threatened to break diplomatic relations after Germany torpedoed a French passenger steamer, the Sussex, and Germany responded with the Sussex Pledge, promising not to attack merchant ships without warning.

a.        This pledge eased the strain on U.S. neutrality for the remainder of 1916.

7.       In January 1917 Germany announced the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare. 

a.        This was significant in breaking all diplomatic ties with US and Germany, since Germany vowed to sink all ships, belligerent or neutral, in a wide zone around the Allies.

                                                   i.      In early January Wilson tried to promote “victory without peace”. Following the declaration of USW, the abandonment of neutrality was inevitable.

b.       In the next few months, five U.S. ships were sunk.

c.        However, Congress was not yet ready to declare war and even refused Wilson’s request to have American merchant ships armed. 

8.       British intelligence intercepted the ‘Zimmerman Telegram’ in February 1917, in which German Foreign secretary Zimmerman secretly proposed an alliance with Mexico, offering the recovery of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona as rewards in the case of a Germany victory.

a.        Germany also promised to help Japan if Japan went to war against the U.S.

b.       The telegram and the continued aggression towards U.S. ships convinced Wilson to break U.S. neutrality and call for war.

9.       In April 1917 the US declared war on Germany.

a.        Wilson was now proclaiming that the US needed “needed to make the world safe for democracy.” The February Revolution in Russia ended the autocracy and brought in the Provisional Government promising democratic reforms.  This meant that the Allied cause could now be seen as thoroughly democratic. 

Germany’s resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare and the interception of the Zimmerman Telegram convinced Wilson to abandon neutrality and call for war. The February Revolution in Russia made Allied involvement in WWI a democratic cause.

Historiography

“Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world” George Washington in his farewell address.

“I never worry about action, but only inaction.” Winston Churchill

Vyvyen Brendon in The First World War, 1914-1918, 2000
“By the end of 1917, the combination of further attacks on American shipping and a clumsy attempt to persuade Mexico to declare war on the USA brought even the peace loving president Wilson to a declaration of war in April 1917”

Why did either canada or the United States enter the First World War? NOV 2007

For the United States there are various opinions.  These include: economic reasons; hope for world position and leadership; pressure from ethnic groups; idealism, both from Wilson and the  American sense of exceptionalism; and national honour.  Unrestricted submarine warfare, neutral rights, the Russian Revolution, and the Zimmermann Telegram can be discussed as specifics.

“It was the U-boat campaign of 1917 which brought the United States into the First World War.” To what extent would you agree with this statement? MAY 2007

In January 1917 Germany announced the resumption of unrestricted U-boat warfare.  Although the January announcement led to the break in diplomatic relations, Congress was not yet ready to declare war.   They even refused Wilson’s request to have American merchant ships armed.  However, two events convinced them that involvement in the war was inevitable: the Russian Revolution and the Zimmerman telegram both strengthened Wilson’s hand.  Firstly, the February Revolution in  Russia ended the autocracy and brought in the Provisional Government promising democratic reforms.  This meant that the Allied cause could now be seen as thoroughly democratic. 

Secondly, the British presented the United States with a copy  of  the  “Zimmerman Telegram”,  a telegram to Mexico from the German foreign minister A Zimmerman that proposed the Mexicans ally themselves with  Germany in return for Germany’s pledge to recover lost territories  (Texas, New Mexico and Arizona).  The telegram aroused the nationalist anger of the citizens and convinced Wilson that Germany fully expected war with the United States.  The further loss of US lives at sea, in February and March of 1917, finally turned public opinion.  Thus on April 6 the United States declared war on Germany.

Candidates might agree with this view to some extent and only as a short-term reason as to why the United States joined the First World War.  Strong answers would consider the long term causes of: initial submarine warfare and the sinking of Lusitania 1915, and other sinkings such as Arabic  in 1915 and Sussex in 1916; economic links with Britain and France; United States ethnic influences; the effects of British war propaganda.

Why did the United States become involved in the First World War? NOV 2005

There are many issues that can be discussed here such as: submarine warfare and sinking ofboats (Lusitania, Arabic, Sussex) in which American lives were lost; economic links withBritain and France; public opinion; British propaganda; unrestricted submarine warfare in 1917; Zimmerman Telegram and Russian Revolution.  A very straightforward question