Introduction
At the start of WW1, the American President claimed that the country would remain neutral, and this was the policy favoured by a vast majority of Americans. However, at that time, Britain was a trading partner of America, and this created tension in the relationship between America and Germany. These tensions became even more serious. The events that occurred during that time and how things changed in a certain way will be discussed in this paper.
Discussion
President Woodrow Wilson was not in favour of entering World War 1. However, the USA entered this war for certain reasons. Many ships of the USA were travelling to Britain, and the Germans sank them. In February 1915, unrestricted warfare was announced against all ships. During this period, an American private vessel named William P. Frye was sunk. This caused President Wilson’s outrage; however, the German government made an apology and categorized this as an unfortunate blunder. Later on, on the seventh of May, a British ocean liner named Lusitania was sunk without any warning while it was passing by the coast of Ireland. Of a total of 1,959 passengers, 1,198 were killed. The number of Americans killed during this incident was 128. Germans were claiming that there were weapons on this ship, while this claim was unacceptable. America demanded an end to these attacks on merchant ships and unarmed passengers. It resulted in a pledge in August in which Germany promised to ensure the safety of travellers before sinking an unarmed ship. Despite this, an Italian liner was sunk without any warning, and 27 Americans were killed among the 272 casualties. All these incidents resulted in a change in American public opinion against Germany.
These threats and counter-threats started to increase during the beginning years of the twentieth century, and in this game of European power, nations put themselves in inflexible positions (Coffman). In 1917, Germany announced warfare in the waters of the war zone. After this declaration, America’s diplomatic relations with Germany were ended, and after a few hours, an American liner named Housatonic was destroyed by a German boat. This resulted in Congress passing a $250 million bill to prepare the USA for war. Germany sank four other American merchant ships at the end of March.
Another important factor in driving American forces into World War 1 was the Zimmermann Telegram. An encrypted message was sent from German Minister Zimmermann to German Minister Eckhart in Mexico. It proposed an alliance between Mexico and Germany. Mexico lay to the south of America, and this telegram was sent to seek an alliance in case America decided to join the Allies. It proposed that the Germans would help Mexico regain its lost territories from the Mexican-American War. Germany was also making efforts through Mexico to bring Japan into the war. This telegram was given to the US by Britain in the last week of February, and this resulted in outrage among the American public.
All these things, along with the German submarine attacks, led the USA to join the war. On April 2, President Wilson presented a bill for a declaration of war in Congress. After four days, this bill was passed in favour of declaring war on Germany. At the start, there were just 133,000 members in the US Army. A total of 2.8 million men were inducted into the war, and around 2 million Americans volunteered for service in this conflict. In June 1917, the first American infantry troops entered the European continent, and in October, they entered combat in France.
The outcomes of World War 1 were greatly affected by the entry of the US. The United States tried to remain neutral, but there were so many conflicts happening at that time that it intervened in the war. The reasons why President Wilson’s opinion changed in favour of entering the war are significant. One of the important factors was the invasion of Belgium, which had been neutral. Germany’s massacre in the country was a major reason for the outrage of American citizens. There were stories of civilians who were unarmed and killed by Germans. Some of these stories were also British propaganda, but a strong anti-German impression settled in the minds of Americans. From an economic point of view, American businesspeople were in favour of the Allies. There was a Preparedness Movement, and most of the people in the business community favoured it because it was campaigning for US intervention on behalf of the Allied forces. Even many harmless groups suffered the most from this severe oppression (Luebke).
Another major factor in the involvement of the US in the war was the sinking of the Lusitania, as discussed above. The reason behind the infuriation of Americans was that the people on board were not warned before the attack. Also, there was a breakdown of diplomatic relations between America and Germany that further inflamed American emotions against Germany. Another reason was the unrestricted submarine warfare against all ships reaching Britain. The US’s involvement made the world a safe place to live (Kennedy). With all the issues going on, public opinion changed against Germany, and loyalty to the nation increased Americans’ anger against the enemy.
The morale of the forces was boosted by the arrival of American forces. By October 1918, there were a total of 4 million Americans taking part in the war. Some 1.3 million troops were fighting on the front, while 2 million were in France. The morale of the enemy also decreased because they knew what it meant to fight the greatest and most powerful economy in the world. As a result, the chances of defeat for Germany increased, and it signed an armistice in November 1918. The end of the world war resulted in the formation of two entirely different societies. One focused on materialism, while the other was motivated towards collectivism. The winning party sharpened the rivalry. There is a Cold War that still exists, and its effects are felt all over the world. Even some of the factors still exist.
The complete course of the war was changed because of American intervention. The real aim was not fulfilled, but this was done to make this world a safe place for democracy. The victory of powerful America was certain, but it also had an accelerating effect on industrial pressure during the war.
Conclusion
All the events and reasons discussed above are strong evidence that America’s entry into the war was much needed at that moment. There were numerous reasons that forced America to enter the war when it was determined to remain neutral. History would have completely changed if America had not entered the war. Germany was not refraining from attacking all ships entering the war zone, whether they were loaded with arsenals or not. There had to be a major power like America entering the war zone to end it. Britain would have had to slow down its spending on military equipment because it had been spending a lot of money to buy war supplies and was running out of money. A great economic boom occurred in the US because Britain made heavy purchases to support its defensive role.
Works Cited
Coffman, Edward M. The War to End All Wars: The American Military Experience in World War I. University Press of Kentucky, 2014.
Luebke, Frederick C. Bonds of Loyalty: German-American and World War I. Northern Illinois University Press, 1974.
Kennedy, David M. Over here: The First World War and American Society. Oxford University Press, 2004.
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