Leading Up Into World War 1 Essay

Leading up into World War I, America was an isolationist country. Just before the United States declared war they had desperately tried to stay neutral, but ties to Britain, propaganda, the sinking of the Lusitania by Germans, and a German attempt in the Zimmermann telegram to get Mexico to declare war on America pushed them to get involved. Try as they might, the American government could not stay isolationist, and in turn upheld the founding ideals of democracy as they marched on into the war. There was no doubt that entering the war was the wish of the public; therefore the United States was upholding democracy.

When American lives were lost, nationalism seeded the country with anger. On 7 May, 1915, German U-boats sank an American ship, the Lusitania. 1,919 of the 1,924 aboard died including 114 U.S citizens. America was furious with the attack. Agitation led the people, and hostility grew between the two countries. Within two years of the sinking

This inflamed the already hostile feelings America had toward Germany. The telegram states ¨... We intend to begin on the first of February unrestricted submarine warfare...¨ Clearly Germany had decided to take an offensive approach to America, and they were now being forced into the war. It could no longer be avoided; the citizens of the United states knew they had to fight.

On the second of April, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson made a speech to the American. A fraction of The speech is as follows: “ Neutrality is no longer feasible or desirable where the peace of the world is involved...¨ What Wilson was describing could be referred to as moral justification. It is the job of People to protect the lives of others, or in a sense to love thy neighbor. In fact Wilson claimed that America would enter the war fighting for democracy, and the right of the people to have a voice in their own