Why Did America Join World War I?

When World War I broke out, The United States were frustrated from the toll the war took on them and wanted to remain free from foreign conflicts. This

The Spanish-American War and World War1 were one of the most crucial moments in our history as Americans and the reasons we joined were for humanity and for our benefit. The U.S entered the Spanish American War and World War 1 for very similar reasons. They joined from innocent Americans getting killed or from being directly affected from the war, territory and resources, and unfair rules that hurt not just Americans but innocent people. These are the 3 main reasons why the U.S joined both of these wars.

While the United States proclaimed itself as a neutral country in the beginning of the devastating first World War, many disagree with the statement that America wanted to remain neutral for various reasons. World War I began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, then quickly escalated to division into two sides between European countries; including the Allied Powers, which consisted of Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and the Central Powers that included Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. Since the United States made it obvious they favored the Allied Powers before they entered World War I, the other countries against these nations took this friendliness between the countries and America as a threat and interference of war. This resulted in the Central Powers noticing an unfair disadvantage for themselves. If the U.S. was truly neutral, they would not have interfered in war with the accomodations relating to their connections with Britain. The Zimmerman Note, large amounts of exports and loans to the allied powers, and Woodrow Wilson’s War Message, all present evidence surrounding the United States not acting like the neutral country they claimed to be, ultimately leading to the United States being forced to enter World War I.

In World War 1 a lot changed for the United States. One things that changed was their

There was opposition in the United State against intervention in World War II. The war was too far removed from America’s national interests to justify intervention. There was little popular domestic support for intervention in a war in Europe that involved its most powerful industrialized nations. There were many first generation immigrants in the U.S. who were from most of the nations involved, particularly Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy. American entry into World War II would cause a major conflict of national loyalties for those immigrants coming from nations with whom the US would be at war, specifically Germans and Italians. Eventually, the US entered WWII during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration. The U.S. Congress

The U.S. declared war on April 6th, 1917, while President Wilson had been attempting to create peace between Germany and Britain; the country had desperately tried to stay neutral with the problems accruing with these two. After the continuous attacks against American ships, and propaganda by German U-boats, Germany kept attempting to get Mexico to declare war on the U.S. and stop American supplies from getting to Britain. For this reason the U.S saw itself being pushed to get involved.

The United States entered World War I April 6th, 19417. The US joined allies with Britain, France, and Russia to fight in World War I under the commander of Major General John J. Pershing. The US joined World War I for three main causes including moral, economic, and political reasons. Morally, United States citizens were called to duty to enlist in war because of propaganda from anti-German 's. Economically, American citizens entered war to secure economic productivity better yet, make a profit. Politically, unregulated submarine combat from Germany afflicted exports to Britain. Altogether, the US needed to secure its nation due to many threats across the world.

World War I was one of the very first wars that had a global effect on the whole world. According to the book about WWI, The Guns of August, A shocking 32 countries took part in it. In the very first stages of WWI, the U.S stayed neutral, and had good reasons for doing so, too. However, the U.S eventually became entangled in the conflict anyway. Three leading causes forced the U.S to join WWI. The first reason was the sinking of the ship Lusitania. The second conflict was the sending of the Zimmerman Telegram. The final cause was that German U-Boats sank several merchant ships. Due to these three leading causes, the U.S was no longer neutral in World War I.

Prior, to the emergence of America entering World War I the era of Industrialization had finished and continuous conflicts between the ideals of the United States remaining in isolation were brought amongst by President Woodrow Wilson. However, this idea of Isolationism was challenged by the idea of expanding the nation 's borders, also known as Imperialism these two ideas conflicted greatly with each other. Towards the early 1900’s President Wilson was in office when Germany sank The Lusitania in which the United States had a decision to make by choosing to go into the war, around this time film was making an introduction into the world whether it being in the newly built film palaces or somewhere else. When the United States had announced

When the beginning of World War I came around, it was a very difficult time for everyone. President Wilson pledged a state of neutrality on behalf of the United States and had a vast majority of Americans backing him up in the meantime. However, it wasn’t long until tension started to rise up in America

Approaching the end of the 1915, Australian experienced a leadership change. The prime minister at that time, William Hughes was a support of Conscription. Conscription means a compulsory enlistment for state service, typically into the armed forces ( the army ). However, the majority of people in the Labor Party did not support conscription and therefore caused conflict.

As the war rolled on, people became less enthusiastic to fight. The army created drafts requiring people enlist for war. At first, the drafts required men between the ages of 18 and 35, but as the end became unclear for both sides, the age pool was changed to men ages 17 to 50. The federal government established the Draft Act of 1863. This was the first time there was a law requiring people to fight. This put all male citizens susceptible to getting drafting. To avoid drafting, the rich were able to give a year 's worth of pay instead of going to war. Some people even injured themselves so they would be unable to fight. For example, many men who knew they were going to get drafted would purposefully knock out their teeth so they wouldn

For instance, in July 1915, the Sherif of Mecca wrote a letter declaring the circumstances for them to join war. The goal was, “to accomplish their freedom [from the Ottomans]” (Doc 2). The Arabs were promised, by Great Britain’s manipulation, to aid in the war in return for freedom. When the war was almost to an end, the Ottomans were defeated in the Middle East. Since Britain had gotten what they wanted, they did not follow up with that promise to the Arabs. Equally important, Zimmerman wrote a letter to send to Mexico, but London intercepted it and decoded it for the US. Germans used submarine warfare to counteract the British mines. Zimmerman wrote, “We intend to begin on the first of February unrestricted submarine warfare. We shall endeavor in spite of this to keep the United States of America neutral” (Doc 5). This led to, the sinking of the Lusitania, which upset the Americans (Doc 8). These documents corroborated each other to prove why the US had joined war. Zimmerman’s note and the sinking of the Lusitania were the two main reasons that US joined the Allied Powers. While the intention of Zimmerman’s plan was to keep the US neutral, that did not happen. When the Lusitania sunk with Americans on it, that broke the last straw for Americans. In a similar way, a leader of the In Flanders Fields Museum gave an explanation of the lack of respect Asian and Africans received after participating in World War

An independent government agency known as The Committee on Public Information was formed as a way to influence the public’s opinion which they did by using propaganda. There are many different forms of propaganda and many of them were used in WWI which author Joseph Joe Kaminski further discusses in “World War I and Propaganda Poster Art: Comparing The United States and German Class”. The answer to getting the public’s attention was by using different tactics to intrigue citizens; “The use of propaganda art was essential in galvanizing opinions and reshaping ideas during WWI” (Kaminksi, 2). The goal of the United States was to “mobilize a nation, as well as create an army” (Telzrow, 1). Things such as songs, newspapers and art were used as a way to influence public opinion. The goal of propaganda was public unity. One example of propaganda would be a poster with the words “Come On! Buy more Liberty Bonds” pictured with a U.S. Soldier which can be seen in the “Committee on Public Information”. Liberty Bonds were just another way to help raise money for the Allies during the war. Purchasing these war bonds could be seen as a symbol of patriotic duty. President Woodrow Wilson also organized “Four Minute Men” who would deliver speeches promoting and encouraging involvement in the war effort. During World War I U.S. citizens were also influenced to do other things such as ration food so that there was extra food for those fighting in the growing army overseas. People also began to donate raw materials which went towards the making of new technologies that would be used in the war. Propaganda was used as a way to get the people of the United States involved in helping with war

The Zimmerman Telegram made it clear to the United States that Germany was preparing for the United States to join the war. Germany made a bold move by trying to form an alliance with Mexico as a way of weakening the US once they enter the war, but Mexico declined Germany’s offer. At that point in time, entering the war was inevitable.