Nations in the world continued to enjoy peaceful relationships until 1914, when the First World War occurred, destabilizing the goodwill among nations. The war lasted until 1918 when Europe’s Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated 1 . The assassination led to rivalry between Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria united against Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, United States, and France. Before the war began, most nations were developing strategies in preparation for the war that was increasingly producing suspicion among the involved parties. The aggressiveness of the countries that led to the formation of the Western Front played a critical role in fueling the war. The war led to economic, social, and political effects that were felt throughout the world. The outcome of the included injuries sustained during the war, losses that resulted from concentration on war activities and purchase of ammunition, and decreased participation in economic activities. Since the War was a European affair, some scholar still questions the American involvement. It is their important to understand what encouraged or forced the United States to participate in the war.
German Atrocities
In late 1913 and early 1914, Belgium insisted on its neutrality ideology and opted not to participate in the global matters that were increasingly creating suspicion. However, when Belgium was attacked in 1914 by German, rumors began spreading against German for the invasion they caused against neutral Belgian citizens 2 . The atrocity stories painted German as an aggressive and brutal nation that targets to destroy the goodwill of other countries of the world. Therefore, the US felt that if they fail to implement measures to control the aggressive behavior of the German civilians, it would be soon destroyed. The US was eventually swept into the war and began fighting against the German sentiments.
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The Liberty Bonds
The US raised massive amounts of taxes during the WW1, American banks and business had given substantial loans American allies, which was famously known as the Liberty loans 3 . These loans were issued in hope of earning massive interest from the repayments. Therefore, a defeat to American allies could bring significant losses to the American banks and the economy. Losses could result if these nations were to lose the war to German and its partners. American businesses and banks pushed the US into the battle to support its allies to get their money and benefits back.
The Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
In February and March 1917, the German civilians sunk several marine vessels without explaining or warning 4 . The event signified German's resumption of marine warfare. The German leaders intended to prove the US to join the war and embarked on defeating Britain before they could unite with the US. However, Britain's attack and sinking of the US's vessels by German forced the US to react by joining the war.
The Zimmerman Telegram
In 1917, there was a leaked telegram Arthur Zimmerman who was the German Foreign Secretary. Zimmerman was requesting Mexico to unite with German if the United States could join the war against German and its allies. German promised that if they won the battle, it would release Mexico and allow it to split into Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico. However, the message leaked, and the British accessed it and shared it with Americans. On 1st March 1917, the Americans published the information in the newspaper and fueled a strong public opinion in Washington against German 5 . About a month later, the United States declared war against German and embarked on mobilizing civilians and its allies to prepare for the war.
The German's Espionage
Following the rising tension during WWI, both unions had to design methods of obtaining information from their enemies. The nations aimed at accessing the enemies' information to have an advantage over them during the war. The espionage involved secretes access to the enemies' information to determine their plans and the degree of preparedness for the war. Most nations believed they would defeat their enemies if they had adequate mastery of their goals. The espionage proved to the US when German spies were found in America and its allies. The Americans felt insecure and thought they would be defeated if they would not initiate early mechanisms and approaches to maintain the safety of their citizens.
Lusitania
The Lusitania's torpedo initially revoked the US's neutrality idea and led to its desire to join the war. There was a frequent diplomatic exchange of ideas and interests. The US declared to remain neutral until 21st July 1915 where the US asked the German government to distance itself from the affairs of Lusitania and informed 6 . Information that German received dictated that any further destructions involving neural nations would land it into severe consequences. However, the Americans were forced into the war when several Americans were sunk. The Americans mobilized their resources to empower their allies against German that had alarming aggressiveness. Additionally, the German government under the secretariat of Von Bernstorff promised to compensate Americans for the incident that occurred and failed to honor their promise.
The Wilson's Peace Note
Initially, Wilson wrote a fourteen-point note that aimed at promoting peace within and outside his territory. He aimed at reducing tension that was affecting trading and other activities in his region. He made significant efforts to make the United States maintain a neutral position during the war. However, Germany and its allies failed to honor the treaty. They continued with its aggressiveness that brought a lot of disability. The German submarine ship sank a British passenger ship leading to 1,200 fatalities, with 128 US citizens in May 1915.civilian 7 . Failure to observe the peace note by the German Civilians made their American counterparts feel insecure and released their soldiers to join the war in Europe. In 1917, Wilson was pressured by public opinion and declared a full-blown war against Germany.
Peace without Victory Ideology
Wilson negotiated for peace without victory by encouraging nations to settle differences without going into the war. He stated that the ideology would bring long-lasting solutions and will achieve a win-win situation for both countries. However, American troops were motivated to enter into the war by the Germans and their allies, who were continuing to destroy American's neighborhood.
Conclusion
America wanted to stay neutral during the war since it had initially adopted the isolation policy on international affairs. Americans also feared the financial burden due to the purchase of war resources and the financial losses that would occur if their allies whom they had loaned some money would lose the war. Additionally, Americans were reluctant to join the fight because they had a small unprepared military that wouldn't effectively protect its citizens and allies. Despite having various factors that made them reluctant, their enemies' public opinion and aggressiveness remain the significant reasons that pushed them into the war. However, America believed it would incur more losses if they continued to watch German as they continue to destroy and overthrow other nations.
Bibliography
Berg, Manfred and Axel Jansen. “Americans in World War I – World War I in America.” The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 17, no. 4 (October 2018): 599 – 607. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537781418000257
Kang, Sung W. and Hugh Rockoff. “Capitalizing patriotism: the Liberty loans of World War I.” Financial History Review, 22, no. 1 (2015), 45-78. 10.1017/S0968565015000037
Keene, Jennifer. “What Did It All Mean? The United States and World War I.” Histoire@Politique, 22 , no. 1, (2014), 120-136. https://doi.org/10.3917/hp.022.0120
Yeh, Puong F. “The Role of the Zimmermann Telegram in Spurring America's Entry into the First World War.” American Intelligence Journal, 32, no. 1 (2015): 61-64.
1 Jennifer Keene, “What Did It All Mean? The United States and World War I,” Histoire@Politique, 22, no. 1, (2014), 120-136. https://doi.org/10.3917/hp.022.0120
2 Manfred Berg and Axel Jansen, “Americans in World War I – World War I in America,” The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 17, no. 4 (October 2018): 599 – 607. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537781418000257
3 Sung W. Kang, and Hugh Rockoff, “Capitalizing patriotism: the Liberty loans of World War I,” Financial History Review, 22, no. 1 (2015), 45. 10.1017/S0968565015000037
4 Puong F. Yeh, “The Role of the Zimmermann Telegram in Spurring America's Entry into the First World War,” American Intelligence Journal, 32, no. 1 (2015): 61.
5 Puong F. Yeh, “The Role of the Zimmermann Telegram in Spurring America's Entry into the First World War,” 61.
6 Manfred Berg and Axel Jansen, “Americans in World War I – World War I in America,” 599 – 607.
7 Manfred Berg and Axel Jansen, “Americans in World War I – World War I in America,” 599 – 607
