President Woodrow Wilson informed a common sitting of congress that the United States should remain neutral during World War 1 to ensure calmness. His main aim was to ensure the United States did not join the war nor form an alliance with any country participating in the war. However, that view was short-lived and eventually the nation joined the war. The United States was involved in World War 1 through American banks providing enormous loans to France and Britain to purchase raw materials, food, and ammunition.
The issues that made the United States citizens have an opinion change about being neutral included sinking of the Lusitania a British ocean liner in 1915 by the German U-boat and approximately two thousand people died and one hundred and twenty eight of them were American citizens. The president warned that open submarine warfare or any additional infringement would not be allowed by the United States. Another reason was the Zimmerman telegram news that was intimidating an alliance between Mexico and Germany. Germany pledged that if the Germans won, the regions of Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico could be barred from the United States and handed over to Mexico. United States joined the war in 1917 after the German submarine ambush on US vessels spiraled. The major event that made President Wilson declare war was three American merchant ships were sank by Germans in quick succession, this ships were American and had American flags and crews which showed an attack on the sovereignty of America. The United States joined the World War on the allied power side that included United Kingdom, France, and Russia. There were more than one million men and women that were enlisted in the armed forces.
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World War 1 had a huge influence on the culture, politics, and society of the US. The nationalist attempts of women during the war made them achieve the voting right while labor activists, German-Americans, African Americans, immigrants were forced to deal with intimidation, threats, physical violence, and imprisonment. They were subjected to systematic repression. Expression of antiwar views and disapproval of the US armed forces and government were categorized as criminal offenses in the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918.
Ross Kennedy a professor said that the actions of German and the U.S policy were the determiners of what Wilson did. This is because the reputation of the president and the country was at risk therefore the policymakers did not have any other option but to join the war. There were more than 100,000 deaths of Americans during World War 1. The war would have been a loss on the allies’ side if the United States hadn’t taken part in the war. Participation of the US in the World War 1 was justifiable because had Germany won the war, they would have intimidated Britain with seizure and pressurized to control the Atlantic sea lanes. A win for Germany would have torn down the balance of power in the world.
Word War 1 benefitted the United States in various ways. The US economy had been going downhill and it would have led to economic recession but the participation of the United States in World War 1 stimulated the economy. Many American citizens were able to find work in factories, therefore, building the American manufacturing and agricultural industries. The country developed a verifiable sense of nationalistic pride and patriotic love that supported itself in the long run. The country was united in a common cause and patriotic affirmation of pride and national identity. The win for the allies made the US a superpower. The United States joining the war was justifiable and the benefits outweigh the losses.
References
Afflerbach, Holger, and David Stevenson (eds) 2007. An improbable war? The outbreak of World War 1 and European political culture before 1914 .New York and Oxford Berghahn Books.
Kennedy, Ross A., The Will to Believe: Woodrow Wilson, World War 1, and America’s Strategy for Peace and Security (Kent, OH: Kent State UP 2009).
