The us did not originally support the entrance into WWI. They didn’t support it because they believed in neutrality rather than going to war and putting US citizens in danger. This all changed when german actions such as mistreating the US on the High Seas, making secret treaties with Mexico and spreading the idea of autocratic government through europe.(Thesis) During this time President Woodrow wilson was elected and thrown into a mess in with foreign countries. Almost all of europe was in war and the US was a bystander watching from the outside. The task for wilson now was to either declare war and help their allies or stay neutral and keep out of it completely.(Historical context) The US didn’t support the war initially because there wasn’t …show more content…
If the president or leader of your country doesn’t support something, it is generally not going to be supported by the citizens and the government. This show that Wilson was initially trying to draw support from war in order to stay neutral.(Doc. 1) This documents purpose is pretty clear. I was meant to persuade congress to not go to war and to make sure his position on the topic was clear.(Purpose:Doc 1) In Senator Robert La Follette’s address to senate in 1917, he stated another reason to not support war. He said that the US should stay neutral, but he also said that we should treat all of the nations equally. He state that the germans and the british have done bad things on the seas to us, and that we should punish them both equally. He also gives way that we could stay neutral and still punish them both. This shows that some people supported things such as suspending commerce as a way to punish them rather than war.(Doc. 6) The song “Over There” by George Cohen is obviously meant to draw support for war and convince people to join the …show more content…
In a letter to the US ambassador to germany the us Secretary of state told him that the US and german governments needed to solve problems about the high seas. He specifically referenced the Lusitania and over 100 american citizens being killed. This show that the german recklessness on the high seas was angering the US government.(Doc.2) The purpose of this document was not to warn about war but to try and come to an agreement with germany and address the problem we saw.But, its still gives a reason for war.(Purpose:Doc 2) The german foreign secretary wrote a letter to the german ambassador to mexico in 1917 stating that they wanted to make an alliance with them to help them fight the US in the war. They were worried ht when they went back to unrestricted submarine warfare, they would provoke the
This was a very heart breaking situation and think made a wound on the United States. Many Americans were hurt and responded in anger towards the Germans. But Germany continued the practice of sinking ships through their submarines and finally the President of the United States Woodrow Wilson needed to step in and ask if Germany would stop with the certain behavior of the submarines. A white house butler even stated on Wilson’s mood that “Germany is going to get Hell in the address to Congress. I never knew him to be more peevish.
In Woodrow Wilson’s war message to congress (1917), the President was asking congress for a declaration of war to join the fighting in World War I. Woodrow Wilson declared, “The world must be safe for democracy,” (Wilson pg. 740). The War Message to Congress shows that Woodrow Wilson thought that the biggest threat to the world’s freedom was the existence of an autocratic government. An autocratic government being a government in which one person makes the decisions and controls the body of people they rule without having to worry about the opinions of their people.
Jae’La Rivera Argumentative Essay Title Woodrow Wilson was the 28th president of the United States. Many believe that Wilson was “perhaps the most transitional figure among the democratic party since Lincoln” ( “Woodrow Wilson: Impact and Legacy-Miller Center. ) Others believe that he put a shame on everything else he accomplished during his reign when he caused one of the biggest economical crashes America has ever seen.
The Imperial German Government’s purpose was to put aside all restraints of law or of humanity and use it’s submarines to sink every vessel. “The present German submarine warfare against commerce is a warfare against mankind,” Woodrow Wilson mentioned in his speech. This speech was monumental because it convinced American citizens entry into the war was necessary, brought America into a devastating war, probed America was a power of the world, brought women into workplaces, and it pushed for women’s suffrage. Not every
During World War I, President Woodrow Wilson made a case for United States intervention in the conflict and a U.S interest in maintaing a peacful world order. "I am now thinking of the loss of property involved, immense and serious as that is, but only of the wanton and wholeslae destruction of the lives of non-combatants, men,women, and children, engaged in pursuits which have always, even in the darkest periods of modern history, been deemed innocent and legitimate"(Document 24, page 71). The United States try to remain neutral , but German submarine attacked a ship headed to Europe with killed United States citizens. This is a legitimate reason for the United States to help
Roosevelt’s original policy was also designed to keep the US out of war but it was ultimately revised to provide Britain with supplies and aid. The final influence on the US interventions was public opinion. Public opinion in the years prior to the US entering the wars was entirely against America intervention. Public sentiment later changed from one of non-interventionism to interventionism. Concerning American involvement in World War 1, most Americans accepted the war reluctantly with a minority still clinging to the side of neutrality.
To make a decision to go to war with someone or country for that matter is not something that is made lightly. When Germany was declaring war on everyone around them such as Russia, France, and then sinking ships such as American passenger ships and American cargo ships and attempting to make an alliance with Mexico and promising the US to Mexico got the attention of President Wilson. He was all for staying out of the wars among the European countries but could no longer stand idly by watching our people and good being destroyed and not to mention Germany taking a bold move to stop all entries to and from the western borders of Great Britain and Ireland. I believe he was justified as we had interests in that part of the world that would
In Wilson's war message, Wilson request that Congress declare war on Germany due to the fact that because Germany is a non-democratic government it upholds danger to democracy. The generalization for this is that a non-democratic country is prone to enroll in warfare in means where a democratic government would never. Germany held a threat to the U.S. by denying the right of neutrals to use arms in the sea which left the transporting ships to fend for themselves. This unrestricted submarine warfare was taken as an absolute threat to the U.S and its citizens. Not in any way would a democratic government take any action to put a peaceful country in vulnerability.
This means that despite the impacts of the war, many in America still believed that America’s role (and the best way to achieve its interests) was by leaving other nations alone. This is because the war was extremely unpopular. Many Americans did not trust that President Wilson campaigned for reelection on a platform of anti-war, but then got the United States involved. They also distrusted that he had promised a just peace in his fourteen point plan, but ended up with secret land deals and a punishing Treaty of Versailles, as opposed to a rehabilitory treaty. As a result, the irreconcilables in Congress voted multiple times to strike down the League of Nations.
However the critics opposing war were mainly from the Midwest and West that saw European conflict as a distant battle and the U.S. shouldn’t get involved. Woodrow Wilson didn’t take any action as the election roamed near and it was crucial for him to maintain neutrality for re-election in 1916. Thereafter, Wilson’s re-election came the final blow to American neutrality; the Zimmerman Telegram. The Zimmerman Telegram was an offer made to the Mexican government by the Germans enticing them to join arms with them in return for the territories lost in the war of 1840s. When the American public learned about this proposal, it really antagonized the people who were opposed to war to join the battle.
“We shall endeavor in spite of this to keep the U.S. neutral,” Germany’s goal is to keep away from war with the United States, and in if for some reason this fails, they agreed to an alliance with Mexico. “Make war together, make peace together…” with such things proposed, if either go to war or conquer other territories, both are willing to help each-other. Arthur Zimmermann was aiming to create an alliance between Mexico and Germany, considering they would need the help to win this war. There were offerings of large deals of financial support and the idea that Germany will help Mexico in battling “Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico” territories if the war was won. Overall, this document stated that “...as soon as the outbreak of war with the U.S. is certain..” the President of Mexico will be informed about the planned submarine warfare attack.
This unknown fact of American being neutral or not, ultimately lead to the United States needing to enter World War I. Although the United States President at the time, Woodrow Wilson, explained the reasoning for the U.S. entering WWI was because of Germany’s submarine warfare, the violence toll that Germany took on America relates back to the concealed matter of the nation of the United States actually being neutral throughout the time before war
One of the attackes that led Americans to their break point was the Lusitania, killing a total of 128 Americans and 1,200 people in May of 1915. Wilson tried to reason with Germany issuing two notes, the first warning the Germans to change their warfare tactics and second being more aggressive towards the subject. This did not stop Germany from continuing all attacks towards American vessels, even after Wilson broke all diplomatic relations with them but still this was not enough. At the end what brought the final decision to join the war was the relentless attacks towards American vessels and the discovery of the alliance of Mexico and Germany, promising them the recovery of there territories New Mexico, Arizona and Texas this binging fear upon all of the United States in loosing their
Altogether, the US needed to secure its nation due to many threats across the world. During war, many things occurred and happened. Germany created some strategy against the United States, which was revealed in the
On April 2, 1917, the 28th president of the United States of America, Woodrow Wilson, delivered a speech before the Congress in order to declare war against Germany. This period of history represents the first worldwide conflict and opposes the Allied forces of the United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and Japan against the Central Powers of Germany, Bulgaria, the Austrian-Hungarian empire, and the Ottoman empire. Woodrow Wilson involved the United States, which was originally neutral at the beginning of World War I when the Germans attacked and sank the Lusitania, a ship transporting ammunition to the allies but also American citizens. More importantly, in his speech, Woodrow Wilson explicitly states his opinion and purpose that ' 'the world must be made safe for democracy ' ' (Voices of Freedom 107) and that the immediate contribution of his nation to World War I would bring "peace and justice" (Voices of Freedom 105) to the world, as well as the end of the threatening expansion of