United States Enters The War

INTRODUCTION

In his campaign, President Wilson proclaimed (Proclaimed is kinda just another word for 'said' so idk maybe another word would be better. "Said neutrality" doesn't really make sense) neutrality, as most Americans were reluctant to enter the war. After Wilson was elected, Germany bombed United States' submarines, enraging Americans. Along with the unrestricted warfare, other threats pushed Wilson to make the decision to become allies of the Triple Entente, officially joining the war.

Prior to involvement

America’s economy flourished greatly during the early twentieth century. Many businessmen took advantage of America’s free market, making trade more rich nationally and internationally. With the growing economy, businessmen looked for new markets to sell to all over the world, and depended on these trades for resources. However, trade was disrupted when Great Britain set up the North Sea Blockade. The blockade was composed of hundreds of sea mines across the North Sea, making trade difficult with countries of the Central Powers and encouraged trade with the countries of the Allies. America held true to its neutrality and continued to trade where the blockade allowed; they did nothing to stand up to Great Britain. Prior to the war, Germany and the USA had a very diplomatic relationship. But, being a part of the Central Powers, Germany thought that what the US had done wasn't fair of them, so they began to seize American ships for resources and revenge. As well as the submarine warfare, the Zimmerman note was a major trigger for the Americans to go to war.

Reason for involvement

Germany’s unrestricted warfare

Less than a year after WWI spread across Europe, a German U-boat sank the RMS Lusitania, a British ocean liner that was traveling from New York to Liverpool, UK. The German military sunk the ship because they believed that it was carrying war supplies. Instead, they killed a total of 1,198 innocent people that included many children and 128 American citizens. This single ocean liner attack was not the first. Many other unprovoked attacks were launched on U.S. ships beforehand, angering both the citizens and the government.

Zimmerman Note

The Zimmerman Note was a message that was sent from the German foreign secretary to Mexico. This telegram prompted Mexico to ally with Germany, provided the U.S. would enter the war. Although the U.S. was not currently in the war, Germany sent the note just in case there was a war between them and the United States. When the telegram was intercepted and deciphered by the British, they originally did not want America to know about the message. Eventually, President Woodrow Wilson learned of the telegram on February 26th, 1917. Immediately, the American people became furious. The Zimmerman Telegram was one of the biggest reasons why the United States entered World War I.

President Woodrow Wilson

As stated before, President Wilson initially planned to remain neutral in the war, and even used this neutrality in his presidency campaign. He wanted to keep tensions at a minimum and preserve as many American lives as possible. More notably, many American citizens had recently immigrated from Europe, and Wilson was hesitant to put these people to war against their home countries. However, as the nation began worrying about the war, Wilson started considering joining the fight. In his declaration, he said that entering this war would ensure that it would be "the war to end all wars” and would "make the world safer for democracy”. By joining the war, Wilson believed he would be able to negotiate a peace treaty. He laid out his plan for world democracy in his document, Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points. In his declaration, he stated the 14 steps to reach world peace, although it would not become successful.

The RMS Lusitania

The RMS Lusitania. The British ocean liner was briefly the world's largest passenger ship.

President Woodrow Wilson, the 28th U.S. president.

Military

Following the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, as mentioned before, President Wilson announced that the U.S. would be directly involved in the war. However, the United States military was entirely unprepared to take part. Numbers in the U.S. Army and National Guard were alarmingly small. In order for the U.S. to actually make a difference with their involvement, their numbers in forces would have to increase dramatically. Soon after, the government began to stress recruitment by means of propaganda, leading to a rapid increase of enlisted citizens.

Weapons

All participating countries used a variety of weapons during the war. Most commonly used were rifles, some examples include: Lee-Enfield .303, Lebel and Berthier 8mm, Mosin-Nagant M1891 7.62.

  • Germany began employing a version of ‘flamethrowers’ and by using 3,000 flamethrower troops they conducted over 650 attacks.
  • Mortars were used especially by the Germans and the British. The British preferred the Stokes mortar which had no “moving-parts” and could fire up to 22 three-inch shells per minute.
  • Tanks also made an appearance during WW1. The term “tank” was coined by the British as they secretly worked to develop the weapon. Similarly, the French had produced the Renault FT light armored vehicle under the same premise. The Germans only created their own version (the A7V) in response to the French and British models. However, the A7V proved to be faulty and broke down frequently.
  • Poison gases were a German invention. On April 22nd, 1915, the German artillery used cylinders containing chlorine gas to attack the area of Ypres. Other countries soon followed suit in the development of battlefield gases, and would discover which gas one was most effective. For example, chlorine gas attacks the eyes and respiratory system, and mustard gas behaves the same way, but also creates a blistering effect on the skin.

Did You Know?

  • American soldiers were known as "dough boys".

African American Soldiers

Many African Americans and immigrants were told they would have opportunities that other immigrants and African Americans would not if they served or became active in the war. African American leaders, such as W. E. B. Dubois, urged them to serve in hopes of gaining respect and civil rights in America. After the end of WWI, this became known as the New Negro Movement. An example of this during the war is the 369th Infantry Regiment, dubbed the Harlem Hellfighters by Germany. This was a mostly African American infantry who fought in combat longer than any other American unit. Despite the fighting efforts by African Americans to increase their rights and try to put an end to segregation, it came to little avail.

Many factory jobs went to African Americans as well, which led to the Great Migration. The Great Migration was a period when many African Americans moved to the East and up North for jobs. They did not receive the same privileges as White workers, but they still made more money with factory jobs than as crop shareholders. They were able to vote in the North and faced less racial problems, but segregation was still a big issue.

Effects

Wars change countries forever. The bigger the war, the bigger the change. In this case, America changed the war and the war changed America. The U.S. first wanted to maintain neutrality with the European countries, but with the amazing trade opportunities available to America, President Wilson could not resist. But because of the war, America lost thousand of soldiers and was in serious debt.

Positive and Negative Effects

Casualties

When the war started, it was just the British and French troops fighting for days on end against the Triple Alliance. The American soldiers provided much needed relief to the British and French soldiers. Out of the 4.7 million American soldiers who served in WWI, there was a relatively small casualty total of 116,516 deaths. However there was a crisis of influenza in the early 1900s, which was turned out to be a bigger problem than the war itself. Although there were not many deaths in the war, there were a lot of injured and sick soldiers after it ended.

Money

The British and French were seriously struggling against the Germans. The Americans were in a very tough position about whether they should join forces with the British and President Wilson felt it would be in the best interest in the country to do so. Along with providing soldiers, the U.S. provided 32 billion dollars. Of course this helped in the war, but this also put a serious debt on America.

Societal Issues

The era including WWI was also known as the progressive movement in America. Serious issues like labor conditions for women and children, public health, and safety became national issues. In terms of women's rights, women began to demand equal labor conditions. They also started to take jobs in the military as nurses and supported the war. This paved the way for women’s rights and eventually created a more inclusive environment for African Americans in the war too.

Nationalism

Many American immigrants at the time believed that they could prove their loyalty through patriotism. They thought that this would cause them to be treated equally compared to other citizens.

U.S. Propaganda

To help with the rapid transition from neutrality to engaging in a war against Germany. During this time propaganda and patriotism was heavily emphasized throughout the U.S. This was done through a variety of mediums, including, but not limited to: posters, the media, and films. Propaganda was a way to manipulate the public eye into being fully committed to the war effort as well as their country. Tactics of this included toying with emotions, guilt-tripping, sparking fear, dehumanizing Germany, and promising rewards.

James Montgomery Flagg, Joseph Pennell, and Howard Chandler Christy were all talented artists used in the making of U.S. propaganda.

This has nothing to do with the paragraph, but there is a lot of empty space to the right

The Triple Entente and Triple Alliance

The effect of Germany’s unrestricted attacks on U.S. merchant ships, caused the United States to decide to side with the Allied Powers. The Allied Powers were formerly known as the Triple Entente, which consisted of an alliance between Russia, France, and Britain. After, Italy betrayed the Triple Alliance (which consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) and declared war on its former ally, Austria-Hungary, Italy then decided to side with the Triple Entente. The Triple Alliance then became known as the Central Powers. The United States involvement helped the Allied powers to win WWI, by defeating the Central Powers.