U.S.’ Role in ‘The Great War’

Wilson Urges Neutrality Due to the complexity of ethnic layers found in the United States (i.e. ‘melting pot’), Wilson wanted the U.S. to remain neutral in the European conflict for as long as possible. He was afraid that having Americans choose sides would tear the country apart. The diverse opinions of the American people somewhat solidified as Germany invaded neutral Belgium. These opinions were: isolationists, interventionists and internationalists.

Wilson Urges Neutrality Isolationists: believed that the war was none of the U.S.’ business, and they should not get involved at all, isolating itself from the fighting. Interventionists: since the war affected American interests (specifically trade), the U.S. should enter the conflict and side with the Allies. Internationalists: believed that the U.S. should play an active role in world affairs and work toward negotiating a peace, but NOT enter the war.

Neutrality Gives Way to War As Wilson ran for re-election in 1916, he promoted himself with the slogan “He kept us out of war.” Although the election was close, Wilson did win re- election. The U.S. would not stay out of war for much longer, though. Actions by Germany forced the U.S. to enter the war. As Germany blockaded Britain, they used their submarines to attack any ships that attempted to bring war supplies for aid. This was known as unrestricted submarine warfare. The U.S. passenger ship Lusitania was sunk by one of these submarines, carrying 159 Americans on May 7th, 1915.

Neutrality Gives to War Although the sinking of the Lusitania angered Americans, it still did not prompt war. It was not until almost 2 years later, in January of 1917, when the United States intercepted a telegram from Germany to Mexico. This telegram became known as the Zimmermann note (or Zimmermann telegram). In it, the German Foreign Minister pledged the return of lands lost in the Mexican-American War to Mexico if Mexico declared war on the United States. Shortly after, the United States declared war on Germany, officially on April 6th, 1917.

America Mobilizes for War Compared to the armies of Europe, the United States’ army was quite small. While most men volunteered for service in the army, others were drafted (involuntarily chosen) to participate after the passage of the Selective Service Act. Out of the 24 million that served, ~2.8 million were drafted. In total, the U.S. supplied 4.8 million troops to the war effort in Europe.

America Mobilizes for War The Council of National Defense had established separate agencies to coordinate food production, railway use, etc. However, there was too much overlap and difficulty coordinating between agencies. So, the War Industries Board was created to regulate all industries dealing with war supplies. It was led by Bernard Baruch. Similarly, Herbert Hoover, as head of the Food Administration, guided farm efforts and food conservation during the war.

America Mobilizes for War In order to encourage support for the war, the government created the Committee on Public Information (CPI) to educate the public on the causes and why the U.S.’ involvement was necessary. The CPI was led by George Creel. This agency launched a massive propaganda campaign to both recruit and garner support during the war.

Opposition and its Consequences While most Americans supported the war, there were still individuals who did not. In response to this dissent, the government passed the Espionage Act, which allowed the postal service to ban any dissenting/treasonous mail. They also passed a Sedition Act in 1918 which made it against the law to speak ill of the government. Many saw this as the government taking away the civil liberties (freedom of speech, especially) of American citizens. German Americans and other dissenters were targeted in their communities, often physically harmed because of the growing hatred.