LO: To identify the reasons for and importance of the US entry. The USA entry into WW1 LO: To identify the reasons for and importance of the US entry.

Starter Activity Look at the evidence of reasons for USA entry Think about the reasons why the USA might have entered WW1. From the cut out paragraphs create a diamond 9 most important at the top. Share your reasons with the person sitting next to you. Do you agree? Can you convince the other person to see your argument?

US Neutrality Although World War I began in 1914 in Europe, the U.S. did not join the war but instead pursued a policy of neutrality until 1917. Initially, public opinion, led by Wilson, advocated for neutrality and preferred the U.S. stay out of the European conflict. Despite demands for preparedness, Wilson kept the military small and made no preparation for war.

Preparedness Movement Others in USA were worried about the lack of preparation THUS….. The Preparedness Movement was a frenzy of public concern over the lack of preparedness of the U.S. military, led by Roosevelt and Wood. Advocates of the Preparedness Movement argued for conscription as the basis of American military service; however, the Preparedness Movement was an elitist project, with very little efforts to win over working or middle class supporters. Preparedness Movement

Although Democrats largely rejected the Preparedness Movement and tried to cut the military budget, events such as the sinking of the RMS Lusitania forced Wilson to concede that the American military was unprepared for any eventuality of war. Wilson was forced to compromise with the Preparedness Movement, enabling legislation like the National Defense Act of 1916 to pass. This provided for long-term growth of the army Wilson's subsequent build-up of naval and armed forces alienated his pacifist supporters and did not win over ethnic working class groups or isolated farmers during his re-election campaign of 1916.

Arms supplies & trade From 1914-1917, Wilson kept the economy on a peacetime basis, but he still made loans to the Allied powers. By April 1917, the U.S. had loaned more than $2 billion to the Allies. This gave the U.S. a tremendous stake in the war; if the Allies lost, the U.S. might never recover its loans. American shipping was impacted by the war in Europe: Britain seized and searched American ships looking for German "contraband," and Germany employed U-boats to sink shipping bound for Britain or France.

U.S. trade with the Central Powers fell from $170 million in 1914 to virtually nothing in 1916. On the other hand, the Allies needed U.S. manufactured goods, and because Britain controlled the seas, could get them. U.S. trade with the Allies rose from $825 million in 1914 to $3.2 billion in 1916. Thus, the health of the U.S. economy came more and more to rest on continued trade with the Allies.

Woodrow Wilson In 1916, Wilson (Democrat) was ‘narrowly’ re-elected under the party slogan "kept us out of war“ In 1917, believing he had a mandate to act as the Great War's peacekeeper, Wilson urged belligerent nations to seek "peace without victory". The Republicans campaigned against Wilson's pacifist stance, arguing for a program of greater mobilization and preparedness, and attacked Wilson's interventions in the Mexican Civil War. Ultimately, Wilson asked Congress to declare war in order to protect North and South America from German encroachment and to spread the dream of liberalism and democracy across the world (while ensuring that the Allies carved up the postwar world in a manner befitting US commercial interests).

Public opinion By 1916, American neutrality was giving way to self-interest and nationalism; peace efforts failed due to increasing fear of Germany. The Preparedness Movement, which used the press to document how under-prepared the American military was for war, led initial American efforts to mobilize. In Feb 1917, Berlin's plan to resume submarine attacks and the Zimmermann telegraph scandal outraged the American public opinion, which subsequently supported Wilson when he asked Congress for a declaration of war in 1917.

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare & sinking of Lusitania May 7 1915 Refer to previous learning unit regarding Sea battles and unrestricted u boat warfare. Note though it would be a further TWO years before USA entered war the sinking of the Lusitania played a significant role in turning public opinion against Germany, both in the United States and abroad.

Zimmerman Telegram This telegram, written by German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann, is a coded message sent to Mexico, January 1917, proposing a military alliance against the United States. The obvious threats to the United States contained in the telegram inflamed American public opinion against Germany and helped convince Congress to declare war against Germany.

Declaration of war The last straw occurred in March 1917, when German submarines again began sinking American ships in the Atlantic. Americans increasingly saw German actions as a threat not only to the U.S. economy and security, but to American honor. On April 2, 1917, Wilson went before Congress to ask for a declaration of war. In his speech, Wilson promised that this would be no ordinary war fought for self-interested purposes. Wilson said that the U.S. would be going into the war with a mission to liberate all people, even the German people, and that "The world must be made safe for democracy." Congress passed a war declaration on April 4, and Wilson signed it on April 6.