World War One - From neutrality to war
World war one started in 1914. The United Stated
did not consider it their problem at first and therefore decided to stay neutral
at first. We had a foreign policy of isolationism, strongly believung that the
war was Europe's affair.
However, staying neutral was hard. In 1915, the
US ship Lusitania was sunk, and over 120 American passengers were killed. Later
next year, another ship, Sussex, was also sunk by German U-boats. This meant
that the Germans violated their policy of neutrality at sea. After this,
President Woodrow Wilson issued a warning to the Germans, basically stating that
if they did not leave our ships alone, the United States would not be on
friendly relations with Germany anymore.
At first, the Germans cooperated, but then, in
1917, German Ambassador Berstorff decided to end diplomatic relations with the
US and try to continue controlling the seas. At the same time, Germany did not
want the US to enter the war against them, knowing that they'd be in trouble if
we did. So Foreign Minister Alfred Zimmerman tried to convince Mexico, US's
neighbor, and Japan, into attacking the United States, promising Germany's help
if they did. Unfortunately for them, the British intercepted their message and
decoded it, and it never reached it destination, but ended up in the Us instead.
Seeing Germany's intentions, President Wilson,
with permission from Congress, declares war on Germany on April 6, 1917.
did not consider it their problem at first and therefore decided to stay neutral
at first. We had a foreign policy of isolationism, strongly believung that the
war was Europe's affair.
However, staying neutral was hard. In 1915, the
US ship Lusitania was sunk, and over 120 American passengers were killed. Later
next year, another ship, Sussex, was also sunk by German U-boats. This meant
that the Germans violated their policy of neutrality at sea. After this,
President Woodrow Wilson issued a warning to the Germans, basically stating that
if they did not leave our ships alone, the United States would not be on
friendly relations with Germany anymore.
At first, the Germans cooperated, but then, in
1917, German Ambassador Berstorff decided to end diplomatic relations with the
US and try to continue controlling the seas. At the same time, Germany did not
want the US to enter the war against them, knowing that they'd be in trouble if
we did. So Foreign Minister Alfred Zimmerman tried to convince Mexico, US's
neighbor, and Japan, into attacking the United States, promising Germany's help
if they did. Unfortunately for them, the British intercepted their message and
decoded it, and it never reached it destination, but ended up in the Us instead.
Seeing Germany's intentions, President Wilson,
with permission from Congress, declares war on Germany on April 6, 1917.