American Involvment in World War I Essay

This investigation assesses the Statesn involvement in World contendfare I before multitude intervention, and how this led to military intervention. In order to assess these causes, one must examine Americas involvement in the produce of war before combat, the events that launched Americas military intervention in the war, American sentiments about the war before military intervention, and Woodrow Wilsons actions before the war.Two sources use in the essay, Americas expectant war World War One and the American Experience by Robert H.Ziegler and Woodrow Wilsons speech to telling on April 2nd, 1917 are evaluated for their origins, values, purposes and limitations. The investigation does not asses the pre-war situations of any countries but the United States, and does not asses American military involvement during the First World War Summary Of manifest Prior to 1917, America was already deeply involved in the First World War, though they did not have troops fighting in the tre nches overseas. First, American involvement in the war was purely as a producer and creditor to the affiliate Powers.The war, while catastrophic for the countries involved in its atrophied trench battles, provided America with an astronomical boost to its economy, from 2 cardinal dollars in exported materials in 1913 to n wee 6 one million million dollars in exports in 1916. This economic boom was mainly brought on by Britains dependency on American foodstuffs and manufactured goods.. The economic ties between America and Britain tightened with public subscription loans. By 1917, Britain had borrowed 2. 7 billion dollars from American creditors. historiographer Paul Koistinen wrote Without American supplies, Britain could not continue the war without American financing of almost 10$ million a day Britain would exhaust its reserves of atomic number 79 and securities by March 1917. Its dependence was total. Cutting back procurement . . . would produce disaster in England Original ly, America did nothing but reap the reward of neutrality. When Americas turned their eyes to the stage of war in atomic number 63, they were truly terrified. One Chicago newspaper joked A hearty vote of thanks to Columbus for having observed America.This sentiment was echoed by many American citizens, who showed pride in electric chair Woodrow Wilsons decision to book America a neutral state in the war. Americans thoughts on the war lied in their bloodlines, as a majority of Americans were descendants from either allied or Central Powers nations. Most Americans, early in the war at least, didnt understand the war or why it was being fought, and were glad that America wasnt involved. However, these robust Anti-Involvement sentiments began to fade aft(prenominal) May 7 1915, the day of the Lusitania crisis.German U-Boats torpedoed and sunk a passenger liner in British waters, cleanup position nearly 1,200 civils, including 128 American citizens. The murder of these innocents round off the first widespread pro war feelings in Americans. This outrage was justified, but was also heightened by yellow journalism that demonized Germans as barbarians and deranged killers. President Woodrow Wilson, taking note of this event and the outrage it caused, warned the Germans that any further violation of American rights would result in Strict Accountability for these actions.This, as well as the bloody war dragging on in Europe, brought up the question of military preparedness in the United States. By 1916, pro-preparedness sentiment was widespread, as 135,000 supporters of expanding the military marched on New York Citys 5th Avenue, for 12 hours. In Chicago, 130,000 telephone operators moved in the shape of an American flag, goose-stepping down State Street. In the election of 1916, Woodrow Wilson ran against Charles E. Hughes, who was backed by Theodore Roosevelt, former president and staunch Allied Powers supporter, as well as an advocate for military preparedne ss.Woodrow Wilson won the election by only about 600,000 popular votes. However, these sentiments were met with an equally strong anti-militarism force, saying that in a chaotic world, America must be a beacon and reject entrance into war, and resist building an enormous military. Strong anti-militaristic sentiments began to fade when British intelligence officers intercepted a telegram sent from Foreign Secretary of the German imperium Arthur Zimmermann to the German ambassador of Mexico, Heinrich von Eckardt. This infamous proposal, known as the Zimmermann note, proposed that Mexico wage war against the United States.Throughout Americas neutrality in World War 1, President Wilson had acted as a mediator, but with tension building to a terminal level and with the Zimmermann note, Wilson was forced to ask congress to bolster Americas military forces on April 2nd 1917. Later in the same year, America sent its first military forces oversees Evaluation Of Sources Robert H Zieger Amer icas Great War World War One and the American Experience Origins- (2000) Zieger is a respected labor historian Purpose- Provides an in-depth look at American involvement in the war.Value- The economic statistics and quotations from various primary and secondary sources allow the reader to evaluate the validity of the claims Zieger makes. Limitations- does not provide any new opinions or claims Woodrow Wilson, April 2nd 1917 to congress to persuade congress to bring the United States Origin- German hostile actions towards the United States Purpose- Persuade congress to declare war on Germany and the Central Powers Value- clearly defined Wilsons reasons for entering war Limitations- doesnt explain the underlying causes of military intervention or pressure from big business to declare war for entryAnalysis Americas involvement in World War One began with producing vital weapons and foodstuffs for the Allied Powers, as well as economically supporting the Allied nations governments. Thro ughout the war, the German Empire repeatedly acted belligerently towards the neutral United States, sinking passenger lines, killing American civilians. Tension with Germany also rose after the proposal to Mexico asking the Mexican army to wage war on the United States.These belligerent German acts, however, would not have held as much effect as they did if American political opinions had not been shifted by the German actions, the economic pressure of close ties to the Allied nations, or social pressure brought along by shifting political attitudes. These all contributed to tensions growing regarding American military involvement I World War One President Woodrow Wilson was a stalwart proponent of American neutrality in the First World War for the almost all of the war, but the American political climate at the time forced his hand..He was able to win this election because most voters at the time had pro-neutrality sentiments. However, Wilson took into account his slim coast of vi ctory, and the Republicans yearning for a prepared military. These yearnings were brought on mainly by the Lusitania sinking. A major proponent for intervention, the previously mentioned Theodore Roosevelt, denounced these acts of the German Empire as acts of piracy. Roosevelts popularity made these statements extremely well heard. This shift in public opinion helped force President Wilsons hand.Americas involvement in World War One before it entry in combat was extremely vital, producing millions of dollars worth of material for Britain and France, as well as financing the war through small loans. This dependency was built by J. P Morgan, who traded nearly 3 billion dollars worth of goods with the allied powers. By 1917, America had invested 2. 7 billion dollars in Britain alone. Historian Paul Koistinens quote regarding British dependency on American trade shows how deeply entrenched America was with the wars affairs pre involvement.These statistics show that the allied powers wer e completely dependent on American economic support American corporations had an immense amount of wealth in the war, and if they Allied powers garbled the war, all of their investments would be worth nothing, because the countries that had been responsible for repaying these debts would no longer exist. The war was taking a detrimental toll on the populations of the warring nations, and the war was almost completely atrophied. It was only a matter of time before one side lost, and it was essential to American business that it was the Allied Powers.Had the allied powers lost to the central powers, American financers would have lost 2. 7 billion dollars as a whole, 2. 7 billion dollars that were needed to give to American business, 2. 7 billion dollars that banks needed to stay in business. Throughout pre-involvement America, as early as the dawn of the war, so called hyphenated Americans, had opinions on what side of the war to support, dependent on their verdant of origin. German -Americans, the largest ethnic group at the time , supported what they thought of as their motherland, Germany, thus supported the Central Powers.The second largest ethnic group, Irish-Americans, saw Great Britain as an oppressor, therefore were also supporters of the central powers. However, most Americans at the time were still pro-neutrality. A Chicago newspaper, expressing thanks to Columbus, wrote an article on the blessing of the Atlantic Ocean. This was a popular sentiment at the time, and many Americans were proud of Wilsons decision to be neutral. After the sinking of American ocean liner Lusitania the support of neutrality began to fade.Before the Lusitania disaster, however, 92 ships had been sunken by aggressive German action. None of these attacks had gained as much publicity, partially due to the fact that the previous sinkings hadnt been as destructive. But this was also due to the fact that the Lusitania sinking was grabbed onto by yellow journalists. The blood of t hese murdered victims cries for vengeance. If that cry is unheard, the people of the United States go out always bear upon them the stigma of the greatest humiliation ever put upon a nation. Writes a reporter from the Toronto Telegram. President Wilson demanded that German U-Boats stop sinking civilian liners, and if they continued to do so, they would be met with military retaliation. This didnt stop Germans from sinking boats, and Wilsons failure to take action against them infuriated Americans. Observing the protests in American cities at the time, one can judge that huge masses of people were strongly in favor of interventionism.ConclusionThe process of the American military association the Allied Powers seemed inevitable from the start of the war, but still took hostile action and over reaction to spark military involvement. Americas pre-war economic ties to Europe and Americas reliance on trade with these nations during the war made Americas involvement with these nations to o deep to let them lose the war, therefore forcing combat. Woodrow Wilsons strong stance on neutrality couldnt stand up to the enormous pressure he faced from the people of the United States.