America Enters World War I

America Tries to Stay Out of the War

The United States wanted to refrain from engaging in the Great War. America included many people of English, French, and German ancestry, so it wasn’t easy to choose sides. Many Americans believed in isolation, a policy of not becoming entangled in foreign wars. Woodrow Wilson was re-elected to the presidency by a narrow victory in 1916 with the slogan, “He Kept Us Out of War,” but within months, the United States would be drawn into the conflict.

The Sinking of the Lusitania

Many Americans were enraged when a German submarine sank the Lusitania. More than twelve hundred passengers boarded the British luxury ship sailing from New York to Liverpool, England. The German embassy placed advertisements in New York newspapers warning passengers they were sailing into a war zone, but not a single person canceled. On May 7, 1915, the Germans sunk the Lusitania, killing all on board, including 128 Americans. A later investigation showed the ship carried some ammunition and military supplies intended for Britain, but it was primarily a passenger vessel. Many Americans urged President Wilson to join the war.

The Zimmerman Note

In the spring of 1917, the British decoded a secret message from Arthur Zimmerman, the German Foreign Secretary, to the government of Mexico. The Zimmerman note urged Mexico to declare war on the United States. Once America was defeated, Germany would insist on peace terms that would force the United States to return Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona to Mexico.

America Enters the War

President Wilson spoke before a joint session of Congress on April 2, 1917, less than one month after beginning his second term in office. He asked Congress to declare war on Germany to keep the world “safe for democracy.” Great Britain and France were democracies, while a Kaiser ruled Germany and an Emperor ruled Austria-Hungary.