Important World War I Question!?

Question

What were some key events which finally led the United States to go to war in World War I?

Answer 1

Sinking of Luisitania or something like that...

Attacking merchant vessels without a warning or searching

Answer 2

the United States was opposed to Germany's campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare. And after issuing ultimatums, the Germans sunk the Lusitania, killing a fair number of American passengers in the process. This generated enough hostility in the US to bring them into the war.

Answer 3

The Lusitania was torpedoed in May 1915; among the 1500 killed were 128 Americans.  International outrage caused the Germans to cease "unrestricted submarine warfare" in 1915.  But they started again early in 1917, making the calculated decision that even if this caused the US to enter the war, they could sink enough ships, before America could create an army and move it to France, to defeat England, then France, and win the war.  "Unrestricted submarine warfare" was a big reason.

The Zimmerman telegram.  This was an intercepted German diplomatic message to Mexico, trying to get the Mexicans to declare war on the US, so the US would be too busy to intervene in Europe.

Effective British propaganda.  For years after the war people believed the Germans were busy raping Belgian nuns and making soap out of Belgian babies.

Actual German aggression and ruthlessness.  The Germans had a policy called "schrecklichkeit" - "frightfulness", intended to destroy any civilian resistance to their invasions in France and Belgium.  They shot many civilians and burned towns, such as Louvain (Leuven)..

http://www.haverford.edu/engl/english354...

http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_W...

http://www.pittstate.edu/services/scied/...

Answer 4

The main event which brought the Americans into the war was the sinking of the passenger ship the Lusitania by a German U-boat. Woodrow Wilson attempted to bring a halt to the attacks on passenger liners by the Germans but not too long after the first attack unrestricted submarine warfare by the Germans continued and the Americans declared war on Germany

Answer 5

Here are two.  

First, the resumption of unrestricted u-boat warfare by Germany was the major factor. Remember that the Lusitania was sunk early in the war, and Germany then ended unrestricted u-boat warfare for a time.  So, rather than saying the sinking of the Lusitania led America to enter the war, I think it is more accurate to say the resumption of unrestricted u-boat warfare led to American entry.

Second, the Zimmerman telegram was also a precipitating event.  It suggested that Germany might be seeking a secret alliance with Mexico against the United States.

Answer 6

The US was supplying military equipment from the beginning to the allies. When the British and the French ran out of enough men to mount any offense, they talked the US into providing fresh troops. The "War to end all wars" ended up setting the stage for WW2 and a cold war that lasted till the early 1990s.

Answer 7

One that the people above forgot was the assasination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Answer 8

Sinking of the Luisitania and the Zimmerman note and the Germans proposal to start again after neutralizing their U boat sinkings of bombing Allied merchant ships

Answer 9

Look up the "Zimmerman telegram" - - That is often considered a factor - - though I doubt many people in the USA took seriously the idea that Mexico might attack the U.S. no matter how much the Germans goaded them.

The sinking of the Lusitania is often cited as a factor.  That occurred in May (1st) 1915 - - a full two years before we declared war on Germany.  The ship was carrying war supplies to Britain.  There were some Americans aboard, but most of the passengers were British.  If America was angry about this, why wait two years to do something?

By 1917 when we did finally join that nightmare war, American bankers in New York and Chicago had loaned vast sums of money to Britain and France.  It looked like Britain and France might lose the war.  If Britain and France lost, these bankers stood to lose a great deal of money. There were other factors of course, but I think this money issue was a major factor that led to the declaration of war on the side of the British and French.

We were shipping supplies to Britain and France, and as a consequence of this German submarines were firing torpedoes at our ships.  We can hardly blame Germany for trying to stop shipments of war supplies.  We did not HAVE to do business with Germany's enemies.  American companies were interested in making money.