Reasons the United States entered WWI

America’s BackgroundWWI began in the summer of 1914. During this time,

America decided to remain neutral.

One of the reasons for this neutrality was the vast amount of immigrants in America. They were from

countries on both sides of the war and had a personal attachment or relatives in Europe fighting. For America

to chose a side would disrespect the heritage and culture of many Americans. Therefore America was

divided and a position of neutrality would satisfy everyone.

If the United States were to join in the

Great War, which side would they be on?

Americans were satisfied with the position of neutrality & it would take a couple of huge events that would convince them otherwise.

These two events would be the: - Sinking of the Lusitania - Zimmerman Telegram

The British ship, the Lusitania was sunk in

May 1915. The ship had left New York and was

headed to Europe when it was sunk by a German

U-boat. The ship took 18 minutes to sink as 1,153 passengers and crew drowned. There were 128 American

passengers among them.

Before this incident, New York newspapers had ran a

warning (paid by the German Embassy) saying that any ship sailing into the European War Zone

was at risk of being shot by German submarines. Also many passengers received

anonymous telegrams advising them not to travel

on the ship.

The passengers ignored the warnings because the Lusitania was bragged to being the fastest

and largest ship in the Atlantic. It could outpace any other vessel above or below the

water. ..so there was no need for worry.

In March the following year (1916), a German submarine torpedoed a French passenger boat, the Sussex. A couple of Americans

passengers aboard were wounded.

The attack prompted the United States to end diplomacy with the

Germany. The German government made a pledge to give America advanced

warning before sinking merchant and passenger

ships. This would give the passengers and crew a chance to get in a safe

position.

However in January 1917, it was clear that Germany was not going to abide by this

pledge as they announce their immediate use of unrestricted submarine warfare.

The last straw for America was the interception of the Zimmerman telegram

by the British in January 1917.

The telegram was given to the United States in

February and was released

to the American press in March 1917.

This telegram was from the

German Foreign Minister to the

German Minister to Mexico but

intercepted by the British.

In addition to Germany’s unrestricted warfare, this

telegram angered the American people. The

telegram pushed America towards

war.

On April 6, 1917, the United States Congress formally declared war on Germany and its allies. America had officially entered WWI.

If you think about the facts presented, there are many holes

and unanswered questions.

Take a few minutes and go over your notes. Write down anything

that you think might be questionable and ASK the question.

Write down your question at the top of a poster board.

Spend the rest of the period searching through the books in the library on WWI

and perusing the internet to find the answer to your question.

Write the answer on the poster board and it will be presented to the class the

following day.