Why The U.S. Shouldn't Have Entered WWI

Most people will argue that the main reasons we got involved in WWI was Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, the Zimmerman Telegram, cultural ties to the Allies, and to protect the massive amount of money invested with the Allied Powers. However, they are overlooking some obvious facts.
As for the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare and the sinking of the H.M.S Lusitania which Colin Tonelli brought up, he forgot to mention how the Germans published adds in popular newspapers next to travel adds warning people to not go to Europe. The adds clearly laid out the dangers of traveling in a war zone, and especially traveling on a ship belonging to England. And, the Germans were partially justified for sinking the ship, as it was carrying munitions in a flagrant disregard of the rules of war, as it was a passenger ship. Even though Wilson said we would enter the war if Germany continued to practice unrestricted submarine warfare, the event we used as evidence, the Lusitania, was a ship carrying munitions to England, so Germany had to sink it to save German lives.
Although the Zimmerman Telegram inflamed public unrest and resentment of Germany, the expectation of Mexico to go to war with the U.S. is laughable. Just prior to WWI, we had a segment of the military in Mexico pursuing Pancho Villa. If a country allows another to have a substantial military presence in their own country and does nothing about it, how will they expect to beat us in a war? Mexicans can also look to conflicts like the Spanish American War, our numerous Latin American interventions, and how we beat them handily in our last Mexican War and realize that it is an unwinnable war. Because of this the telegram should not have been taken seriously.
Although many more people in the United States had cultural ties to England, there were also many people who had ties to Germany and the Central Powers. To say that the U.S. had cultural ties to England is a massive generalization of the U.S. The ties to England were more apparent because more educated and wealthy individuals were tied to England economically and culturally.
Our economic interests would never have had to be protected if our bankers and money-lenders honored our nuetrality in the first place. We lent billions of dollars to the Allies and only 27 million to the Central Powers. If we were truly nuetral, our trade should have been more evenly balanced with both sides of the conflict.
However, the most obvious reason we shouldn't have gotten involved was the size and strength of our military. It was pitifully small and its officers were mostly old veterans waiting to retire. Once we entered we had to set up a draft and quickly train and ship soldiers over to Europe. Although the country might have been ready for war, the military was not.

The United States should have entered the war. It makes sense on multiple levels. From a political standpoint, the United States said it would get involved if the Germans used unrestricted submarine warfare. If the U.S. had backed down after making this statement, it would not have looked good for the government of the country. There was also an economic reason to get involved in the war. The United States had loaned billions of dollars to the Allies. If Germany was able to defeat the allies, that investment would have been completely lost. Also, the United States was making money on all of the military products that they were shipping to the front. These factors make it necessary for U.S. entry in to World War I.

The United States should have entered World War I

The United States made a good decision in entering into World War I. One reason for this is that the security of the United States had been threatened by the Germans. An example of this came when the British ship Lusitania had been sunken by a German submarine. This ship was carrying passengers from the U.S and in its sinking more than one hundred of the American passengers died. This proved that the United States had to protect its allies or else the Germans would continuously attack America until they either submitted or fought back. In 1917 the Germans further provoked America by offering Mexico help if they invaded America. It was necessary that America would let the war take its course or defend themselves on the German front. Another reason that America should have participated in World War I was American nationalism and their idea of who should rule and what form of government to follow. Americans wanted democracy, and the German government, if it won World War I, would prosper and become a non-democratic major ruling power of Europe. Also, in America there was much dismay over our allies fighting without America in the picture to help them. Common people wanted to help the allies fight the huge German Army and see America triumph over the German government, who was portrayed in the United States to be an evil ruling power. That is why the United States should have entered World War I.

Why The United States Should Have Entered World War I

In my opinion, the United States ultimately had no choice but to enter World War I. One of the major reasons that they were forced to join was that Germany had resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. Earlier in the war, Woodrow Wilson had informed the Germans that if they did not discontinue the use of unrestricted submarine warfare, the United States would enter the war on behalf of the Allies. I think that this was a threat that he had to go through with; if he did not, foreign powers would not take the United States' threats as seriously next time around. I think that Germany's actions were too hostile to permit. Germany, in the Zimmerman Telegram, promised territory to Mexico that they had lost in the Mexican-American War. They also were killing American citizens on board passenger ships. It also was neccessary to join because it was absurd that they were not already fighting as part of the Allies. They had cultural ties to England and war debts to France from The American Revolution. United States banks, as of April 1917 had lent the Allies $2.3 Billion as opposed to $27 million to Germany. I think that Wilson, even though he had promised that they would not join, had no choice but in asking for a declaration of war from Congress.

Yes they should have gotten involved

I believe that the U.S. did the right thing in getting involved in WW1. Germany's return to unrestricted warfare with ther uboats was a clear violation of internatinal law and endangered U.S. trade. This was a clear act of war on Germany's part. Had the U.S. not stepped up to Germany's then many U.S. ships would have been sunk without restriction. The U.S. was also longing for the war in terms of popular will. Many americans were severely angered by the zimmerman telegraph which Germany sent to Mexico. If we had not enetered the war who knows to what lengths Germay would have gone to prevent the U.S. from entering the war. The U.S. also had crucial economic and political ties to the allied powers. If Wilson had not chosen to enter the war and if the allies had lost, then all U.S. investments in Britain and France would have gone to waste. Finally, the U.S. wanted to play an influencial part in the reconstruction of Europe and the continued protection of democracy, which they could not be a part of unless they helped the allies win the war. They wouldn't have had the slightest influence unless they took part in the war. So culturaly, militarily, economicaly, and popularly the U.S. had to enter the war.

Should the US have entered the war?

I, for one, do not think that the US should have entered the war. However, the US was making decisions prior to actually declaring war that made it necessary for it to enter the war in order to protect its own interests. If the US had not made decisions to help the Allies, such as extending loans to the Allies and allowing the British blockade to stop American ships, it would have not had to enter the war. Entering the war was a decision that went against the policies of George Washington and James Monroe, whose foreign policy was to stay out of European affairs. A large part of the population was opposed to entering the war as well. Many Irish-Americans and German-Americans did not want to support England in a war against Germany. Also, many women were opposed to the war. Also, if America had let the war run its course, it may have been able to acquire territory from the defeated Allied powers. However, by deciding to help the Allies before entering the war, the US made it necessary to enter the war on the Allies' side to preserve its own economic self-interests and the safety of its citizens. The US could have stayed out of the war by banning trade with any powers involved in the war, forcing Britain to accept its neutral rights, and/or banning travel to Europe.

USA during WW1

I think that the United States did the right thing in waiting to get in the war. At the start of the war there was strong opposition to the war by many Americans. Women organized a protest through a new organization called the Women's Peace Party. The delayed entry of the war could be seen as a good tactic to raise stronger support for United States entering it. The British policies were restrictive on American trade and angered seamen. It was seen as a violation of international relations, but not acted upon by Wilson. The German use of U-boats was seen as wrong in the eyes of many Americans. It took lives, which were not replaceable as the goods being confiscated by the British. These acts led to the support of war by American people. The Germans had yielded to American demands to stop the use of U-boats for a couple of years because they would destroy civilian boats. The continued use of the U-boats could have changed the results of the war. The United States did the right thing in waiting to enter World War 1.