Tuesday, October 26, 2010
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.
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I agree. However, i also think that the whole idea of political/economic interests played into it too. Their allies were going into the war, so they wanted to be in the war, and on what they believed to be the right side, before it was too late. And with regards to economic reasonings, I think that they thought of confiscating goods that they could profit from. Finally, nationalism played a big role as well. The American people had just rallied behind reform, and they needed something new to rally about. The war was the perfect thing for this, for many reforms had already been implemented and the call for reform was declining as people got more of what they wanted. So they found a new sense of patriotism in this war
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the United States should have entered the war. First of all, our citizens were being killed by the unrestricted submarine warfare being practiced by the Germans. It is America's job to protect its citizens, and that is one reason why it was right for the United States to enter the war. Secondly, the German foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmermann, had sent a telegram to Mexico saying that if they declared war on the United States, Germany would help them regain lost Mexican territory. Germany had in a way had already declared war on America by attacking our ships and inviting others to attack us. In the very least, joining the war was a way of defending the country.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that the United States had many reasons for entering the war. First, the German use of unrestricted submarine warfare pushed the United States towards war. In 1915, Berlin declared the area around Great Britain a war zone and made it clear that they would sink any ship that passed through. A few months later, a German submarine, or U-boat, sank the British ship Lusitania, ultimately resulting in the death of 128 Americans. The United States also had economic reasons to join the war. They had large investments in the British and French, who were financing their war with US loans. The United States wanted to make sure that they got paid back; however, most of their money was not returned by the end of the war. Politics also played a role in the United States’ decision to enter the war. The Zimmerman Telegram, which Jacob has already discussed, stated that Mexico would regain its territories previously lost to Germany if it declared war on the United States. Also, entering the war would help establish the United States as a world power. All of these factors play key roles in the United States’ decision to join World War I.
ReplyDeleteI believe the United States made the right decision by entering the war too. The Germans attacked the neutral American public in the sinking of H.M.S. Lusitania. Actions like these and their declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare were signs of disrespect to the United States. The German U-Boats violated centuries of respectable maritime warfare. The violent tactics that accompanied the submarines by taking no prisoners and sinking vessels on sight was unacceptable. As a world power, we had no choice but to respond militarily. Finally, the sooner the war ended with an alliance victory would bring many benefits. The British blockade would be over which would help our economy after months of no exports to Germany. If the alliance won it would guarantee paid back loans that we had given to France and Britain. I firmly believe the U.S. made the right decision.
ReplyDeleteI also wholeheartedly agree that the United States should have entered World War I. Jamie had it right in saying that the sinking of the Lusitania by a German U-boat was a crucial factor that added to the United States decision to enter the war. Not only was the German policy of unrestricted submarine warfare a danger to tourists and United States citizens, it was also a danger to our trade, as it threatened our threatened our trade with England. These economic ties were strengthened when Treasury Secretary William McAdoo professed to Wilson that in order to prevent economic collapse, the Allied nations would buy American-made munitions. Later, Secretary of State Lansing convinced Wilson to allow J.P. Morgan to issue loans to the Aliied powers in order to prevent economic troubles back home, including the unrest of the working class if the United States did not involve themselves in the war. Also, many Americans, especially Wilson, had pro-3ritish sympathies and ties to Great Britain. After the Lusitania crisis, many Americans beckoned any reason for the United States to enter the war, including (not surprisingly) Theodore Roosevelt. Another factor in Wilson's decision to go to war was the future peace agreement to settle the war. Even though he believed in his policy of absolute neutrality, Wilson also believed that in order for the war to be settled properly, there must be a United States influence in the peace talks. For that to happen, the United States would have to enter the war.
ReplyDeleteNot surprisingly, I also agree with the United States entering World War I. At first, President Wilson wanted the United States to remain neutral and the American public generally agreed but a series of events changed this mentality. First, strong economic interests bound the United States and Britain along with strong ancestral ties. Many well-off Americans routinely traveled to England and school books stressed English origins of American institutions. Second, Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare angered Wilson because the brutal policy resulted in the death of many Americans in the destructions of two passenger vessels: Lusitania and Sussex. Finally, Wilson changed his point of view and believed that America had to enter World War I because if Germany won the war, the international system based on democracy and capitalism, the “American Dream,” would be impossible to achieve.
ReplyDeleteI agree as well that Wilson made the correct decision in leading the United States into World War I. From the start of the European conflict, nations on both sides had placed “restraints of trade” upon United States global trade. However, unlike monopolies and strikes within the nation’s borders, these issues could not be resolved by a Congressional act. Britain’s declaration of the North Sea as a war zone cut off most US trade with the Central Powers, and Germany’s blockade of British ports produced the same outcome with the Allies. American producers dependent on European consumers simply could not continue to thrive without these markets. It became imperative that amends be made to restrictions on individual naval rights before the American economy collapsed.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to infractions against trade, the threat of a hostile German empire greatly influenced the United States’ decision to enter the war. The unrestricted German submarine warfare on both hostile and neutral ships not only threatened trade, but also the lives of US citizens. As mentioned in several previous posts, the sinking of the Lusitania by German U-boats in 1915 was seen as a direct action against civilian lives. In 1917, the intercepted “Zimmerman Telegram” revealed Germany’s pledge to aid a potential Mexican offensive to regain land lost to the US. These implications of direct attacks against the borders and citizens of the country further incited leaders to halt the German empire before it became too late.
While Wilson certainly had interests in connections with Britain and other prosperous nations, I feel that he was essentially forced into war. In order to protect US trade and promote the nation’s position as a world power, it became necessary to take action against hostile restrictions. It also became a major issue to prevent Germany from developing into an empire with the potential to promote direct offensives on US land. Wilson only abandoned his neutrality policies when war became inevitable and it became clear that a fair peace would be required to move forward.
I’ll jump on the bandwagon and say that the US was correct in entering WWI instead of remaining neutral, mainly for reasons that were previously mentioned. The sinking of the HMS Lusitania, a ship that was intended for peacetime usage, was basically a slap to the face for the US, as Germany in essence said that they weren’t caring about the consequences of their actions. This went against the US saying that Germany would be held accountable for civilian marine casualties and unrestricted warfare. Also, although Wilson wanted to remain neutral initially, he eventually realized that Germany ruling the world as an imperial power would go against the US vision of worldwide democracy among powers. He started to believe that the only way to guarantee a balance of powers was for the US to have direct involvement. In regards to the economy, with Britain seizing American merchant goods under the pretense of them possibly being “hijacked” by the Germans, the only real way that the US could settle this with minimal diplomatic bloodshed was to join as a British ally. Finally, nationalism was on the rise in the US, and with the Spanish-American War recently concluded and reforms shifting out of the spotlight, many Americans needed a new outlet for their patriotic enthusiasm. The war going on in Europe was the perfect opportunity to strengthen these bonds. In response to Sean’s post, I don’t think that Wilson was necessarily “forced” into joining; he simply saw entering the war as the best possible scenario to keep the US going strong.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Wilson made a really good decision when he waited to join the war instead of jumping in right after the HMS Lusitania incident. At that point it would not have been beneficial to the United States to join because we would have suffered much greater losses of men and supplies. Also, most Americans were opposed to the war, as illustrated my the Woman's Peace Party and the popular song "I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier." However, by 1917, Wilson had no choice but to join the Allies and help end the conflict. At that point the United States was being significantly affected by the European trade restrictions. With the declared war zone engulfing shipping lines in the North Sea and Britain blocking all of America's exports to Germany, there was no way to regain a healthy trade market other than to end the war. In addition, many of the "neutrality rights" that the US supposedly had were being violated anyway, so we were being treated as if we were involved in the war even though we were not formally participating. Germany's U-boats were the final straw for the President, as he could not sit around and watch as they destroyed countless Naval ships with their unrestricted sub warfare and endangers the lives of everyone, including Americans. Perhaps Wilson could have waited it out and hoped that the Allies would eventually succeed, but he decided that joining the war would greatly increase the chances of victory and a return to the preexisting European trade system. He made the right choice, giving the Allies the final boost that they needed to defeat the Central Powers without causing devastating loss to the US.
ReplyDeleteGoing against what everyone else had said here, I feel that the United States should not have enetered the war. It seems that main reason people are poointing out is that the German U-Boats were sinking U.S. ships. However, when sailing on these boats over to Britain and Europe, they should have known that they were going to be entering a a large scale war zone. As well,the Germans had warned the United States that if they sent boats, like the Lusitania, over to Great Britain and Europe they were going to sink them because it was a war zone and they did not know what could be on the ships. The United States had been warned about what was going to happen if they sent ships over to Europe and everything the Germans had warned them about happened.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that the United States should have entered the war. One reason for why I believe this is because our allies were being destroyed by the powerful German military. We wanted to keep our allies for future help. Anothere reason for joining the war was because the Germans were sinking US ships. This gave us the right to do what we had to do in order to protect our troops, and as well as our civilians. A third reason for joining the war would be because we were in an economic slump, and this war could help get the prices back up. Also the Zimmerman Telegram gave us another reason to go to war. It stated if Mexico declared war on the United States, then Germany would give the land back that they lost. There were many reason for going to war, and I felt the reasons to go to war were sufficient enough to explain why we did so.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that the United States was correct in entering World War I. The decision to enter the war was an overuse of power, used to interfere in foreign affairs which had no relevance to the United States. This was a clear deviation from the foreign policy of George Washington, and the traditional foreign policy of the United States, which asserted that the United States should not become entangled in foreign affairs. One might argue that the United States had a right to enter the war because Germany was pursuing an aggressive strategy of sinking American ships. In return, I would contend that the United States was engaged in illicit activities, because international law stated that one could not ship war supplies on a passenger ship, but the United States did so anyway on the Lusitania. If the United States had not been deceptive by helping the Allies, and actually kept a policy of true neutrality, Germany may not have been angered enough to attack United States ships.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the United States made the right decision in waiting before eventually entering World War I. Early in the war, many Americans including Woodrow Wilson wanted the United States to remain neutral. The United States had managed to stay out of previous European conflicts and World War I should not have been an exception. Joining the war would have gone against more than one hundred years of foreign policy beginning with George Washington and his proclamation of neutrality. Also, many Americans were divided over which side to support. Many Americans identified with Great Britain because of cultural and ancestral ties. On the other hand, German, Irish, and Scandinavian immigrants supported the central powers. Therefore, at the beginning of the war it made sense for the United States to remain neutral.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as the war progressed into a stalemate, United States involvement became inevitable. One cause of the United States entering the war was Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare. The Germans had renewed this tactic after stopping it in 1915 after President Wilson threatened to enter the war. During February and March of 1917, German U-boats sank five American ships. Another reason the United States entered the war was that United States banks had loaned the Allied countries billions of dollars. In order to protect their investments, bankers wanted to make sure that the Allies won the war. If the United States entered the war, the Allies would gain a huge advantage over the Germans. Finally, President Wilson managed to unite the Americans in support of the war by claiming that the United States would only fight the war to make the world "safe for democracy".
I agree that the US should have entered the war and that their timing was also good. With billions of dollars sitting with allied countries in Europe, a German victory would lead to certain depression in the United States. Our people had just recently endured a four year plague in the Panic of 1913 and were not ready for another such hardship.
ReplyDeleteAlso, though it was traditional policy to stay out of foriegn affairs, I believe that when people began to die, like on the Luisitana, it became time to intervene. German Unrestricted submarine warfare threatened the peace and safety of Americans and the lives of American allies. Germany was violating the standard for naval warfare and made it clear that they were not going to be "fighting fair".
Finally with a German victory, democracy would diminish in Europe making it much harder for the US diplomatically. America was pushing to make the world safe for democracy and out of the hands of the communists and dictatorships of Germany and Russia (previous to 1917). An allied victory would make this goal much more attainable.
With their entry late in the war, America was able to accoplish most of its goals while avoiding the major casualties it would have had if was a major player through out the entire war.
I would also have to agree that the United States was correct in joining the war and also in waiting to join, like Billy said. The HMS Lusitania was a terrible tragedy, but there was fair warning from the German government that British ships may be sunk. It also turned out that the Lusitania was carrying war supplies to the Allies, which was illegal. Joining the war also goes against both the Monroe Doctrine and George Washington's foreign policies. However, in order to become a world power, the United States needed to have a seat at the post-war peace talks. If the United States government wanted to be taken seriously, it is necessary for their voices to be heard during these peace talks. In the end it turned out that many European nations did not think much of the United States' opinions during these talks because they did not lost nearly as many people as countries like Russia, France, and Germany. They did send a lot of supplies and money to help throughout the war, mostly for the Allies which many countries failed to consider. However, it was still important that the United STates was able to get its feet wet in European interests and have its voice heard.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people on that David Kelly bandwagon.
ReplyDeleteA lot of standard textbook answers of why US should enter but not much reaction to points made in article about Wilson's unneutrality.
Also the US could have done quite well economically without joing in AND in fact could have used its leverage to perhaps stop the war which was only continuing because the US agreed to keep loaning money to the Allies.
I personally believe that America was not Justified in entering the war. Primarily,because America had no reason to be there politically nor economically. Given, Wilson did enter the war only after being attacked by German U-boats, and stated that they wanted world-wide Democracy,yet the Lusitania was caring goods as well as weapons. The people on board were given fair warning. It is a sad loss but that is war. Wilson also realized that this opportunity to enter the war was his meal ticket to international Power by having a seat at the peace agreement. Just as JP has pointed out, this was a red flag against our former foreign policy standpoint, put forth by George Washington. That America should not get entangled with foreign affairs. Economically, we were doing great, farmers nearly doubled their profits in 1918 to to European farmer disrupts and because of immigration halt because of the war, industries needed workers. Also even if we hadn't entered the war, Europe might have come to a draw and a treaty, canceling all the war reparations (payments) that Germany had to pay the Allies and therefore, Hitler would not have risen to create another war.
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