American Involvement in Ww1

While large sectors of the American public wished to stay neutral during World War One, the desperately warring Germany, despite attempts at negotiation, could not permit the U.S. to trade with its enemies by sea; thus America’s defense of its rights as a neutral nation ironically led to war.

During the early days of the First World War, in a situation eerily similar to the War of 1812 (yeah, I know nobody has heard of the War of 1812), a geographically removed America attempted to remain distant from a destructive European conflict. Unfortunately, many of the same complications ensued. Germany and its allies were in fierce combat with the allied powers and were under a British Blockade that obstructed the North Sea, their only maritime trading route. While the United States was willing to trade with any European power, British warships guaranteed that, in actuality, U.S. vessels could only trade with the allied powers. The war was of such magnitude that all countries involved were in need of massive quantities of supplies and resources. American trade would have provided the Brits with a decisive advantage.

Germany’s situation was so desperate that it could not afford to recognize the commonly accepted rights of neutral countries, particularly the right to unimpeded trade. It deployed its deadly U-Boats which took a heavy toll on the U.S. merchant marine and occasionally sunk ocean liners loaded with passengers, notably the Lusitania, which Germany claimed, perhaps rightfully, was loaded with weapons. The United States attempted negotiations and made agreements with Germany including the Sussex pledge. The Sussex Pledge was Germany’s promise to only sink Merchant Marine Vessels after determining they carried contraband and only after allowing the crew to evacuate. This was impractical because a surfaced U-boat could be easily destroyed by any deckguns on a merchant vessel. Additionally, the fundamental details remained the same: Germany could not afford to recognize American neutral rights without sacrificing its own war effort. Germany’s violations of American neutral rights, however necessary to their own victory against the Allied Powers, would eventually force President Wilson into declaring war or turning a blind eye to the situation- essentially an act of political suicide. Of course, Germany’s far-minded plot to bring Mexico to bear against the Southwestern U.S. couldn’t have helped matters…Even this apparently blatant act of war is unclear. Many historians allege that Great Britian concocted this “Zimmerman Note” bearing the plan and arranged for the Americans to intercept it.

It’s important to remember that at the time war was declared, vast sections of the American public still opposed it. Many felt after the war that the primary effect had been a vast increase in profits for American manufacturers that produced goods for the military. It is also valuable to note that the Germany we fought was not Nazi Germany and that Hitler actually began his career in the trenches of WW1 as a common soldier. The economic and political damage caused by the end of war settlement, the Versailles Treaty, arguably provided the conditions of desperation and bitterness in Germany which led to Hitler’s climb to power. But that’s an entirely new topic.

Floop out.