The U.S., as a government, made a large effort to remain neutral when WWI started in 1914. Europe was a messy business, and, at the beginning of the war, Wilson did whatever he could to keep the U.S. and its people out of foreign affairs. But in 1917, when the U.S. decided to join the Allied forces in their battle against the Central Powers. There are three major reasons why the U.S. decided to mobilize their own troops after such an effort to remain neutral. First, the Zimmermann Note from Germany served to outrage the public, like the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine. Second, Germany had forgone their promise to stop using aggressive U-boat tactics, further enraging the U.S. Finally, sentiments were already with the Allies—the American public would hear about how Germany invaded Belgium and large companies were already financing the Allied cause, so all it took was Wilson giving a speech about democracy, or something to fire up the American people (like the aforementioned events) to tip the U.S. into WWI.
The Zimmermann Note was a telegram from Germany offering Mexico a military alliance. Germany promised Mexico the land that they lost if they joined Germany’s side. Great Britain intercepted this note and exposed it to the U.S., infuriating the American public and leading to America’s intervention. Mexico ignored the note and, after the U.S. joined the Allied forces, outright rejected it. Germany was like a child being caught doing something it wasn’t supposed to, and America was angry. This kind of this is a diplomatic disaster! If Angela Merkel sent Enrique Nieto a text saying “hey, man, will u fight america? ill give u back ur land”, the U.S. would have every right to be outraged (although they would probably suspect a prank more than anything)! Germany was snubbing the U.S. behind its back, and that was one half of the last straw that pushed the U.S. into war.
The other half was the resumption of all-out U-boat warfare on the British blockade. During the war, the British used their considerable naval power to essentially starve the German people with a blockade. When Germany tried to retaliate by brutally shooting down ships with U-boats, America told them that it was barbaric to kill innocent civilians and demanded that they stop. Germany, with no choice, agreed, but when the war reached a stalemate in early 1917, Berlin decided that the only way to win would be to resume, even knowing that it would anger the U.S. into joining the war. This is a huge event, and is what officially gave the U.S. a very good reason to join the war. Germany even knew that this would drag the U.S. into WWI, but they had hoped that they would be able to quickly crush the Allied forces before the U.S. could get properly mobilized.
Finally, public sentiment became so pronounced against the Central Powers (mostly Germany really) that the U.S. was practically at war already (in part because of the above incidents) in 1917. Originally, the public was very much in agreement with George Washington: Europe’s business should stay in Europe; we have no involvement in this war. But, if we have one weakness, it would be that Americans love the idea of spreading democracy. So in 1917, when Wilson petitioned to Congress, asking the U.S. to join the war to aid the crusade for freedom, well, who could disagree? Americans roared their approval, and the same people who jumped at the thought of war just three years before were ready to beat up some Germans.
Despite the government’s efforts to keep America neutral, ultimately, the U.S.’s emergence as a global player eventually forced America into the war. America, at this point, was becoming too prominent to stay neutral in a war. The emergence of the U.S. into world politics was inevitable with the rate of growth it was having, and WWI was an ample place to do it. Especially after Germany snuffed off the U.S. with the Zimmermann Note and the resumption of submarine warfare—if America wanted to be taken seriously, then it would have to show that these actions against it was unacceptable. If the U.S. wanted to tell Germany that it couldn’t use its blockade fighting strategies, if the U.S. wanted to be outraged at the invasion of Belgium, then the U.S. could not continue to ride on its high horse of neutrality. If America wanted to be an active part of the world, then they would have to start choosing sides—there’s only so much that one can do as a neutral. After all, when was the last time you thought about Sweden? That’s exactly what I thought.
(Interesting side comment: Also, American soldiers didn’t really have an effect so much physically, more politically. And economically. Well, I mean, they did have a physical effect. But they also represented a mostly political impact from the U.S.)
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