How Did The Influence America's Declaration Of War In 1917

Influences of America’s Declaration of War in 1917 Due to the combination of the influence of Allied propaganda, America’s economic interests, and Germany’s naval strategy, America declared war on Germany in 1917. This is due to the fact that they were swayed by the three main factors. America had strong economic ties with the Allied powers, and eventually gave them larger loans than they gave to Germany. Allied propaganda swayed many Americans by reminding them of ancestral bonds that they shared. Germany’s naval strategy pushed the American decision to declare war, especially seeing as they attempted to prevent American trade with Great Britain. Many events, like the Zimmerman Telegram, changed the American mood to support the war. America’s

Before America became independent, they were under the English rule early on in history. They still traded with one another when the war approached. Many popular English works like those of Shakespeare brought the two countries together. America did not have any such connection with Germany, however. America’s ancestry with Britain drew them together, in addition to the American schoolbooks that reminded Americans of this. Due to their shared language, it was especially easy for a connection. However, there was dissent. German-Americans did not want America to declare war, and in New Jersey during the year 1916, some Germans showed dissent through an attack on a munitions dump. An answer of some who supported the war on dissent was lynching by mobs and aggression toward German immigrants. Irish-Americans believed that if Germany won, Ireland might be released from the British. Many Americans made clear their support of the Allied powers. For example, some Americans that were hostile to German-Americans changed the name of the hamburger to ‘liberty sandwich’. Referring back to the bond, rich Americans still traveled to England during the war, and the two countries bonded through their strong economic connections. Contrary to the bond between Britain and America, there were tensions between Germany and America, mainly due to Germany’s naval

Possibly the most important factor, the naval strategies of Germany pushed America over the edge to their decision of entering the war. At the beginning of the war, President Wilson declared neutrality. Only in 1917, did America enter the war. America traded with Germany to preserve neutrality before entering the war, but on the 3rd of February, 1917, America broke neutrality. Germany set up a naval blockade around British waters in 1914. America asked for Germany’s boats to be taken away, especially toward the end of 1914, and the beginning of 1915. Germany did not move their boats, and declared the waters surrounding Great Britain to be combat areas and cautioned against ships in those areas. On May 7th, 1915, a British cruise ship the Lusitania was sunk by German U-boats. Though the ship was British, some of the passengers that drowned included 128 American citizens. However, six days before the incident, an ad in an American newspaper warned of traveling on cruise ships. The Sussex Pledge was Germany’s promise not to use unrestricted warfare against passenger ships, made in 1916, and was broken in 1917. After five American ships were sunk by Germany, their ambassador to Mexico was sent an encrypted message from Germany’s foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmerman. The telegram called for Mexico to declare war against the United States in exchange for Germany aiding them in gaining their ‘lost territories’