The Emerging Political Ideology Of World War I

The first World War fought from 1914 to 1918 was one of the most brutal and tragic events in world history. During the 1900 and much through Woodrow Wilson’s presidency the key emerging political ideology in the U.S. was progressivism. The progressives wanted to promote public welfare, democracy, and break up big trusts, corporations, and monopolies that had grown in much of the late nineteenth century. Leading the charge was Theodore Roosevelt who launched antitrust lawsuits against monopolies, passed laws regulating railroads, and inspection of nations food supply and drug industries. There were many issues and events associated with World War I. The sinking of Lusitania, the Zimmerman Telegram, and America’s neutrality in World War I lead

They announced that any ships approaching the British Isles would be subject to attack. In May of 1915 a German U-boat sank the British passenger linear Lusitania, which killed 128 Americans of the 1,200 killed. This event made the Germans seem the evil of war. Even though the Germans were correct about the ship carrying munitions and disguised as a passenger ship, the British knew they would never be able to prove it. Americans on the East coast were used to traveling across the Atlantic and with unrestricted submarine warfare, made them believe that it is imperative to engage in war. However the critics opposing war were mainly from the Midwest and West that saw European conflict as a distant battle and the U.S. shouldn’t get involved. Woodrow Wilson didn’t take any action as the election roamed near and it was crucial for him to maintain neutrality for re-election in 1916. Thereafter, Wilson’s re-election came the final blow to American neutrality; the Zimmerman Telegram. The Zimmerman Telegram was an offer made to the Mexican government by the Germans enticing them to join arms with them in return for the territories lost in the war of 1840s. When the American public learned about this proposal, it really antagonized the people who were opposed to war to join the battle. With the American people at unrest, Wilson had no choice but to declare war. Preparation for war took more than a year to get American troops in France. In spring of 1918 American troops had arrived in France. The Germans at home were starving and mixed with major allied victories like at Belleau Woods left the Germans with no choice but to call for an armistice. This call for armistice turned into an intent to surrender and call for the end of