Us Involvement In World War 1

To understand how the United States joined forces with the allies and took arms in World War I, one must first understand how the war began. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, nephew of Emperor Frans Josef was the heir to the Austria-Hungary throne. Ferdinand had unpopular political ideas for the country, which led to his assassination, on by Serbian terrorist’s, referred to as The Black Hand. Ferdinand’s proposals included a triple monarchy granting the Slav’s a representation in the government identical to that of the Magyars and Germans. Additionally, he planned to incorporate 16 states that would aid the deteriorating Austria-Hungary empire. Mainly, Ferdinand was viewed as a threat by the Black Hand and jeopardized any chance for a coalition between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia. The killing of Ferdinand gave Austria-Hungary the excuse to declare war against Serbia. A domino effect began with Russia declaring war on Austria-Hungary; Germany declared war on Russia; France and Britain declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary. The date was July 1914 and the first world war had begun. Woodrow Wilson, the United States 28th president, was a Democrat who served two terms from March 4, 1913- March 4, 1921. Prior to becoming

For example, Irish immigrants in the United States resented our ally, the British. In an effort to control this type of dissent, the government implementing the Espionage and Sedition Acts of 1917. Any person who openly criticized the government would face jail time. Many objectors thought this violated their right to free speech and this ultimately landed in the Supreme Court. A man named Schenck was found to be disrupting the draft and the court ruled in favor of the government. Their decision indicated that Schenck’s behavior was a danger to others and therefore the government could impose a jail