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Was World War 1 Justified

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On July 28, 1914 the first World War was brought to fruition. A war thought of as to have been the war to end all wars was incited by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. In this war there were two sides the Central Powers, (Germany, Austria Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire )against the Allied Powers, Great Britain, France, Russia, Romania, Italy, Japan and finally the United States. With that being said the entrance of the United States into the First World has led many to question whether the U.S was justified in participating in the first place. Many claim that we had no correlation or reason to take part in the war itself and that it was unjustifiable. Despite the popular opinion I think rhat the U.S was justified …show more content…

At the beginning of the war President Woodrow Wilson pledged neutrality for the United States which many americans favored. With this being said Britain which was involved in the war at the time was America's closest trading partner. As a result tension skyrocketed between Germany and the United States. Germany would carry out unrestricted warfare against the U.S such as sinking several U.S ships travling to Britain. In his "War Message to Congress," given on April 2, 1917, Woodrow Wilson stated, "It is a war against all nations. American ships have been sunk, American lives taken, in ways which it has stirred us very deeply to learn of, but the ships and people of other neutral and friendly nations have been sunk and overwhelmed in the waters the same way." Despite the U.S' efforts to exercise neutrality in WWI, we were inevitably pushed to indeed take action against Germany and their unrestricted warfare against us. To sit back and watch more American ships and lives be lost despite our political efforts to stay uninvolved would have been unwise. Morally speaking the United States taking action against chicanery stratagems in part by Germany was …show more content…

Finally, the United States was politically justified in proclaiming war on germany due to Germany's proposed alliance with Mexico. On March 1, 1917 the Ximmerman Tekgram was published in and inflamed American public opiunion against Germany and the Central Powers. The Zimmerman Telegram was a coded message sent by German foreign Minister Arthur Zimmerman to Mexico in January 1917. The message was an attempt at drawing the country of Mexico into the war against the U.S In that Telegram Germany promised the Mexican givernment to help them recover Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona if they were to take their side during the war against the Allied Powers. In "The Zimmerman Telegram," sent on January 11, 1917, Arthur Zimmerman wrote, "We make Mexico a proposal or alliance on the following basis: make war together, make peace together, generous financial support and an understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona." America up until this point had maintained a neutral position during WWI. With the interceptions of this telegram the U.S became aware of Germany's plans to turn their backs on the 'Sussex Pledge'. See the Sussex Pledge can be considered as the last string to neutrality between the U.S and the Central Powers during the

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336 Words | 2 Pages

Wilson viewed America as a nation of peace and he wanted to preserve this view. However, as time went on, the little things the U.S did while claiming its neutrality started to matter. Germans retaliated to the U.S trade with the Allies. One thing led to another and the U.S joined the war under the Allies’

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771 Words | 4 Pages

On April 2, 1917, the 28th president of the United States of America, Woodrow Wilson, delivered a speech before the Congress in order to declare war against Germany. This period of history represents the first worldwide conflict and opposes the Allied forces of the United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and Japan against the Central Powers of Germany, Bulgaria, the Austrian-Hungarian empire, and the Ottoman empire. Woodrow Wilson involved the United States, which was originally neutral at the beginning of World War I when the Germans attacked and sank the Lusitania, a ship transporting ammunition to the allies but also American citizens. More importantly, in his speech, Woodrow Wilson explicitly states his opinion and purpose that ' 'the world must be made safe for democracy ' ' (Voices of Freedom 107) and that the immediate contribution of his nation to World War I would bring "peace and justice" (Voices of Freedom 105) to the world, as well as the end of the threatening expansion of

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While the United States proclaimed itself as a neutral country in the beginning of the devastating first World War, many disagree with the statement that America wanted to remain neutral for various reasons. World War I began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, then quickly escalated to division into two sides between European countries; including the Allied Powers, which consisted of Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and the Central Powers that included Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. Since the United States made it obvious they favored the Allied Powers before they entered World War I, the other countries against these nations took this friendliness between the countries and America as a threat and interference of war. This resulted in the Central Powers noticing an unfair disadvantage for themselves.

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The events that led to The United States joining the war were the Zimmerman telegram and the sinking of the Lusitania; therefore, these events shifted The United States’s position from neutral to fighting. World War I, also known as the Great War, was not originally on The United States’s agenda; however, Germany’s careless actions caused The United States to join the war. The sinking of the Lusitania was a turning point in the war because it was a passenger ship that was sunk by German U-Boats, or submarines. The Zimmerman telegram was a telegram sent from the German Foreign Office to the leader of Mexico. The telegram stated how Germany wanted Mexico to attack The United States (Alexander and Childress).

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243 Words | 1 Pages

From 1871 to 1914, several factors led to war in Europe; nationalism, imperialism, militarism, anarchy, and the alliance system that allowed a chain reaction to take place. Just as WW1 began, America was in a business recession, but the war, along with american trade with the Allies a Wall street financing of the war by JP Morgan which pulled the U.S out of it. When Britain intercepted the Zimmerman Note, which sought to entice Mexico into a military alliance with Germany in return to the American Southwest, Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war. American involvement in the war is mentioned so briefly because it came at the end of the war, and Americans suffered relatively few casualties, compared to the European powers. World War

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635 Words | 3 Pages

The United States was not neutral in World war one. Although the US did not join the war until 1917; when the war started in 1914, and they labelled themselves as neutral they subconsciously did things and made request that ultimately helped the Allied powers which were Great Britain, France, Russia, and Italy. A few examples of the actions that they took were the censoring of wireless news which only affected Germany because England still used cables, the searching for and arrest of Germans or austrians on American ships due to them being “neutral”. Another thing the United States did was the allowing of countraband on their ships as long as it was not signed to the government, which helped England but gave little t no help to Austria and

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1954 Words | 8 Pages

Wilson’s War Message Outline With the Great war raging across Europe in the early 20th century, Americans were content with their declaration of neutrality and non-interventional policy. While many Americans did not care about this distance conflict, as the war continued it became evident that America would have to re-evaluate their foreign policy. This was due to German U-boats not following the international rules of the sea and sinking all ships, regardless of their home country. As American merchant ships began to be threatened by Imperial Germany, it seemed as though the United States would have to intervene in the conflict (Thompson 122). This led President Wilson to ask Congress on April 2, 1917, to declare war on Germany.

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853 Words | 4 Pages

War broke out in Europe in the summer of 1914, with the Central Powers led by Germany and Austria-Hungary on one side and the Allied countries led by Britain, France, and Russia on the other. At the start of the war, President Woodrow Wilson declared that the United States would be neutral. However, that neutrality was tested and fiercely debated in the U.S. The American Involvement in WW1 was a change in good and bad ways in the Social, Economic, and Political areas. The most impacted area of American participation in WW1 was Political because a lot of changes were made using propaganda making bias assumptions on each part of the war but also making treaties to lead to peace.

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498 Words | 2 Pages

The united states were in a time of moral instubility, they had a decision to make and this decision would help or destroy everything the United states worked for over the years. The United States from 1914 to 1941 were a neutral party in the war brewing over seas, but the political, social, and economical aspects gave way to involvement with the Allied forces in WWll. The United States was very contraversal on whether it should join the wr or stay neutral, the political side of the U.S. had changed over time. At first as shown in document one, the U.S had to weigh its options on whether to join or not.

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158 Words | 1 Pages

Although the First World War did not involve the United States, subsequent events lead to their later involvement in the worldwide battle. The Zimmerman telegram Germany proposed a deal to Mexico in essence saying that if Mexico helped Germany attack the United States, Germany would allow Mexico to regain ownership of the land that they had lost in the past to the United States, while also receiving a large amount of financial compensations for their cooperation. British agents had intercepted the telegram in January of 1917. When the telegram was intercepted the Germans mistakenly found it relatively safe to send messages to the western hemisphere because United States President, Woodrow Wilson, had given Germany the privilege to send messages

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906 Words | 4 Pages

America wanted neutrality to keep its citizens safe against unlawful violence but soon realized that neutrality was unrealistic after German submarines attacked other nation’s ships and did not allow neutrals to carry munitions across the seas. It was certain that American citizens’ rights would not be ignored or

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1039 Words | 5 Pages

America had tried hard not to get involved in European affairs and conflicts, but with our growing connections it became hard. Businessmen saw the opportunities and profitable advancements of Europe, which brought a large number of American 's overseas. Great Britain was a major trade partner with the U.S, so we were indirectly involved in their war. The Germans started sinking any British ships that came into view of their Unterseeboots, even if they were passenger or fishing vessels. When

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703 Words | 3 Pages

The United States entered World War I April 6th, 19417. The US joined allies with Britain, France, and Russia to fight in World War I under the commander of Major General John J. Pershing. The US joined World War I for three main causes including moral, economic, and political reasons. Morally, United States citizens were called to duty to enlist in war because of propaganda from anti-German 's. Economically, American citizens entered war to secure economic productivity better yet, make a profit. Politically, unregulated submarine combat from Germany afflicted exports to Britain.

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573 Words | 3 Pages

During World War I, President Woodrow Wilson made a case for United States intervention in the conflict and a U.S interest in maintaing a peacful world order. "I am now thinking of the loss of property involved, immense and serious as that is, but only of the wanton and wholeslae destruction of the lives of non-combatants, men,women, and children, engaged in pursuits which have always, even in the darkest periods of modern history, been deemed innocent and legitimate"(Document 24, page 71). The United States try to remain neutral , but German submarine attacked a ship headed to Europe with killed United States citizens. This is a legitimate reason for the United States to help

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489 Words | 2 Pages

In the past Iraq has developed a strong chemical and biological weapons capability. They have also created nuclear weapons, and have allowed terrorists to stay in their country. The country was ruled by Saddam Hussein, who was a very cruel dictator who killed his own innocent citizens. This is what brings us to our question, "Was America justified by going to war in Iraq?" "Did America's goal, if they have one, get fulfilled by war?

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