Ww1 Neutrality Dbq Essay

WWI Neutrality DBQ When WWI began in 1914, the President Woodrow Wilson declared a neutrality policy which most Americans favored, seeing the war as a problem among European nations. In a message to Congress, Wilson asked Americans to “act and speak in the true spirit of neutrality” (A). Wilson’s purpose was not only to prevent conflicts among diverse ethnic groups who supported opposing side, but also to avoid an inherently exhausting war. Despite the US’s non-interventionist stance, the US was never truly neutral—especially when submarine warfare, economic interests, Zimmermann Telegram, and patriotism pushed US foreign policy to largely favor the Allies. Finally in 1917, Wilson declared war against Germany and allied with the Allied powers.

A lot of economic interest depended on Britain’s success in the war. Robert Lansing recalled that Britain detained American ships and examined their cargo, thus causing merchants to lose profits (C). In addition, William Jennings Bryan, Secretary of State, defended that the reason why the US had not interfered with the sale of munitions to Great Britain and her allies was because the restriction of trade had never been imposed by international law (D). William Jennings Bryan would later resign from his position when Wilson took a weak stance on citizens’ travel through threatened waters. While Bryan does not say so directly, he admits that the US had been trading equipment that would aid Britain in the

Hugo Munsterberg wrote a letter to Wilson listing all the ways the US was partial to the Allies (B). Hugo Munsterberg was a German-American psychologist and Harvard professor who loyally defended his home country and advocated for fair treatment of German-Americans, despite the Allies’ hatred of him during the Great War. In his letter he observes that wireless news is censored while wired news passes uncensored. Munsterberg says this policy disadvantages Germany as it uses wireless connections while England sends news by cable. He also points out that the US unfairly detains Germans and Austrians from neutral vessels and the US only supplying the Allies. Also, in a political cartoon “German military power” was symbolized by a python consuming the globe. The purpose of this cartoon is to encourage US intervention to stop the spread of German influence. Historically calling themselves the protectors of the western hemisphere, Americans could not possibly be indifferent toward a perceived international threat, so Americans allied with the Allies to protect their country and fight the spread of German