Why Did the United States Enter Ww1?
By: Tasha • Essay • 422 Words • May 18, 2010 • 6,850 Views
Why Did the United States Enter Ww1?
The U.S entered WW1 for several reasons. The U.S entered for two main reasons: one was that the Germans had declared unlimited German submarine warfare and the Zimmermann note. The German had totally disregarded the international laws protecting neutral nation’s ships by sinking neutral ships. We warned the Germans one too many times and they did not take us seriously so in 1917 we finally had enough and we joined the war.
The Germans had decided that they would sink any ship they wanted without warning even if it was a merchant ship. This had upset the Americans because they soon started losing
many American lives even though they were neutral. One of the worst incidents was the sinking of the Lusitania, a British luxury liner which the Germans sunk without first warning the ship. The Germans had killed 128 Americans that were on the luxury liner. After that incident the Germans sunk the Arabic and Sussex and created pledges with the United States saying that they would not sink anymore unarmed ships and would visit and search. The Germans how ever would go back on their pledges causing the U.S to get involved.
The Germans had sent the Zimmermann note to the German ambassador in Mexico but was intercepted and decoded by the British. It was then sent to the U.S and given to Wilson. This note helped the U.S enter the war. Wilson showed this note to congress to so that he would be allowed to arm merchant ships and then