Preparation for War

World War I

The First World War began as a small conflict in an out of the way area of Europe, but because of a system of alliances between a variety of European nations, quickly exploded into a global war. For a number of years the war was limited to European participants, and their global colonies, but as America increasingly traded with one side, the other became belligerent. It was for a variety of reasons that America eventually entered the war, and tipped the balance in favor of the victory for the Allies over the Central Powers.

The war began when a Bosnian-Serb assassin named Gavrilo Princip shot and killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne on June 28, 1914. ("The Causes of World War One") Austria sought revenge on Serbia, but because of a series of alliances, the Central Powers of Austria and Germany, found themselves at war with the Allies: Russia, France, and Great Britain. Over the next few years many other European nations would join the fight on the side of both the Allies and the Central Powers.

But because the United States of America did not see itself as being involved, and was not allied with any European nation, it stayed out of the war. America also profited greatly by remaining neutral and trading and providing loans to both sides. However, because Germany had limited naval resources and was all but prevented from trading with America by the Allied naval blockade, the Central Powers eventually saw America as providing support for its enemies; and therefore an enemy itself. Germany, who was already attacking Allied shipping with its U-boats, then began attacking American ships as well.

It was these attacks that President Woodrow Wilson used with the public as the motive for wanting U.S. involvement in the war, but Wilson had other motives as well. Wilson was a progressive with a world vision that included free trade through open and safe seas, the right to self-determination for all peoples, and international cooperation through some sort of an international organization. ("My History Lab") In order to gain influence with the Europeans, who had ignored American pleas for peace, Wilson came to the conclusion that America must involve itself in the war. It was Germany who was ruled by a totalitarian Kaiser, who attacked neutral ships on the open seas, while the Allies both were trading with, and owed a great deal of money to, America. Therefore, Wilson concluded that in order to fulfill his progressive world vision, the U.S. had to join the war on the side of the Allies. ("My History Lab")