World War I in 1917

¶ … War! For Safety, Security, & Future (written for mid-Late 1917 new article)

It has now been three years that we have watched the European nations struggle for supremacy at the expense of their own people. Yet, I contend that our nation, too, has struggled. We may not have men in the fields and trenches of Europe, but American lives have been lost at the hands of German submarine soldiers. It is a fool who thinks that we are truly neutral, for we have only lost American lives due to only one force. That force is Germany.

In the beginning of this year, President Wilson called for "Peace Without Victory," and that victory for one nation would mean, "peace forced upon the loser" (Wilson, 1985). That is certainly true, as war is rarely ended amicably. I admire that the President wishes to keep Americans from suffering as France and Great Britain have suffered. Admiration aside, I feel that we can ease that suffering, and that Germany will not yield through any other means but force. Currently mired in a standstill, the European nations need a fresh insurgence of troops. We can offer this, and I believe that we should. We have many reasons to do so.

Last year, following the battle in the North Sea near Jutland, The New York Times reported the German Chancellor as saying that he will not yield, instead aiming for "Final Victory" (Peace rejected, 1916). The battle caused great losses (in terms of both lives and ships) for both Great Britain and Germany. Both sides claimed victory, and neither side has yielded. This is illuminating on several accounts.

First, the supremacy of the British Royal Navy has not lived up to expectations. Supposedly the greatest fleet in the world, England has not succeeded in protecting her own ships, let alone the ships of her trading partners (Marshall, 1982). We cannot expect that our merchant ships and neutral passengers will arrive safely when traveling to and from Europe. The German Navy is stronger than expected and the Royal Navy, weaker. Beyond Jutland, the German U-boat has consistently slipped through the fingers of the Royal Navy to destroy ships of all nations (Marshall, 1982). If we remain neutral, we face the choice of losing economically by cutting trade or losing the lives of American citizens needlessly. The Lusitania was sunk two years ago and we have done nothing to prevent further losses from happening in the exact same way (Smith, 1985).

Second, the losses at Jutland prove that even a great loss will not deter these nations from continuing their fighting. Germany has three times declined American offerings of mediation and peace as a friendly nation (Peace rejected, 1916; Wilson, 1985). Great Britain, however, desires peace, but not if it means sacrificing its allied nations to the Germans. Great Britain's war-aims are to be true to their allies, and that is respectable (Smith, 1985). Germany is only fighting out of conquest, an intolerable aim in the present world. The modern weapons, including the submarine and the tank, have made wars more costly in terms of lives. Germany seems to disregard this loss, whether it is their own or not. Germany's conquest cannot be won. Yet, the nature of the German Chancellor seems to press the nation onward, killing many of their own in the process. It is unreasonable to expect the nature of the German leadership to change now, after they have already suffered great losses. Even now, the Chancellor claims Germany is "Stronger than we were before" (Peace Rejected, 1916).

If all of this reasoning is not enough, we have the final news of German collusion with Mexico to deal with. We have heard of the Zimmerman telegram from February of this year. In it, the German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman offers portions of America to Mexico if we should ever join this war (Zimmerman, 2003). That Mexico would enter the war with Germany is a very real threat, one that would threaten us at our very doorstep. The audacity of the German nation is clearly shown through this action. That they would offer a section of a neutral country (our United States) to our neighbor, with whom we are currently at peace, is nothing less than instigating war on our home soil.