Wilsons decision to stay Neutral in WWI

He was the son of the a church minister and was very religious therefore detested war The Washington Doctrine (1797) and the Monroe Doctrine of (1823) that stated that America would pursue the policy of isolationism i.e. that America will not get itself involved with European affairs and in return expect that Europe would do the same. This was because Europe was prone to war and America wanted to avoid this Around one third of Americans were 1st or 2nd generation migrants with a far few coming from Europe. If America was to chose to support the Allies or the Central Powers it would cause internal conflict in America. America had been peacefully for over 50 years and choosing a side would be disrupt this peace America had not been involved in the events that lead to the outbreak of war, so they did not see why they had committee to one side or the other If America stayed neutral they could sell ammunitions and hand out loans with interest to both the Allies and the Central Powers. America would profit more if they stayed neutral

Americas countdown to WWI

4th of February 1915: Germanys response to Britains naval blockade by embarking on a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. German was prepared to sink any vessel without warning if it was viewed as a threat. Thus was ILLEGAL according to the international law

1st of May 1915: In order to prevent aggravating America, the German government placed an advertisement in American newspapers. Vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or any of her allies are liable to destruction and travellers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain and her allies do so at their own risk

7th of May 1915: German U-boat sinks the Lusitania, killing 1198 people of which 128 were American

13th of May 1915: US protests to Germany

15th of June 1915: Germany promises to abide by the international law in order to placate America and stop them entering the war especially on the side of the Allies. They promise to stop to the unrestricted submarine warfare

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January 1917: Germany starts the unrestricted submarine warfare as the naval blockade bites deeper into the German life

3rd of February: The US liner is sunk by the German submarine The Us decides to break off the diplomatic relations with Germany

March 1917: Zimmerman Telegram is released by the British to the Americans, outraging the Americans

April 1917: Wilson ask the Congress to declare war on against Germany Congress declares war on Germany America enters the war on the 6th

Reason for Entering WWI

The USA became more and more tied to the Allied cause with the more purchase of American goods, trade and the traditional interest US financial institutions were increasingly committed to Great Britain and France; an Allied loss would mean heavy financial loss the American businessmen and shareholders Value of US exports for 1914: $824.8 million to the Allies $169.3 million to the Central Powers Value of US exports for 1916: $3.2 billion to the Allies $1.2 million to the Central Powers Value of US loans for 1917: $2.5 billion to the Allies $27 million to the Central Powers Value Trade with Allies: 1914: $753 million 1916: $2.5 billion Value Trade with Central Powers: 1914: $345 million 1916: $29 million Many Americans were moved or disturbed by the propaganda of German atrocities German submarine welfare moving from attacking battle ships to attacking anyway suspected of carrying goods or armaments to Britain Sinking of the Lusitania on the 7th of May 1915 The release of the Zimmermann Telegram by the British government; showing the communication between the German and Mexican government, with Germany willing to the

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help the Mexicans if they declare war on the America to regain lost territory in the war of 1846 1948 Mexico formally declined the German offer on the 14th of April 1917 The aim of the Arthur Zimmermann was to distract American, so that American couldnt focus on giving aid to the Allies Germans resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare on the 1st of Feb this was illegal hence why Germany was greatly condemned for this Then end of the Tsars rule in Russia in 1917 removing the moral political barrier to the USA entering the war on the side of the Allies: They were now fighting to preserve democracy Sympathy for the democratic nations of Britain and France within America

American Involvement in WWI

Military Contribution:
The American Expeditionary Force in Europe swelled the Allied ranks by 2 million fighting men More than 1.3 million American troops active service on the Western Front American participation was unimportant quantitatively American timing in France prevented the collapse of the entire Western Front American Navy i. Enforced the naval blockade of the central power ii. Convey some 2 million men and 5 million tons of supplies Allied deaths The USA: 112 000 Britain: 947 000 France: 1 385 000 Russia: 1 700 000

Economic Contribution: Between April 1917 to June 1920, the USA spent some $32 billion on the war, loans amounted to $10 billion Most of the loans to the Allies were used to purchase food, fuel or munitions from the US Any side that American joined would have an huge economic advantage Psychological Contribution:
Allied victory was assured when the Allies were backed up by the seemingly endless supply of manpower and resources from US The confidence of the Central Powers in the winning the war was completely shaken Psychological power of having America for the Allies because it has a huge advantage

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After War Peace Policy: Timeline of Events

1918: Wilsons Peace Proposal the fourteen points November 1918: Midterm Elections, Wilson makes a partisan appeal for a Democratic congress to ensure support for his foreign policies 5 November 1918: Democrats lose control of both houses of congress December 1918: Wilson arrives in Paris without a single prominent Republican in the delegations promoting his 14 points and peace without victory 14th of February 1919: Lincoln reports to the session with the finished draft of the League of Nations covenant April 1919: Senator Henry Lodge and 39 other senators declare that the covenant is unacceptable 8th of July 1919: Wilson returns home with the Treaty of Versailles and calls on the senate to accept the Great Duty August 1919: Lodge the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee resorts to delaying tactics and lengthy hearings due to his personally dislike of Wilson September 1919: Wilson is to garner support his foreign policy so he embarks on nationwide speaking tour 25th of September 1919: Wilsons doctor cancels Wilsons tour and hurries him back to Washington 2nd of October 1919: Wilson suffers a serve stroke and is paralysis 7th to 19th December 1919: Senate adopts the 14 reservations by Lodge concerning the Treaty especially Article 10 December 1919: The senators vote to reconsider January and February 1920: Wilson remains adamant that there no reservations March 1920: 21 Democrats change from supporting Wilson to join the reservations the Treaty is not ratified 20th of May: Congress ends the war joint resolution 2nd of July: Harding is the new President (were the Democrats did not allow Wilson to run as a candidate) and another joint resolution declares that the state of war with the Austria and Germany is over

The Fourteen Points

1. There should be no secret treaties; all international agreements should be open 2. The seas were to be free to all countries at all times 3. Customs barriers between countries should be removed America & World War 1 Page 4

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

Armaments should be removed The wishes of the people in the colonies should be taken into when settling colonial claims German forces must leave Russia Belgium should be independent Alsace- Lorraine should be should be returned to France Italys frontier should be adjusted to avoid quarrels with Austria There should be self-determination for the peoples of Eastern Europe. This meant that the different nationalities should be allowed to govern themselves in independent countries Serbia should be given a coastline There should be self-determination for the Turkish Empire. Meaning the Turkish portions of the Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty Poland should become independent from the Russians and be given a coastline An international organization to settle all disputes between countries should be set up and is to be called the League of Nations

Opposition to the Treaty and the Fourteen Points

The Fourteen Points:
America: - The public at large didnt want to see any more American blood loss on foreign soil Many of the migrants from Europe had left it because Europe was prone to war

Britain: Was against point 2 which states the freedom of the seas to all the countries it wanted the German naval power to be reduced because they were the biggest threat to them. Also Britain had the strongest navy in the world France: Wanted some reparations from Germany because during the war they had the most damage done to them and they sought revenge. It also acquired that it would get areas such as the Alsace Lorraine back from Germany and that there would be no armaments allowed in the western half of Germany and that Germany also had to significantly reduced their weapons Italy: Would never agree to point 9 because the reason why the switched sides to join the Allies was so that it would receive land that it was promised not give up land like the point stated

Article 10:
You must support another country if one of the other countries in the League of Nation is under threat America was against this because most of the countries in the League of Nations were from Europe and as the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 stated that America would stay out of European Affairs and asked that Europe do the same. Therefore the Article was seen as the unconstitutional and was one of the main reservation for the senators not to agree with Wilsons Peace Policy

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