Woodrow Wilson hoped not to spend too much presidential time on foreign affairs. When Europe plunged into war in , Wilson, who like many Americans believed in neutrality, saw America's role as that of peace broker. The sinking of the passenger liner Lusitania by a German U-boat helped to shatter that hope. Wilson demanded an apology from Germany and stayed his neutral course as long as possible. Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare, however, was an intolerable affront to America's dignity and honor.
At the start of , British intelligence intercepted the Zimmerman telegram, a secret German communication to Mexico promising United States territory to Mexico in return for supporting the German cause. On April 2, , Wilson finally asked Congress for a formal declaration of war. The task Wilson faced was how to mobilize an unprepared America.
The government could ask for volunteers and institute a draft to build up the army. But convincing Americans to support the war and feel the will to fight was more difficult. The war effort required propaganda. We shall not believe that they are hostile to us unless and until we are obliged to believe it.
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. It was the espionage coup of the war. Pace stayed up all night drafting a message to Wilson about the telegram and its origins. Polk took it directly to the White House. Four days later, when Wilson met with the peace activists, he revealed that his thoughts about how to bring about a lasting peace had changed. The telegram inflamed American public opinion and turned the nation toward war. Yet even then, the deliberative Wilson was not quite ready.
His second inaugural address , delivered March 5, asked Americans to abandon isolationism. There can be no turning back. Our own fortunes as a nation are involved whether we would have it so or not. When Wilson met with his cabinet on March 20, he was still undecided.
But two events the previous week added to his calculus. German U-boats had sunk three American ships, killing 15 people. And the ongoing turmoil in Russia had forced Nicholas II to abdicate the throne , ending years of Romanov rule. That meant that all of the Allied nations in World War I were now democracies fighting a German-led coalition of autocratic monarchies. The cabinet unanimously recommended war. At first, Wilson limited the loans private banks could make to warring nations, but selling goods to Europe was profitable and cutting off this trade would hurt the U.
Wilson consequently relented, and trade with the Allies exploded. Many banks and businesses favored the Allied side, and trade with Germany became difficult and dangerous once Britain blockaded the North Sea and cut the international communication cable between the United States and Germany. Germany responded by deploying a new weapon, the U-boat submarine, armed with torpedoes to sink ships headed to Allied ports.
Declaring the waters around Britain a war zone, Germany announced a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare against all ships sailing in the area, including passenger and merchant ships.
U-boats relied on the element of surprise, and by not giving passengers time to evacuate before sinking a vessel, Germany soon ran afoul of international law and opinion. In , the evolving naval war directly embroiled the United States when a German submarine torpedoed the British passenger ship Lusitania off the coast of Ireland and killed 1, people, including Americans.
Eyewitness accounts flooded American newspapers. Germany defended the sinking of the Lusitani a, pointing out that Britain had knowingly allowed civilians to sail on a ship carrying munitions, and that these passengers had ignored explicit warnings from the German government about the dangers of sailing into the war zone. Some Americans were persuaded by this rebuttal, especially in rural areas where traditional distrust of Wall Street raised suspicions that banks and corporations, in pursuit of profits, were leading the country down the path to war.
Wilson, however, emphatically disagreed. According to international law, citizens from neutral nations had the right to travel and trade wherever they liked.
To avoid further provoking the United States, Germany then backed down and agreed to renounce surprise attacks on passenger ships the Arabic Pledge, and merchant ships the Sussex Pledge, This German U-boat, U c. Throughout the period of neutrality, Wilson held out hope that the United States could broker a negotiated peace settlement.
A just peace, he declared, would be based on certain ideals, including freedom of the seas, equality of rights among nations, no entangling alliances, and a commitment to spreading democratic institutions. Just one week later, however, Germany announced that it was resuming unrestricted submarine warfare. The decision to enter the war did not come immediately.
Wilson initially went no further than breaking diplomatic relations with Germany. With German U-boats cutting off the lifeline of goods between the United States and the Allies, keeping American forces tied up defending the southwest border would slow the arrival of U.
The German plan fell apart when British intelligence intercepted the Zimmermann telegram and delivered it to Wilson. This is a decoded and translated version of the message. On April 2, , Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany. German aggression, Wilson declared, gave the United States no choice but to defend itself militarily. Convincing progressive internationalists, who had created the American Union Against Militarism to advocate for peace, required a different argument.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, progressive reformers spearheaded numerous domestic reforms to protect citizens from unregulated corporations, corrupt politicians, and unhealthy living environments.
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