War in Europe began in the late summer of 1914 and from the outset the United States clung to a policy of strict neutrality. Despite the loss of American life as a result of the War on the Atlantic Ocean (such as the sinking of the Lusitania in May 1915), President Wilson constantly argued that the United States should remain out of the conflict. However, on 6 April 1917 the United States Congress declared war on Germany. By June 1917 the first American troops, 14,000 men of the American Expeditionary Force, arrived in France. By the end of the War in 1918 a million American troops were in Europe. So why and how did the United States go from a policy of neutrality to a fully blown engagement with the war in Europe?
Q: Why did the United States choose to stay neutral in 1914?
When war broke out in Europe in 1914 President Wilson declared that the United States would follow a strict policy of neutrality. This was a product of a longstanding idea at the heart of American foreign policy that the United States would not entangle itself with alliances with other nations. Put simply the United States did not concern itself with events and alliances in Europe and thus stayed out of the war. Wilson was firmly opposed to war, and believed that the key aim was to ensure peace, not only for the United States but across the world. To that end he sent a leading aide, Colonel House, to Europe in the autumn of 1914 in an attempt to broker a peace deal.
Q: Why didn’t German attacks on American shipping force Wilson to act?
If the war had been solely fought on land it was likely that the United States could have avoided the entanglement it feared. However, a key part of the war was the battle on the Atlantic. Here, shipping lanes were patrolled and attacked by German U-Boats in an attempt to cut supply lines to Britain. Following its policy of neutrality the United States initially attempted to trade with both Britain and its allies as well as with Germany. However, in practice the United States was only able to trade with Britain and its allies, and all the goods sold (the value of which amounted to $1.2 billion by 1916) had to be transported by ship across the Atlantic. The German habit of attacking shipping meant that American registered ships were sunk, and United States citizens were killed (128 died when the Lusitania was sunk). Wilson came under pressure to act after the sinking of the Lusitania and after protests from him, the Germans agreed to refrain from attacking passenger vessels. By January 1917 however, German military commanders argued that only an unrestricted blockade of the Atlantic would achieve victory and once more targeted all shipping. The decision undoubtedly edged the United States closer to war in 1917.
Explanation:
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