Transcript IB 12-13 Unit I - posted US entry WW1

American Entrance into World War I:
 1914: Wilson: “neutral in fact and name.”
 Proclamation of Neutrality
Why Did German Reinstate
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare?
 The German High Command: Jan. 1917,
believed Central Powers losing the war;
civilians starved & soldiers worn down
 Hindenburg & Ludendorff decide the U-boat
Germany’s last hope for victory
 GAMBLE - Britain will starve before USA aid
is significant
 These action will lead to US declaration of
war on 6 April
President Wilson before Congress, announcing the break
in official relations with Germany. February 3, 1917.
Timeline of Events
 January 1917: German High Command
 February 1917: unrestricted submarine
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warfare
March 1917: Zimmermann telegram
March 1917: March Revolution in Russia;
Czar removed – now a war against
autocracy
March 1917: 3 US ships torpedoed
6 April 1917: US Declaration of War
American Entrance into World War I:
Reasons
 A. German Unrestricted Submarine Warfare:
 1. U-Boats - debate
 Lusitania (100 Americans); British search
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and seize –> Central Powers
B. Allied Propaganda: US receptive
Kinship w/ Britain; Friends w/ France
C. Hostility Toward Germany:
1. invasion of neutral Belgium
2. waged unrestricted submarine warfare
3. 1917 Zimmermann Note
American Entrance into World War I:
Reasons
 D. American Economic Interests:
 UK blockade; US –> Allies extensive
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loans; want to get paid back
E. American Idealism:
A better world would emerge; end
autocracy
“World safe for democracy.”
F. American Security:
German victory; dominant in Europe;
threat in Atlantic and US
U-20 and sister ships in harbor at Kiel.
 Shaded area
shows "War Zone"
announced by
Germany on
4 February 1915
 The shaded areas
show the unrestricted
submarine warfare
zone announced by
Germany on
1 February 1917
 The Zimmermann
Telegram as it
was sent from
Washington to
Mexico –
 Decrypted and
translated
 Map showing
Mexican territory in
1917 (dark green),
territory promised
to Mexico in the
Zimmermann
telegram (light
green), and
original Mexican
territory (red line).
 A warning issued by
the Imperial German
Embassy in
Washington about
travelling on Britain's
RMS Lusitania.
The Lusitania at end of the first leg of her maiden voyage, New York
City, September 1907.
The second explosion made passengers believe U-20 had torpedoed
Lusitania a second time.
The track of Lusitania. View of casualties and survivors in
the water and in lifeboats.
Special Note on Wilson
 USA enters the war as an “associated
power” not an ally of Britain & France
 Reflects Wilson’s determination to
distance US from Old World ambitions
 Crusade for democracy & freedom, not a
sordid struggle for land & colonies
Significance to US Entrance:
 (1) turned the tide of battle in favor of
Allies
 (2) broke sharply w/ America’s traditional
isolationism; “foreign entanglements”
 (3) marks America’s emergence as a
world power and eventual world leader
Allied & Central Powers (WWI)