Why did the US wait so long to enter World War I and what eventually made the US get involved in this global conflict?

Answer 1

President Wilson "kept us out of war" because we had no point in being in it. We were considered a neutral country, although we traded with the Allies during the beginning.

When Germany sank the Lusitania, a British liner with US passengers, on May 7, 1915, we started siding with the Allies even more.

The Zimmerman telegram, along with the unrestricted submarine warfare, made us get involved. We did not want to keep letting Germany destroy our neutral ships with their U-boats.

Answer 2

Towards the beginning and middle of World War 1, the United States remained neutral because they were not being affected by anything. They saw it as a war “across the pond,” and basically claimed that it was Europe’s fight and not theirs.

Although most of the war had nothing to do with the United States, eventually, they were dragged into it by the Germans for many reasons. The first reason involved a new type of weapon that was created. In attempt to compete with the British in regards of weaponry, the Germans had created the new and advanced U-boat submarine. Unlike any other sub during this time, the U-boats strength was able to strike anything without any warning. The Germans began using this technology to attack American and British boats. In March of 1915, the Germans had sunk the British boat, Falaba. This killed many including one American. Two months later, they also sunk the American ship known as, Gulfight and killed even more people. One of the most famously known ships that had sunk by German U-boats was the, Lusitania. On May 1st, 1915, it was scheduled to sail from New York to Liverpool and carried 1,962 passengers. Once spotted of the coast of Ireland, a U-boat torpedoed it killing 1,198 people on board. In the first couple months of the year 1915, Germany had successfully sunk 90 ships that carried many Americans.

Another reason involved American economic interest with the Allies. The U.S. had businesses and banks that granted huge loans to the Allies. This simply meant that if the Allied powers failed to win the war, it was unlikely that the American businesses and banks would ever get their money back.

Eventually, Germany had begun to encourage other nations to attack the United States. This event was known as the Zimmerman Letter. In the month of January 1917, a German representative in Mexico received a secret telegram secretary Arthur Zimmerman. The telegram basically composed of an alliance with the nations of Mexico and Germany if the United States had decided to enter the war. This meant that it they were to win, Mexico would be able to annex American territories like Arizona, Texas, and even New Mexico. Fortunately, the telegram was intercepted by Britain, decoded, and sent to Washington where it was printed on a newspaper in March of that year.

After witnessing all of these factors, the American public opinion began to change. On April 6, 1917, America decided to declare war on Germany and entered World War 1, joining the allies.