America and the Great War

America and the Great World War

The Boxer Rebellion was focused on keeping their territory “pure”. They strongly opposed Western ideologies. The West to the Boxers was the epitome of evil. The West on the other hand viewed the Chinese civilization as primitive even as they had been civilized many years before the West. These events can be said to be a result of imperialism. The West also thought they had better war equipment compared to the Boxers. There were many factors that led to the World War 1 besides the Boxer Rebellion. These included the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 by a Serbian (World War 1, Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated, n.d.). His assassination triggered the first stage of the war between Serbia and Austria-Hungary. The War had been charging for a long time before the assassination with countries going to war for territories. Bulgaria and Romania fought in 1913. Eventually most countries would take sides on the war. The United States was led to the war by President Woodrow Wilson.

The United States entered into the war when their ships were sunk by the Germans. A passenger ship along with six other merchant ships was sunk while the United States had been neutral to the European nations. The Germans contributed to the entry of the United States into the World War 1. The American trade was threatened severally by the thriving of the warfare aided by submarines (American Entry into WW 1, n.d.). The Germans tried to get between the United States and Mexico, threatening America’s position and consequently leading to the declaration of war against Germany by America. Eventually, the war was declared by President Woodrow Wilson in 1917 and that is how the United States of America got involved in the World War 1.

America at the beginning of the war remained Neutral as she did not want to take part in the war. The major reason was because America had no stakes in the war. There was nothing for the Americans to fight for. The economy was blooming and most of the citizens wanted the country to stay away from the war in order to maintain the stability of the economy and also the society. When the Germans appeared to be provoking the Americans into war, the breaking point was when their ships were sunk and the economy was threatened.

When America finally entered into the war, the points of support for the allies were mainly based on the origin of most of the Americans. Most of the American citizens were immigrants from Europe. They were empathetic about the war situation of the countries of origin and thus supported the United States joining the Allies to fight the Germans. Prior to their entry into the war, the Americans had diplomatic ties with the Germans, which the latter severed and the United States decided to ignore the ties and go to war.

America’s entry into the war contributed to the end of the war. They came in and picked sides which was a disadvantage to the Eastern Europe. Germany was at war with The Western Europe, Russia and the entry of the United States against them did not make the situation better. The Americans entered the war to win and the whole country was mobilized to fund the success of the war. The soldiers were well fed and supplied with adequate ammunition to ensure they won. The win of the Allies by the help of the United States led to the end of the war as the German’s lost and the Westerners had no reason to keep fighting (American in the First World War, n.d.). The entry of America into the war contributed to the end of the war.

The treaty of Versailles was not accepted by the United States’ senate for various reasons. The democrat members of the senate supported it, the republicans were divided. They were of the opinion that the signing of the treaty meant that America’s habit of staying neutral would end with the signing of the treaty. A section of the senate wanted the terms of the treaty altered for it to be passed. President Wilson brought back an altered version of the treaty and urged the democrats not to sign it. Eventually, the United States did not sign the treaty and instead made other peace agreements with Germany. The scrutiny of the League of Nations was not part of the peace agreements between the United States and Germany.

President Woodrow Wilson was a key contributor to the establishment of the League of Nations. He was a pro-peace leader and his hesitation to enter into war is one demonstration of the same. He took part in establishing the League of Nations through the Versailles Treaty which brokered for peace among the warring nations. The League of Nations signatories were tied to each other upon signing of the treaty and were expected to be answerable to each other. Before the war, President Wilson was keen on maintaining a neutral relationship by trading with both antagonists of the war. The Western Europe countries, however, made sure the Germans were the ones that provoked the United States into the war by frustrating the trade between the United States and Germany. Germany in retaliation sank the United States’ ships and President Wilson declared war. Upon the end of the war, he championed the formation of peace deals. The Versailles Treaty and when the United States failed to sign it, he made sure the United States had a separate peace agreement with the Germans. 

The United States did not contribute much to the outside world in the 1920s and 30s. The people elected three republican presidents consecutively because they thought the democrats did little to improve the state. The American people wanted progress and they felt the Woodrow had not been working with America’s interest at heart. He cared more about what other countries had to do with the United States rather than the progress of the United States regardless of what the other countries benefited from them or not (Scholarstic, n.d.). In the beginning of President Roosevelt’s reign, he had the task of recovering America’s economy after the great depression. He further made the United States isolated by pulling her out of the gold standard except for in the international trade. During this period, America did not contribute much to the rest of the world but went on to become an economic force to reckon with.

To conclude, the United States was a strong nation throughout the war. The country of immigrants certainly knew how to look after their interests during and after the war.

American Entry into World War;

m.american-historama.org/1913-1928-ww1-prohibition-era/us-entry-intoww1.htm

This site gives insight into the American history prior to their entry into the War. The source consolidates the facts written by other sites. It has the most consistent information. The information covers President Woodrow Wilson’s contribution to America’s contribution to the war.

American in the First World War U S History Pre Columbian to the New Millenium

www.ushistory.org/us/45.asp

President Woodrow Wilson contributed to America’s participation to the war. He had maintained America’s stand of neutrality to the war. This site has the most credible source of information on America’s influence in the war. During this era, the sources of information were not consistent. This site has collected the best set of information and put it together for researchers to complete their study. 

The United States Turns Inward: the 1920s and 1930s

www.scholastic.com/browse/subarticle.jsp?id=1674

The United States after the war decided to work to improve the economy. The American people decided to take a conservative stand which is well captured in the source. Information recorded by this source includes the spite of people towards president Woodrow and their preference for republicans.

World War 1, Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated

www.history.com/this-day-in-history/archduke-franz-feredinand-assassinated

This source has captured the step by step events leading up to the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand. It also documents how the war began after his death. The Archduke Ferdinand survived several attempted assassinations before the final successful assassination which claimed his life and that of his wife. The source is credible and dependable.

References

American Entry into WW 1. (n.d.). Retrieved from m.american-historama.org/1913-1928-ww1-prohibition-era/us-entry-intoww1.htm

American in the First World War. (n.d.). Retrieved from U S History Pre Columbian to the New Millenium: www.ushistory.org/us/45.asp

Scholarstic. (n.d.). Retrieved from The United States Turns Inward: the 1920s and 1930s:  www.scholastic.com/browse/subarticle.jsp?id=1674

World War 1, Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated. (n.d.). Retrieved from History: www.history.com/this-day-in-history/archduke-franz-feredinand-assassinated