Reasons for the Entry of the USA

For most of the First World War, the USA resisted entering the conflict. It eventually became invested in victory and joined the war because it was funding allies.

Background

The USA had been traditionally isolationist (stayed out of the affairs of other nations).
In 1823, the US president James Monroe said, in what is now called the Monroe Doctrine:
- 'In the wars of the European powers… we have never taken part, nor does it comport [fit] with our policy, so to do.'

Reasons for entering

As the Allies came to owe America billions of dollars, the USA became invested in an Allied victory.
But as the USA began to hear of German atrocities in Europe and their deliberate attack on the Lusitania (a British passenger ship) in 1915, public opinion was increasingly hostile to Germany.
In 1916, another passenger ship, the Sussex was sunk. Woodrow Wilson, the US President, then issued an ultimatum to Germany.

Trigger for entering

Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare directly affected American merchants.
The Zimmermann Telegram was the final straw for the US.
The telegram was sent in 1917 by the German Foreign Minister.
It promised Mexico territory lost in the Mexican-American War if it declared war on the USA.
- The British intercepted the telegram.

1The Causes of the First World War

1.1The Alliance System

1.1.1The Threat of Germany & The Triple Alliance

1.1.2The Franco-Russian Alliance & the 'Entente'

1.1.3End of Topic Test - The Alliance System

1.2Crisis in Morocco and the Balkans

1.2.1The Crisis in Morocco

1.2.2The Crisis in the Balkans

1.2.3The Balkan Wars

1.2.4Impact on International Relations

1.2.5End of Topic Test - Morocco & the Balklans

1.3Anglo-German Rivalry

1.3.1Britain & Splendid Isolation

1.3.2Kaiser Wilhelm II's Foreign Policy

1.3.3European Rearmament

1.3.4End of Topic Test - Anglo-German Rivalry

1.4Outbreak of War

1.4.1Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

1.4.2The July Crisis

1.4.3The Schlieffen Plan and Belgium

1.4.4Reasons for the Outbreak of Hostilities

1.4.5End of Topic Test - Outbreak of War

2The First World War: Stalemate

2.1The Schlieffen Plan

2.1.1Reasons Behind the Schlieffen Plan & its Failure

2.1.2Stalemate

2.1.3End of Topic Test - The Schlieffen Plan

2.2The Western Front

2.2.1Technology

2.2.2Military Tactics

2.2.3The War of Attrition (1915-1916)

2.2.4The War of Attrition (1917)

2.2.5End of Topic Test - The Western Front

2.3The Wider War

2.3.1The War at Sea

2.3.2The War in the Air

2.3.3Other Theatres

2.3.4End of Topic Test - Wider War

3Ending the War

3.1Changes in the Allied Forces

3.1.1The Bolshevik Revolution

3.1.2Reasons for the Entry of the USA

3.1.3The Impact of US Entry on the War

3.1.4End of Topic Test - Changes in the Allied Forces

3.2Military Developments in 1918

3.2.1Tactics & Technology

3.2.2Ludendorff & the German Spring Offensive

3.2.3The Allied Advance During The Hundred Days

3.3Germany Surrenders

3.3.1The Impact of the Naval Blockade

3.3.2Abdication of the Kaiser

3.3.3Armistice

3.3.4The Contribution of Haig and Foch

3.3.5End of Topic Test - Developments & Surrender

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