Germany's resumption of submarine attacks on passenger and merchant ships in 1917 became the primary motivation behind Wilson's decision to lead the United States into World War I.
On April 2, President Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany specifically citing Germany's renewed submarine policy as “a war against mankind. It is a war against all nations.” He also spoke about German spying inside the U.S. and the treachery of the Zimmermann Telegram.
What were the main reasons for U. S. involvement in the war? The main reasons the US got involved in the war was because of nationalism, imperialism, militarism, and forming allies. Many countries were scared of Germany's nationalism.
The immediate cause of World War I that made the aforementioned items come into play (alliances, imperialism, militarism, nationalism) was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. In June 1914, a Serbian-nationalist terrorist group called the Black Hand sent groups to assassinate the Archduke.
Historians who believe Germany was primarily responsible for the war base their conclusion on the aggressive attitude of Germany's leaders, their desire to extend Germany's influence throughout Europe, and on the militaristic nature of the German people.
On 11 December 1941, four days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States declaration of war against the Japanese Empire, Nazi Germany declared war against the United States, in response to what was claimed to be a series of provocations by the United States government when the U.S. was still ...
1) On April 6, 1917, Congress approved a resolution declaring war with Germany. The Senate approved the resolution by a vote of 82-6 on April 4, 1917.
If Germany had won on the Western Front, it would have acquired some French territory and maybe Belgium. The Germans probably wouldn't have been able to enjoy their victory for long. Britain would have retained its independence, protected by its navy that might have continued the hunger blockade against Germany.
Thus, one could argue that much of the war could have been avoided if Russia and Germany had simply kept out of the matter. On the other hand, real tensions existed among many of the principal nations prior to the war, and these conflicting ambitions contributed to the war's escalation.
The war was a catalyst for the great migration of African Americans, and those who returned from the war, finding inequality intact, demanded civil rights. In addition, the conflict heralded the rise of conscription, mass propaganda, the national security state and the FBI.
No Holocaust. No Cold War. Without tens of millions of deaths, European nations would have likely put more resources into building their economies. Germany would have become an economic, scientific and cultural powerhouse.
Indelibly tied to Americans, “Doughboys” became the most enduring nickname for the troops of General John Pershing's American Expeditionary Forces, who traversed the Atlantic to join war weary Allied armies fighting on the Western Front in World War I.
Why did Russia leave World War I? Russia left WW1 because it was in the interest of Russian Communists (Bolsheviks) who took power in November 1917. The Bolsheviks' priority was to win a civil war against their domestic opponents, not to fight in WW1. They also thought that Germany would soon lose the war in any case.
Even with everything noted above, Germany and its European partners could have still won the war were it not for Germany's declaration of war on the United States on December 11, 1941. It was really the only time Nazi Germany had actually declared war on an enemy, and it needed not to have happened.
By the end of World War I, some two million men volunteered for various branches of the armed services, and some 2.8 million had been drafted. This meant that more than half of the almost 4.8 million Americans who served in the armed forces were drafted.
It would have been a negotiated armistice or a German victory. The Allies alone could not possibly have defeated Germany. Without U.S. entry, there would have no Versailles Treaty, termed a “diktat” by Hitler, who used it to arouse Germany against the Weimar Republic and Wilson's League of Nations.
It must be baldly stated: Germany would have won World War I had the U.S. Army not intervened in France in 1918. The French and British were barely hanging on in 1918.
Soon, West Germany, bolstered by Marshall Plan aid and relieved of most of its reparations burden, was Europe's fastest-growing economy. This “economic miracle” helped stabilize the economy, and the new plan used the potential of reparations payments to encourage countries to trade with West Germany.
Over 30 nations declared war between 1914 and 1918. The majority joined on the side of the Allies, including Serbia, Russia, France, Britain, Italy and the United States. They were opposed by Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire, who together formed the Central Powers.
In March 1918, the new Russian government, now under Lenin's leadership, signed a peace treaty with Germany at Brest-Litovsk in what is now Belarus.
The French, in 1914, entered the war because they had no alternative. The Germans had attacked them. History can be very simple at times.
United States
On the other hand, Germany was considered the stronger and more dangerous threat to Europe; and Germany's geographical proximity to the UK and the Soviet Union was a much greater threat to their survival. Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, American planners foresaw the possibility of a two-front war.
The German inability to destroy the Royal Air Force was another reason why Hitler did not invade Britain. Nazi Germany lost the Battle of Britain. The Germans did not have naval or air supremacy. These two aspects were vital for conducting a seaborne invasion.
(Gilder Lehrman Collection) On December 7, 1941, two hours after the Japanese attack on American military installations at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Japan declared war on the United States and Great Britain, marking America's entry into World War II.