Why Did The United States Have Made The Right Decision Essay

The United States made the right decision by joining World War 1. Until 1917 the United States remained neutral. But after 1917 several factors made American neutrality difficult to maintain. The factors that enabled President Woodrow Wilson to take action from neutrality to engagement included Germany’s unrestricted warfare, “Zimmerman Note”, significant money-making and trade opportunities, and fall of the oppressive Russian monarchy.

One of the major reasons why United States made the right decision by entering the war was because of the German submarine warfare. In 1915, the British used its naval strength to blockade the German coast. This prevented weapons and other military supplies from getting through the blockade. As a result, Germany
responded to the British blockade with submarine warfare. Germany declared that it would sink ships seen near the British territory. By 1917, Germany’s unrestricted warfare sunk many ship. Few famous ships the sunk were Lusitania, Sussex, and Arabic. All the passengers aboard these ships, of which many were Americans, died. The death of Americans aboard the ships turned public opinion against Germany and the Central Powers. To top it all up, German officials continued to ignore Wilson’s calls for peace. The United States started to debate for joining the war. Wilson knew that the German decisions would mean that the United States would have to go to war in order to protect its citizens.

Next came the Zimmerman Note, which added another spark between the United States and Germany. Zimmerman Note was a telegram from the German foreign minister to the German ambassador in Mexico. This note informed the ambassador to propose an alliance between Germany and Mexico. It also promised the Mexican officials that if war with the United States broke out, Germany would support Mexico in regaining its lost territory from the United States. This territory included Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. British agents intercepted this note. This was the last straw and many Americans strongly felt that going to war again the Central Powers was beneficial to the nation. United States made an excellent decision by going to war at this point because it would be beneficial for the nation. If it chose to stay neutral any longer, then the war that had been going on in the Europe would move to the Americas. Wilson thought that this was a bad idea. If German and Mexican alliances were successful then Mexican officials would attack the United States. United States found it beneficial to intervene in the war and stop it in Europe. Wilson under no circumstances wanted the war to move to North America. The Zimmerman note was a significant warning for the United States to join the war.

If the United States refused to join the war then the country itself would have lost money.
The United States had strong economic ties with the Allies. During the first two years of the war, American’s trade with the Allies noticeably increased. The Allies flooded American manufactures with orders for all sorts of war supplies such as dynamite, armored cars, submarines and airplane parts. The United States shipped millions of dollars of war equipment to the Allies but more supplies were requested. The Allies, mainly Britain and France, were paying huge amounts of money for this war and as a result were in debt. They owed American manufactures and businessmen huge amounts of money. Many Americans wanted their money back and thought that the United States should help the Allies win the war. They thought that winning the war ensured repayments for the materials. Because the United States finally joined the war, it gave many European soldiers a break. Also, the American soldiers were fresh and ready for the war opposed to the tired German soldiers. All these factors summed in for the defeat of these soldiers. It was beneficial for America to join the war to ensure the Allied repayments of debts, which could only be granted by victory of the
Allies.

Another good reason behind joining the war was the fall of the oppressive Russian monarchy. The fall of this monarchy was one of the final obstacles to direct the involvement of the United States in the war. After the Russian monarchy fell and was replaced with a representative government, the United States thought that it was the perfect time to enter the war. It is especially important to notice that the Russian Monarchy was the only present monarchy on the side of the Allies. The decision of joining the war for the United States could be justified now. A possible reason might be that the Allies are fighting for a good cause against brutal monarchies.

The entry of the United States in World War 1 was solely idealism.
When Wilson declared war and asked for Congress approval he promised that this “war would end all wars.” This was just idealistic promises and just not possible to achieve. Wilson being a true idealist shaped his ideals in persuading the American citizens to go to war. Wilson chose to convey his idealistic ideas to many citizens by means of editorials in newspapers to news conferences to speeches. Wilson made multiple successful idealistic attempts during the war to demonstrate the degree of idealism to the public. All these attempts made this entire period of time
idealistic.

Partly, these attempts to join the war could be considered as the dollar diplomacy. Dollar Diplomacy was the policy of using the nation’s economic power to exert influence over other countries. American businessmen and banks earned millions of dollars by supplying weapons, plane parts, submarines and other war equipment to the Allies. Especially during the first few years of the war the Transatlantic trade between America and the Allies power increased tremendously. The Allies leaders flooded American manufactures with orders, which led to labor shortage. This practice can be thought of as the Dollar Diplomacy because American manufactures, banks and businessmen earned a lot of money by intervening into the European problems.

All in all, the United States made a good decision to enter the war. The United States saw several factors that caused them to enter the war including Germany’s unrestricted warfare, “Zimmerman Note”, significant money-making and trade opportunities, and fall of the oppressive Russian monarchy. Also the United States entry into the war was completely based upon the practice of idealism. Wilson, an idealistic president, promised several “ideas” to the public.