America joins the War

Why did America enter the war?

On 2 April 1917 US President Woodrow Wilson explained why he wanted Congress to declare war on Germany:

There were additional reasons for America to go to war which Wilson did not mention:

1. The autocratic nature of the Russian government had prevented America joining the Entente; but in March 1917 that government fell and the Tsar abdicated.

2. In America a growing ‘Preparedness Movement’ had been campaigning and training for war since 1915; it was not interested in the moral argument for war – it was nationalistic, wanted to see a militarily and commercially powerful United States, and thought that a trained workforce would be a better workforce.

3. American had been supplying loans, weapons and supplies to the war since it began; US foreign trade DOUBLED 1914-16 (the production of gunpowder increased sixty-fold, all of it exported) and the economy - which had been in recession in 1914 - boomed.  Joining the war meant more business opportunities for armaments companies like Bethlehem Steel and Remington Arms - American military exports jumped from $40 million in 1914 to $1.3 billion in 1916 and $2.3 billion in the 197-18.

4. A vigorous propaganda campaign had turned American public opinion against Germany.

Going Deeper

The following links will help you widen your knowledge:

Basic accounts from BBC News

Voices of WWI: Arrival of US troops (plus transcript) - IWM

YouTube

The USWW100 short videos are a must-watch:

Declaration of War

America in 1917

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

Zimmermann Telegram

Building an American Military

American propaganda

What did America contribute to the war effort? [ANSWER]

1. Army: Nearly 5 million men served the US military during World War I, half of whom were drafted (conscripted).  2 million service personnel went with the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) to France, of whom more than half actually fought on the Western front, sustaining more than 320,000 casualties, including more than 53,000 killed in action.  US forces were crucial in the battles of 1918.

2. Navy: sent a battleship group to Scapa Flow to join with the British Grand Fleet, and submarines to help guard convoys.

3. Supplies: a huge logistics operation supplied arms, tanks, fuel and other supplies to the AEF and the Allies.  To France alone, America sent 2,000 tons of materials per day, including: 700,000 tons of steel, 30,000 tons of iron, 55,000 tons of brass & copper, and 34,500,000 feet of wood.

4. Wheat: supplies in Europe were hit by the war, especilly by the exit of Russia from the war, and a poor harvest in 1917 threatened a crisis.  The US Food Administration was set up in 1917 to increase harvests and mounted a 'Wheat Will Win the War' propaganda campaign which encouraged Americans to reduce consumption so that wheat could be exported to Europe; as a result, in the UK in 1917, wheat consumption per person actually rose.

5. Enormous Loans: America made loans to the Allies worth $7 billion between 1917 and the end of the war.  This was financed by government bonds, by an increase in Income Tax, and by extra taxes on: beer & wines; admissions to theaters, circuses, bowling alleys & billiard parlors; telegrams & telephone calls; and overseas steamship tickets.

6. Reactions: just the knowledge that the Americans were coming bolstered the morale of the Allies, and forced Germany to risk its ill-prepared 1918 gamble.