American Enters the War

1916 Election

The British Blockade

As fighting on land continued with nearly no results, Britain turned to its naval strength. A blockade along the German coast was set up to prevent the transport of goods of any kind -- war supplies or contraband. The blockade was also extended to neutral ports, and the entire North Sea was mined.

The naval actions had the desired results. First of all, American ships refused the challenge the blockade, and no longer transported supplies to Germany. Secondly, Germany found it increasingly difficult to import food, weapons, chemical fertilizers, and other supplies. Without fertilizers, German farmers were unable to grow enough food. By 1917, a famine had fallen across the country. It is estimated that 750,000 Germans starved to death as a result of the British blockade.

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German U-Boat Response

Germany responded to the British blockade with their own blockade with U-Boats (from Unterseeboot, the German word for submarine). The Kaiser ordered that all cargo headed for Britain would be considered contraband, all vessels in the vicinity of Britain would be sunk, and crews would be given no warning to abandon ship.

The German blockade proved far less destructive than the British blockade, costing only 75,000 lives. The U-Boat attacks, however, were far more spectacular events, and were easily used in propaganda sent to America. As a result, Americans grew furious with the Germans, and public opinion of the Central Powers rapidly became negative.

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The United States Remains Neutral

Despite the German provocation, Wilson ruled out a military response. He protested sharply to the German government, but that had little effect. Two months later, in July of 1915, the Germans sunk the British liner, Arabic. The United States once again protested, forcing the Germans to agree not to sink any more liners. However, in March of 1916, a U-Boat attacked an unarmed French passenger steamer, the Sussex. The Sussex did not sink, but 80 passengers, including Americans, were injured or killed. America once again protested, and once again, German agreed. However, the Germans included a stipulation: if the Americans could not persuade Britain to call off its blockade, U-Boats would once again attack.

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The Election of 1916

In November of 1916, there came another Presidential Election. The Democrats renominated Wilson, and the Republicans chose Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes. Wilson campained with the slogan, "He Kept Us Out of War". Hughes promised to uphold our right to the seas, while not being to hard on Germany.

The election returns shifted from hour to hour. Hughes went to bed believing he had won. When a reporter attempted to bring him the news of Wilson's victory, an aide said, "The President cannot be disturbed." To that, the reporter replied, "Well, when he wakes up, tell him he's no longer the President."

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The Collapse of Neutrality

Following the election, Wilson made attempts to stop the war by calling on each side to state the terms it would be willing to agree to. This attempt failed.

Germany believed they had a good chance of beating Britain if they resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. On January 31, the Kaiser announced that U-Boats would sink all ships in British waters -- hostile or neutral -- on sight. Wilson was stunned; this meant that the US would be forced to go to war. Wilson held back, however, stating that he would wait for "actual overt acts" before breaking diplomatic ties.

The over acts came quickly. First was the Zimmermann note, a telegram sent by Germany's foreign minister to the German ambassador in Mexico, which was intercepted by British agents. The telegram suggested an alliance with Mexico, and promised that, if war was waged against America, they would help in recovering "the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona."

The Senate passed the resolution to declare war on April 4, with the House following in its footsteps on April 6. The illusion of neutrality was finally shattered.

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This site was created for sole use as a suplement to "The Americans" and by no means is meant for profit or personal gain on the part of the creator. Special thanks to McDougal Littell for the majority of the information contained herein.