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German submarines sank three U.S. merchant ships during March 16–18 with heavy loss of life. Supported by his Cabinet, by most newspapers, and by a large segment of public opinion, Wilson made the decision on March 20 for the United States to declare war on Germany, and on March 21 he called Congress to meet in special session on April 2.
During the war, the U.S. mobilized over 4.7 million military personnel and suffered the loss of over 116,000 soldiers. [1] The war saw a dramatic expansion of the United States government in an attempt to harness the war effort and a significant increase in the size of the U.S. Armed Forces .
- Overview
- War in Europe and US neutrality
- The United States enters World War I
- World War I on the home front
- Aftermath: consequences of World War I
- What do you think?
World War I was the "war to end all wars." It had major consequences on Americans both at home and abroad.
On June 28, 1914, Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinated the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Princip and his accomplices wanted to unite the Yugoslav people and liberate them from Austrian rule. The assassination set off a series of events that culminated in a declaration of war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. Due to the European alliance system, all major European powers were drawn into the war, which spread around the globe and became the first world war in human history.1
World map showing the nations of the world highlighted according to whether they fought with the Allied Powers or the Central Powers in World War I.
World War I was truly a world-wide war. Here, countries that were allied with the Triple Entente, known as the Allied Powers, are highlighted in green. Countries that were allied with the Central Powers are highlighted in orange. Map courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
The war pitted two groups of allies against each other: the Triple Entente, composed of Russia, France, and the United Kingdom, against the Central Powers, Germany and Austria-Hungary.
[See a list of principal World War I combatants]
Though everyone believed the war would be quick and decisive, it instead bogged down in a prolonged war of attrition, with soldiers in the trenches fighting ferociously to move the battle lines by mere inches.2
US President Woodrow Wilson sought to maintain US neutrality but was ultimately unable to keep the United States out of the war, largely because of escalating German aggression. On May 7, 1915, the Germans sunk the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania, which had over a hundred Americans on board. Wilson warned that the United States would not permit unrestricted submarine warfare or any further violations of international law.
In January 1917, the Germans resumed submarine warfare. A few days after this announcement, the Wilson administration obtained a copy of the Zimmermann Telegram, which urged Mexico to join the war effort on the side of Germany and pledged that in the event of a German victory, the territories of Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico would be stripped from the United States and returned to Mexico. The publication of the Zimmermann Telegram and the escalation of German submarine attacks on US merchant vessels led the US Congress to declare war on Germany on April 6, 1917.
More than 1.3 million men and twenty thousand women enlisted in the armed forces.3 Though some Americans opposed US entry into the war, many believed they had a civic duty to support the war effort. US government propaganda sought to mobilize the American citizenry through appeals to patriotism and civic duty, and by linking US democracy with support for the democracies of Western Europe.
The Selective Service Act of 1917 authorized the conscription of military manpower for the war effort so that the United States did not have to rely solely on volunteers.4 Because many American citizens believed it was their patriotic duty to support the war effort, the draft was well-received and rates of draft-dodging were relatively low.
The First World War had an enormous impact on US politics, culture, and society. Advocates of female suffrage successfully linked the patriotic efforts of women in the war with voting rights. This strategy was highly effective, and in 1920, the US Congress ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, which guaranteed women the right to vote.5
Others were not so lucky. Hyper-vigilance on the home front led to spontaneous outbreaks of violence against groups whose loyalty to the United States was considered suspect. German-Americans, labor activists, suffragists, immigrants, African Americans, and socialists were subjected to threats, harassment, imprisonment, and physical violence.
The experience of the First World War was traumatizing. The so-called “civilized” Western democracies had plunged into a ferocious and deadly conflict with uncertain origins and an unsatisfying outcome. As a result, many became disillusioned with the values and ideals of American political democracy and consumer culture. The generation that came of age during the First World War and the “Roaring 1920s” is known as the “Lost Generation.”
On the political front, a debate erupted between President Wilson and his supporters, who sought an expanded role for the United States in world affairs, and isolationists in Congress, who feared becoming embroiled in future European conflicts. Though Wilson was the foremost advocate of the League of Nations, an international peacekeeping organization, the United States never officially joined the League due to isolationist opposition.7
Why was President Wilson unable to keep the United States out of the war?
What was the effect of the war on US culture and society?
Were the domestic effects of the war more positive or negative overall?
Should the United States have joined the League of Nations?
- 3 min
- World War I Begins. On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated by a Bosnian Serb nationalist in Sarajevo, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- The Lusitania Sinks. On May 7, 1915, a German submarine sank the British ocean liner Lusitania, resulting in the deaths of nearly 1,200 people, including 128 Americans.
- Germany’s U-Boat Submarine Warfare Resumes. In March 1916, a German U-boat torpedoed a French passenger ship, the Sussex, killing dozens of people, including several Americans.
- The Zimmerman Telegram. Meanwhile, in January 1917, the British intercepted and deciphered an encrypted message from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the German minister to Mexico, Heinrich von Eckhart.
May 15, 2014 · Nowhere was this more true than in the realm of communications — the recent introduction of electricity- and radio-based communications revolutionized the art of war, joining other advances such as...
Alliances as a cause of World War I. A representation of the Triple Alliance, with Italy as the junior partner. Alliances are possibly the best known cause of World War I. An alliance is a formal political, military or economic agreement between two or more nations.
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The invention of the tank revolutionized warfare during World War One, forever changing the way battles were fought. For the first time, soldiers had access to armored vehicles that could traverse difficult terrain and withstand enemy fire.
