America and World War I

World War I was a world conflict lasting from 1914 to 1919 (2006). Soon after the war began Britain, France, and their allies set up a naval blockade of Germany and Austria. The Wilson Administration complained bitterly that the blockade violated international law (2010). It was not the conventional surface vessels used by Britain and France to enforce its blockade that enraged Americans, but the German submarines used. When American ships were intercepted by the British, the crew treated well. German submarines attacked without warning, and passengers had little to no chance of surviving (2010).

While Wilson weighed his options regarding the submarine issue, he had to also evaluate Germany’s attempt at a secret alliance with Mexico. On January 19, 1917, British naval intelligence intercepted a telegram sent by Arthur Zimmerman, a German Foreign Minister, to the German Ambassador in Mexico City (2010). The “Zimmerman Telegram” promised the Mexican Government that Germany would help Mexico recover the territory it had lost to the United States following the Mexican-American War. In return for this assistance, the Germans asked for Mexican support in the war (2010). Initially, the British had not shared the news of the “Zimmerman Telegram” with U.S. officials. However, on February 24th, the British shared the note in hopes of persuading American officials to join the war. The British finally forwarded the intercept to Wilson. Even with this news, Wilson still hesitated to ask for a declaration of war.

On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went before Congress to request a declaration of war against Germany. Wilson cited Germany’s violation of its pledge to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and its attempts to entice Mexico into an alliance against the United States, as his reasons