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WORLD WAR I: A War to End All Wars Introduction | Triple Alliance | Triple Entente | Advancement | US Involvement

**US INVOLVEMENT

** When war erupted in 1914, the United States attempted to remain neutral. Isolationist foreign policy was encouraged by Congress's apprehensions about giving other countries a political door into US policies and the cultural melting pot of the United States' population. In spite of these factors, the United States did enter World War I, as a result of several events. Prior to 1915, German subs had a policy of warning and allowing time to evacuate ships carrying passengers before they sank them. However, in 1915 the Lusitania was sunk without a warning, killing over 120 Americans. One year later, the Sussex was sunk by German U-boats and American citizens were outraged at these direct violations of their neutral rights at sea. In 1916 President Wilson increased the size of the military and issued a warning to the Germans:

"Unless the Imperial Government should now immediately declare and effect an abandonment of its present methods of submarine warfare against passenger and freight-carrying vessels, the Government of the United States can have no choice but to sever diplomatic relations with the German Empire altogether."

The Germans responded by temporally ceasing submarine warfare until 1917 when German Ambassador Berstorff announced the continuation of submarine warfare and ended diplomatic relations with the United States. In an attempt to eliminate the threat of American involvement in Europe, Foreign Minister Alfred Zimmerman attempted to provoke Mexico and Japan into attacking the United States with the promise of German assistance after the European front was conquered. A message containing Zimmerman's intent was decoded by the British and sent to the US, further swaying Americans to action. Due primarily to submarine warfare and the Zimmerman note, President Wilson asked Congress for permission to go to war, and on April 6, 1917, congress officially declared it.

The United States was never formally a member of the Entente but became a self-styled "Associated Power". The United States had a small army, but it drafted four million men and by summer 1918 was sending 10,000 fresh soldiers to France every day. Germany had miscalculated, believing it would be many more months before they would arrive and that the arrival could be stopped by U-boats. American divisions were assigned to the depleted French and British Empire commands on March 28.

General Foch was appointed as supreme commander of the Triple Entente. Foch assumed a coordinating role, rather than a directing role and the British, French and U.S. commands operated largely independently. Meanwhile, Germany was falling apart at home. Anti-war marches become frequent and morale in the army fell. Industrial output was 53% of 1913 level.

The collapse of the Central Powers came swiftly. Bulgaria was the first to sign an armistice on September 29, 1918 at Saloniki. On October 30, the Ottoman Empire capitulated at Mudros. At 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918, a ceasefire came into effect. Opposing armies on the Western Front began to withdraw from their positions. A formal state of war between the two sides persisted for another seven months, until signing of the Treaty of Versailles with Germany on June 28, 1919. Later treaties with Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire were signed.