Military History – The Great War
Overall, the US’s participating in the Great War also known as the First World War in 1917 is considered an historical move in 20th century. This is because the United States violated its policy of isolation. This paper explores the factors that motivated the United States to enter the Great War and the allies’ reaction to her entry into the War.
Nonetheless, the entry of US in the war had no strategic war plans because it was a response to the enemy’s provocations. That is, the US was reacting to Germany’s provocation that threatened her interests in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean regions. President Woodrow Wilson went before the Congress on 2 April 1917 to request permission to enter the Great War. According to President Wilson, the American interests were at stake due to Germany’s persistent violation of its promise to shelve its submarine warfare in the Mediterranean and North Atlantic that was a threat to the US security (The U.S. Department of the State’, 2014). At the same time, President Wilson cited that Germany was attempting to seek Mexico’s support in her attempts to fight the US. As a result, the Congress granted the US permission to enter the war on Germany on 4 April 1917. Nonetheless, there was no plan on how the U.S. would fight the Germans. This is because the US had no strategic militia or arsenal to engage the Germans because of the American isolationist policy.
The Allies reacted positively to the American entry into the Great War. The leaking of the Zimmerman Telegram to the United States was a British strategy to woo the Americans to supplement the allied efforts to fight the Germans (Doenecke, 2011). This was because Germany was becoming a threat to Britain France’s trade in the Mediterranean and Atlantic region. In fact, the sinking of the unarmed French’s boat, the Sussex, was evident that the Germans were not ready to surrender. In addition, the Battle of Passchendaele was particularly expensive to Britain because it lost over 360, 000 men in ten days and managed to capture 11 kilometers only. As such, the inclusion of 2 million U.S. soldiers was welcome by the France, Britain, Montenegro, Italy, Serbia, Belgium and Japan’s military brigades (Doenecke, 2011). The withdrawal of the Russians in 1917 December also meant that the Allied Forces were weak.
In conclusion, the U.S. involvement in the Great War was revolutionary because she violated her isolationist policy. Nonetheless, her involvement in the Great War was welcome by the allies who were suffering major losses in the hands of the Germans.
References
Doenecke, J. D. (2011). Nothing less than war: A new history of America’s entry into World War I. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky.
The U.S. Department of State: Office of the Historian. (2014). American entry into World War I, 1917. Retrieved 13 February, 2014, from, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/wwi
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