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The United States eventually joined World War 1 because of the Zimmermann telegram,
the sinking of the Lustinia, and the financial benefits that would come if Great Britain was
victorious. To begin, the United States had intercepted a telegram from the German foreign
minister named Arthur Zimmermann, the telegram was directed to Mexico and offered an
alliance. In this alliance, Mexico would wage war on the US to take over the territory lost from
the Mexican-American War, and Germany would give support, it “set off a new wave of
anti-German feeling” (Doc C). This wave of animosity towards the Germans, for in their eyes
having proposed an act of war against the US, could have caused a lot of the population to want
to enter World War 1. This combined with the common yellow journalism that had already been
a factor in the Spanish-American War, gives a great perspective of how the population could
have been feeling during this time. The people would most likely have been very scared due to
the threat of war against them, and in that fear combined with the yellow journalism helping it to
spiral, would encourage them to want to strike first.
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Another reason for the United States’ entry into World War 1 is the sinking of the
Lusitania, a supposedly “innocent” passenger ship. In reality though, this ship had been carrying
weapons for the British. The US government most likely didn’t want to admit this fact, and had
claimed it to be entirely Germany’s fault, when in reality Germany had alerted all of the neutral
passengers of Atlantic vessels to the potential for submarine attacks, and the Lusitania was
considered a British, and therefore an enemy ship. Even though this was the case, in a 1917
speech by Woodrow Wilson, he states that “The present German submarine warfare against
commerce is a warfare against mankind” (Doc B). This speech turned the public against
Germany, and gave the added effect of them turning a blind-eye to the weapons stored on the
Lusitania. In the same 1917 speech, Wilson conveniently added many points about their entry
not being for reasons of greed, which would further draw the attention away from the truth.
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The final reason for the United States’ entry into World War 1 is the financial benefits that
would come in the case of British victory. Historian Howard Zinn has pointed out many flaws in
the US’ reasons for entry, and how many of them were coverups for what could be the main
incentive for US entry. He has pointed out that during this time, the US capitalized on foreign
investment, and oftentimes had given out loans to the allies and profited off the high interest
rates. This directly contradicts many parts of Wilson’s 1917 speech, and shows that the US had
clear financial reasons for entering the war. As England became a larger market for American
goods and loans, the J.P. Morgan company acted as “agents” for the Allies. When Wilson lifted
the ban on private bank loans to the allies in 1915, J.P. Morgan “could now begin lending money
in such great amounts as to both make great profit and tie American finance closely to the
interest of a British victory” (Document D). This shows that a lot of the United States’ prosperity
depended on British victory, and gave them a good reason to enter into World War 1. This
combined with the pressure from the public, creates a great recipe for the US joining the fight.