A Culmination of Events to War
In the last blog, I highlighted three key factors contributing to the US entering World War I. In this blog, I intend to focus on the events that led to Wilson calling for a declaration of war on 2 April 1917.
While economic influences, among other things (Wilson had family ties to Britain and naturally favored the country), certainly contributed to the US favoring the Triple Entente (Britain, France, and Russia were making massive orders that benefited the US economy), the two overarching factors that led to the US entering the war include Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare campaign (and its perception by news and thereby the American public) and the Zimmerman Telegram.
Both were, in effect, a result of British influence.
No Option But Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
As I covered in the last blog, part of the British strategy to defeat the Central Powers was starving the nations with a blockade. The US had an opportunity to push back on these plans, but the British were never rebuked due to the influence of Edward M. "Colonel" House on President Wilson. So, they pursued their strategy without any worry that this would sour Anglo-American relations and create a crisis.
By the Autumn of 1914, the blockade was already starting to create supply shortages for the Central Powers. Even before the war, Germany, like Britain, was industrialized but gave up on the idea of feeding itself. In the two years before the war, imports exceeded exports by $640 million—they heavily depended on these imports for food and raw materials.
Here's the effect the blockade had:
By the Autumn of 1914, the Central Powers ran short on flour and bread.
By early 1915, milk and potatoes were in short supply.
By 1916, they struggled to obtain oil, sugar, eggs, and even soap.
By 1917, fat intake per person was 12 percent of what it had been in 1913.
Death rates for civilians by this point were a third higher.
By 1918, the German people were living off of 1000 calories per day.
Pressure was growing on Berlin to do something. It was very clear that the US was culpable in allowing this to happen (American goods buoyed the Entente's war efforts while the Germans were being starved to death). The German people could see this, though given that the news reaching America was filtered through censor offices in London and Paris, the Americans' views on the war were aligned with Britain (as it was designed).
Even though Wilson attempted to portray himself as an ambassador for peace, the Germans (because of the above) rejected any mediation for peace with the US (Wilson would be outraged that the Germans were seemingly “toying” with him regarding peace after he received the Zimmerman Telegram). With no way to change or influence America's view on the war away from British hands, the Germans desperately turned to the only option they had left—unrestricted submarine warfare.
They began one of two unrestricted submarine warfare campaigns. The first started on 4 February 1915, when Germany declared the seas around Britain and Ireland a war zone. Ships entering the area, even merchant vessels, would be sunk without warning. The initial effects of their attacks would not achieve the scale required to stop supplies from reaching Britain (it would take time for Germany to build up its U-boat fleet).
However, it led to two crises on the open sea, with the infamous sinking of the RMS Lusitania on 7 May 1915, which killed 128 Americans, and the sinking of the SS Arabic on 19 August, killing 44 passengers and crew, 3 of which were American. The Kaiser, in secret, reverted to cruiser rules (also called prize rules). Any ship that's not an armed warship should not be attacked without warning, and every measure to ensure the crew's safety should be taken if the vessel is captured.
Yet, things would become further complicated given that British merchant ships would swap out the Union Jack for Old Glory to make themselves appear American (that was illegal). Also, merchant ships were increasingly becoming armed. Once more, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill advised merchant vessels to ram U-boats if attacked. This further pushed Germany into a corner since it was not advantageous to approach these vessels with any sort of warning.
In 1916, U-boats reverted to prize rules. But by 1917, the fleet had grown from 20 to 140 U-boats. German policy was now being driven by a military dictatorship under the leadership of two generals, Erich Ludendorff and Paul von Hindenburg. As seen in the movie 1917, the German Army pulled back from its precarious positions on the Western Front to a new line of fortifications called the Hindenburg Line. This would enable them to maximize their forces after the costly campaigns of Verdun and the Somme.
At the same time, they unleashed unrestricted submarine warfare once again. They knew that it would probably mean drawing the US into the war, but they felt it would take time for the US to mobilize its army (which was very small then). And if the campaign were successful, it would be hard for the Americans to move that army and its logistics to Europe, where they could impact the war.
Interestingly, after the Lusitania, in the two and half years leading up to this point, only six Americans had lost their lives as a result of U-boats. Of those six, three happened in February of 1917. A crewman was lost when the tanker Eaveston was torpedoed, and the last two were a Chicago mother and daughter who were lost when the liner Laconia was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland. The last one made headlines that President Wilson used to call for "armed neutrality."
Then came the Zimmerman Telegram.
Unleashing American Outrage
For two and half years, the American public had been fed anti-German war propaganda and sanitized reporting thanks to the self-censorship of the American press. With the Zimmerman Telegram, even though its propositions were unrealistic, all of these efforts pushed American outrage and war fever to the point of no return.
In response to the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare, German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann sent a coded message to the Mexican government. He didn't know that the British had broken the German code and intercepted this secret message. The British quickly found a way to share it with the United States and concocted a cover story not to reveal to the Germans that they had broken their code.
Here's the decoded message:
We intend to begin on the first of February unrestricted submarine warfare. We shall endeavor in spite of this to keep the United States of America neutral. In the event of this not succeeding, we make Mexico a proposal or alliance on the following basis: make war together, make peace together, generous financial support and an understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The settlement in detail is left to you. You will inform the President of the above most secretly as soon as the outbreak of war with the United States of America is certain and add the suggestion that he should, on his own initiative, invite Japan to immediate adherence and at the same time mediate between Japan and ourselves. Please call the President's attention to the fact that the ruthless employment of our submarines now offers the prospect of compelling England in a few months to make peace.
It's important to note that such an alliance would only be declared after the US declares war (something that is often overlooked). But further, it's ridiculous to think that Mexico, after its civil war, was in any position to threaten the US. And Germany certainly couldn't provide financial support to it. Moreover, the notion of Japan allying with the Central Powers was unrealistic given that they had already joined the Allies in exchange for the Chinese province of Shantung and islands in the Pacific.
But that didn't matter. The telegram was released to the public on 1 March 1917 and was met with outrage. It showed Germany's intention to expand the war to North America. Moreover, Japanese expansionism already concerned the American public (which would prove quite prescient, given that America would be at war with Japan twenty-four years later). The inclusion of Japan only pushed previously indifferent West Coast communities, like Californians, ardently against Germany.
Coupled with the "retreat" of the German armies on the Western Front, the Allies hailed it as a victory, which fed into the narrative that Germany was nearly beaten (Ludendorff had foreseen such claims, playing into his hand). It appeared to the Americans that victory was near, and if not for fighting for justice and civilization, it would be fighting on the winning side.
Thus, on 2 April 1917, Wilson came before Congress and asked for a declaration of war. In the Senate, the resolution passed on 4 April with a vote of 82-6, with eight not voting. In the House of Representatives, the resolution passed on 6 April at 3 a.m. by a vote of 373-50, with another eight not voting—America was going to war.
In the next blog, I'll explore America's involvement in the war and how it changed the country in the years to come. I'll then reflect on what an early German victory in 1914 would've meant for the country.
Read Next Blog Series <Coming Soon>
Sources:
Meyer, G.J. The World Remade: America in World War I. New York, Bantam Books, 2016.
Images:
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