Original subtitles

In early 1917, the United States was still neutral in the great struggle that had been

tearing Europe and the Middle East apart for more than two years . Most Americans

wanted their country to remain neutral, and had elected President Woodrow Wilson

just a few months before on the slogan “He kept us out of the war.” Meanwhile,

German leaders were getting desperate – if they couldn’t find a way to break the war of attrition

on the Western Front, the Allies would probably defeat them. The result was multiple gambles that

staked everything on a quick victory with the risk of drawing the US into the war.

Just weeks after First World War began in 1914, President Wilson knew that American opinion was

divided, and called for strict neutrality: “The United States must be neutral in fact,

as well as in name, during these days that are to try men's souls. We must be impartial in thought,

as well as action, must put a curb upon our sentiments, as well as upon every transaction

that might be construed as a preference of one party to the struggle before another.” (Wilson)

A clear majority of Americans did not want their country to fight, a feeling expressed in opinion

columns but also popular songs like the 1915 hit "I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier."

Even so, more Americans sympathized with the Entente cause than with the Central Powers. In

November 1914, 51% of newspaper editors surveyed felt their readers supported the Entente, 11% the

Central Powers, and 38% thought their readership divided. (Bethke 185) East Coast opinion tended

to favour the Entente because of cultural and economic ties to Britain and France – US arms

sales to Europe increased from $6 million in 1914 to $500 million in 1917, almost all to the

Allies (Archives.gov). Newspapers often featured negative images of an aggressive, militaristic

Germany and Kaiser Wilhelm , and emphasized the idea that democratic Britain and France were

fighting against autocratic Germany and Austria. Tens of thousands of Americans even joined the

Canadian army to fight on the Allied side, while others volunteered with French forces,

including the famous Lafayette Squadron. The Allies, especially Britain, also carried out an

ongoing propaganda campaign in the US to bolster their cause. They wrote opinion pieces, covertly

funded publications by Allied-friendly American notables including author Henry James , and

promoted the works of anti-German Dutch cartoonist Louis Raemaekers. Many US papers got their news

straight from their British counterparts as well. On the other hand, some of the over 8

million German 1st or 2nd generation Americans supported the Central Powers,

although most wanted neutrality. In the even larger Irish-American community,

many opposed Britain , and Jewish Americans often had a negative view of the Russian Empire.

Influential socialist labour unions opposed any type of US involvement on ideological grounds.

Over time, American journalists reporting from Europe further nudged public opinion towards

the Allies. Most of the fighting happened on Allied soil , and stories of civilian

suffering in Serbia, Belgium, and France filled US newspapers and magazines . Reporters like

Mary Roberts Reinhart , Richard Harding Davis , or Irvin Cobb warned readers about exaggerated

reports of German atrocities, but their reporting of actual German atrocities helped turn opinion

against the Central Powers. Davis was one of many reporters who became pro-Entente:

“[If Americans were] nearer to it, near enough to see the women and children fleeing from the shells

and to smell the dead on the battlefields, there would be no talk of neutrality.” (Neiberg, 38)

Despite the consensus on neutrality with Allied sympathies, a series of incidents and crises

further strained US relations with the Central Powers. US trade with Germany had collapsed,

but arms sales and financial loans to Britain and France soared. The war at sea was a particular

sore point: in 1915, German U-boats sank several Allied passenger ships, resulting in the deaths of

American citizens : 128 Americans (and more than 1000 others) died on the British liner Lusitania

in May , 3 on the Arabic in August , and at least 11 on the Italian liner Ancona in November .

Berlin refused to apologize or compensate victims’ families, and it wasn’t public knowledge at the

time that the Lusitania had been carrying some munitions. When a German submarine torpedoed

French channel ferry Sussex in 1916, injuring 2 Americans, Washington threatened to break

off diplomatic relations . Berlin promised to stop sinking passenger ships, only sink merchantmen if

a check revealed weapons on board, and to ensure the safety of ships’ crews before sinking them.

Still, German leaders resented US arms sales to the Allies:

“The attitude of the United States in regard to the question of the supply of munitions left

no doubt about their one-sided conception of neutrality.” (Watson 423) [Erich Ludendorff]

The question of US weapons lay at the heart of Central Powers’ covert ops inside the United

States. Austro-Hungarian agents plotted to sabotage munitions plants in the Midwest

to prevent weapons sales to Britain and France, resulting in the expulsion of the ambassador , and

German agents blew up a munitions depot in the 1916 Black Tom incident at a New

Jersey rail yard . A German reserve officer also tried to blow up the Vanceboro bridge to Canada.

Congress debated how to respond, but it too was divided. Critics of Wilson’s cautious approach

included former President Theodore Roosevelt: “[Wilson belonged to a group of] professional

pacifists ... flubdubs and molly-coddles ... every soft creature, every coward and weakling,

every man who can’t look more than six inches ahead, every man whose god

is money or pleasure or ease.” (Neiberg, 75) In the face of such an unstable international

situation, and dangers to US maritime trade, Washington beefed up its defense under the

policy of preparedness. The 1916 National Defense Act gave the government more powers to regulate

war-related industries , transport, and increase the army from 125,000 men to 300,000 – and they

used the Lusitania incident to recruit. The Navy got the green light to build 10 new battleships,

50 destroyers, and 72 submarines – a near doubling of those ship classes.

Wilson won the November 1916 election partly because he had kept America neutral, but his

administration was under pressure. He spoke often of humanitarian ideals, including in his

famous Peace Without Victory speech in January 1917, but failed to mediate a peace proposal.

The Allies scored another diplomatic victory in the US when they accepted the President’s

invitation to publicly state their war goals, whereas the Central Powers refused.

US relations with Britain did also suffer during the war, especially when Royal Navy ships stopped

and inspected some US merchant ships . Still, US opinion shifted towards the Entente even

though most still favored neutrality. But that would change in just two months in early 1917.

As 1917 began, the German High Command and government were desperate for a new

strategy. New overall military commanders Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff reckoned that

they could not break the deadlock on the Western Front , and the population was suffering through

a winter with dire shortages of food and fuel – partly due to the British blockade against

them . The Germans did not know the extent of Britain’s financial troubles or morale

issues in the French army, and the Russian Revolution hadn’t happened yet. The Allies

had rejected the German offer of peace talks in December, and some German leaders even feared

revolution if the war could not be ended soon. So in January meetings with government leaders,

the military pushed for a return to unrestricted U-boat warfare to starve Britain into making

peace. Unrestricted submarine war meant sinking any ship in the designated zone around the British

Isles and in the Mediterranean without any warning – contrary to the rules of warfare,

and a practice the Germans had abandoned in 1915 because it threatened to drag the US into the war.

In December 1916, a group of experts led by Admiral Henning von Holtzendorff had

calculated that if the U-boat fleet could sink 600,000 tons of shipping headed to or

from Britain each month and frighten off much neutral shipping , the British Empire would sue

for peace within 5 months. They expected Britain would run short of wheat, fats, ammunition, wood,

and ore. Even if sinking American vessels drew the US into the war against Germany,

it would make no difference as the U-boats would win the war

before US troops could make any difference : “If we succeed in breaking England’s backbone,

the war will immediately be decided in our favour. […War with the United States] should by all means

be avoided; [but] it should not lead us to recoil from making use at the decisive moment of a weapon

that promises victory for us.” (Lloyd 262) Supporters also felt the US deserved to be

punished for Wilson’s perceived holier-than-thou attitude and arms sales to the Allies.

Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg and several other ministers opposed the idea,

since they feared US involvement in the war would seal Germany’s defeat . But Hindenburg countered

that he couldn’t guarantee the morale of the army would hold without it, and they

must spare the army from another Battle of the Somme. A majority in the Reichstag – including

the moderate Catholic Centre Party - sided with the military, and the Kaiser approved the policy.

From February 1, 1917, German U-boats began their unrestricted campaign in violation of

the pre-war Hague Conventions . Just two days later, Washington broke off diplomatic relations

with Berlin – but did not declare war. Wilson was cautious, and he backed off from previous

demands he’d made about the U-boats’ rules of engagement . His administration also didn’t react

much to the first sinkings of non-US neutral shipping, even though some Americans were on

board. Instead Wilson proposed arming US cargo ships, a risky move that would lead to direct

clashes with German subs . Isolationists in the US Senate philibustered to delay the measure,

but the President implemented it in March via an executive order.

So by February 1917 the US was still neutral,

but Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare threatened to create a casus belli. Then,

on March 1, another bombshell hit US headlines – the Zimmermann telegram.

Germany and Mexico had enjoyed good relations in previous years in spite of the ongoing Mexican

revolution and civil war. They’d even held tentative talks about potential joint military

action in Central America against some of Mexico’s smaller neighbours . US-Mexico relations, on the

other hand, were bad as a result of Pancho Villa’s incursion across the border in 1916, and resulting

American punitive expedition into Mexico. With Germany’s unrestricted warfare campaign risking

war with the US, German diplomats decided to explore Mexican interest in an alliance.

On January 16, 1917, the top civil servant in the German foreign ministry , Dr. Arthur

Zimmermann sent a message to the Mexican government via the German ambassador:

“On February 1 we intend to begin submarine warfare without restriction.

In spite of this it is our intention to endeavour to keep the United States neutral.

If this attempt is not successful, we propose an alliance on the following basis with Mexico:

That we shall make war together and together make peace; we shall give general financial support,

and it is understood that Mexico is to reconquer her lost territory of New Mexico,

Texas and Arizona. The details are left to you for settlement.” (N.N.)

The German proposals were only in case the US joined the war, and they were vague.

Beyond unspecified financial aid, there was nothing concrete – Zimmermann went on to ask

Mexico to try to get Japan to join as well, even though Japan was already fighting on the Allied

side. Faced with such an unrealistic scenario, Mexican President Venustiano Carranza refused.

The Zimmermann Telegram was encrypted and sent over an American cable, but British

naval intelligence intercepted and deciphered it. They also handed it to the Americans,

and it became public knowledge on March 1. At first, many thought it

must be a fake by Allied propaganda, but when Zimmermann confirmed it was real,

it caused a public outcry and heightened US security fears . Some already worried that if

the Central Powers won the war or made gains in a compromise peace, there might end up a new German

presence in the Americas – perhaps a base in the Caribbean, or even in Canada. Though improbable,

such possibilities would violate the Monroe Doctrine, according to which the US opposed

any new conquests by foreign powers in what Washington saw as its sphere of influence.

Zimmermann stated that the message only referred to a hypothetical scenario if the US joined the

war, but this did nothing to calm US anger. There’s some debate amongst historians as

to just how significant the telegram was, given that headlines died down after a few days and the

cabinet and public already took a negative view of Germany. Most historians, though, agree the

telegram significantly damaged US-German relations and brought the two countries much closer to war.

Wilson declared a state of armed neutrality on March 9. That same week the Russian Revolution

broke out, overthrowing the Tsar and establishing a Russian Republic. Wilson could now say going

to war would be to “make the world safe for democracy,” as all major Allied powers were now

democratic. Then, on March 16, German submarines sank the US cargo ship Vigilancia without warning,

killing 15 Americans, followed by two more American ships in the next two days.

Wilson had insisted he wouldn’t go to war unless Germany committed an “overt act,” and the telegram

and U-boat attacks tipped the balance. He had considered the possibility of intervention since

the Lusitania disaster two years earlier, and he now knew most of the country would support

him if he did. There’s little evidence that Wilson considered Allied war debts, US business

interests, or that he wanted to save the Allies from defeat – most US observers thought they would

win anyway and underestimated French, British, and Russian difficulties. Instead, he judged that US

interests were at stake, and he wanted the United States to shape the peace and post-war world

according his moral and democratic vision. On April 2, Wilson asked Congress for a

declaration of war against Germany: “We enter this war only where we are

clearly forced into it because there are no other means of defending our rights. […] I

advise that the Congress declare the recent course of the Imperial German Government to be in fact

nothing less than war against the government and people of the United States; […] and that

it take immediate steps […] to exert all its power and employ all its resources to bring

the Government of the German Empire to terms and end the war. […] Neutrality is no longer feasible

or desirable where the peace of the world is involved and the freedom of its peoples,

and the menace to that peace and freedom lies in the existence of autocratic governments backed

by organized force[…] We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves,

no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions

of the rights of mankind.” (President Woodrow Wilson’s Address to Congress)

On April 6, 1917, Congress voted overwhelmingly for war: 82-6 in the Senate and 373-50 in the

House. Privately, many Congressmen still opposed the move, but most of the doubters supported the

government for the sake of national unity. The United States entered the war on the side of

the Entente, but not as a full-fledged ally – Wilson insisted the country be considered

an “Associated Power” not bound by any previous inter-allied agreements. It would be many months

before American troops could make a difference at the front, but the war had taken a new course.

Nearly 25 years after the entry in the First World War, the United States joined the Second

World War after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Unlike in 1918 though, the Allied armies

crossed the German border and in early 1945 were standing on the banks of the mighty Rhine river.

If you want to learn more about the last set-piece battle on the Western

Front of World War 2, the Battle of the Rhine, you should check out our 3-hour,

5 part documentary series Rhineland 45. Covering the entire battle from the Dutch border until

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the Battles of Caporetto, Passchendaele, Cambrai, and the Russian army collapse.

As usual you can find all the sources for this episode in the video description below.

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we couldn’t do it without you. I am Jesse Alexander and this is a production of Real

Time History, the only history channel that has no time for flubdubs and molly-coddles.