Woodrow Wilson used the idea that he kept us out of World War I when he ran for reelection in 1916. Yet, in 1917, he asked Congress to declare war on Germany. There are reasons why this happened.
Germany was sinking our merchant ships without warning after the war began. This was in violation of our rights as a neutral nation. We had the right to trade with any country. If the country was at war, we couldn’t trade war materials with them. When Germany sank our ships, Americans were being killed by this action. Germany eventually agreed to stop sinking our ships without warning in what was known as the Sussex Pledge.
In 1917, two important events occurred. A telegram sent by Germany was intercepted and given to our government and eventually published in newspapers. This telegram, called the Zimmerman Telegram, asked Mexico to attack the United States if we joined World War I. Germany promised to give Mexico some of the lands it lost as a result of the Mexican-American War in 1848. When the public learned of this telegram, they were outraged.
In February 1917, Germany broke the Sussex Pledge and began to sink our ships without warning. Germany knew this would lead to war, but Germany believed it was close to winning the war, and would win it before the United States could become a factor in the war.
Once Germany began to sink our ships without warning, President Wilson knew he was going to have to change his stance on the war. The pressure was building to declare on Germany, which we did in April 1917.
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