There were several actions by Germany that angered Americans before we entered World War I. One event was the German use of the submarine to sink American ships. As a neutral nation, we had the right to trade with any country as long as we weren’t trading war materials. Countries at war could search our ships to see if we were trading war materials. If we were doing this, our ships could be seized or our ships could be sunk after the safety of the crew was assured. When Germany began sinking our ships, they did this without warning and without searching our ships. Our crews were being killed when our ships were sunk. Germany eventually agreed to stop doing when they made the Sussex Pledge.
In 1917, we learned of a German plan to involve Mexico in the war. Germany wanted Mexico to attack us. This would create a two-front war for us, which would make it more difficult for us to fight in Europe. In return for Mexico attacking us, Germany was going to take land we got in the Mexican Cession and return it to Mexico. When the Zimmerman Telegram was intercepted and published, Americans were furious with Germany.
In 1917, Germany decided to break the Sussex Pledge. They began to sink our merchant ships without warning. While Germany knew this would likely bring us into the war against Germany, Germany believed they would win the war before we could become a factor in the war.
These German actions played a big role in our decision to join World War I and to fight against Germany.
No comments:
Post a Comment