DBQ (WWI)

The World War I broke out in 1914, when Francis Ferdinand,the heir to the Austro-Hungarian, was assassined by a Serb nationalist. At the time, the Central Powers included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire and the Allies included Great Britain, France, and Russia. Not wanting to be involved in the war, the United States declared its policy of neutrality, until 1917, when they entered the war on the side of the Allies. Before they entered the war, the United States was only declaring themselves neutral, when, from the beginning, they weren't in reality because they were especially helping the Allies, the U.S citizens were not neutral, and they entered the war to stop the Germans from winning the war.

The U.S. sent goods mostly to the Allies, whether they knew it or not. As stated by a secretary of state, Robert Lansing, when the U.S ships, considered neutral ships, were intercepted, the ships were sent to a British port without being examined at sea and didn't come back for weeks. Even the government didn't do anything about it, which means that they were helping out the British; not being neutral. The report from the American Customs Inspector in 1915, right after the sunk of Lusitania, stated that the ship contained 4200 cases of metalic cartridges to London and 1250 cases of shrapnel to England, both to which are the Allies. The U.S said they wanted to ship supplies to the Germans as well, but they made an excuse by saying that the British blockade prevented it.

Also, Hugo Munsterberg, a Harvard professor, realized that the U.S. was already favoring the Allies by violating the Hague Convention and international war by sending conditional contraband in neutral ships to them, not consigned to the government, military, or naval authorities, and leaving the Central Powers empty handed.

To begin with, the U.S. consisted of German-Americans and Irish-Americans who supported the Central Powers, and Italian-Americans and most Americans who supported the Allies. The public were already for one side or the other, it's just that some of the government, like President Wilson and William Jennings Bryan convinced themselves to be neutral. Also, the U.S. government gave permission to finaciers such as J. P. Morgan to give $3 billion in credit to Britain and France, once again, the Allies.

As shown in the picture by Des Moines Register in 1917, just when the U.S. entered the war, this picture shows a python, the Germany taking over the world. To stop this, the U.S. entered the war, showing a pro-Ally remark. If they were ever a neutral, they would have not entered the war just when the Germany were winning because they probably could have gotten a share from them for helping them out, but since they were really for the Allies, they decided to express that by going into the war in 1917 to interfere the Germans.

The U.S was never neutral, they were just declaring themselves neutral when they knew, somewhere in their heart, that they were on the side of the Allies. Although they said they wanted to help the Central Powers as well as the Allies, they probably helped the Allies more than the Central Powers because of the things that Germany did to the U.S, like the sinking of the Lusitania and the Sussex, and the Zimmerman Note. From the beginning, the U.S was meant to enter the war on the side of the Allies and it seemed like the Germans didn't want them on their side anyway.