why did USA join first world war?
400914
its complicated.\nUK and US were allies. US helped with industry, which it sailed to UK. germany sunk some ships with US citizen eg the lusitania.\nmostly beacuse a lot of it allies, canada, australia, UK etc were fighting and US interests rested more with them than with Germany
281877
Wow, just ignore the previous post. Someone has their wars mixed up.\n\nThe United States was neutral during WWI because they felt that this was a European conflict, and none of their business. What drew us into the war was a German U-boat attack on a US ship.
1035245
It was a knock on affect. If one country on one side went to war with one on the other they would ALL go to war. Sebian nationalist kills Austro-Hungarian Prince, AustroHungary demands nationalist. Serbia refuses to hand him over, Austria Hungary declares war on Serbia, so Serbia's ally Russia declared war on Austria Hungary so AustriaHungary's ally Germany declares war on Russia so Russia's ally France declares war on Germany and England joins in coz they'd finished their Splendid Isolation and didn't wanna be left out and declred war on Germany. So the Alliance(Germany&co) and the Entente(France &co.) were at War-WW1!
381745
Causes of WWI\n\nAlliance System\n-Bismarck wanted to isolate France and protect Germany politically and militarily from Austria\noAlliances were seen as a political deterrent to prevent the militarization of growing tensions between European powers\n-Growing tensions between European powers by 1911\noFrance bitter about Alsace Lorraine territories\noFranco-Prussian War\nDecline of Ottoman Empire\nRise of Nationalism\n•In Balkan Peninsula\noImperialism\nGermany envious of Britain for their growing territories\noCoastal territories\nIndian Ocean\noResources\nFuel for airplanes, etc.\noEconomic tensions\nTariffs grow\nProtectionism\noParanoia from imperialism\nBlocs (1912-1914)\n-Triple Entente\noFrance—anti Germany\noEngland—want to check power of Germany and balance of power in Africa\noRussia—conflicts with Austria from Nationalist movements, Russia helped Balkan Serbia against Austria, Serbia and Russia have common Slovak heritage, closer ties\n-Triple Alliance\noGermany\noAustria-Hungary\noItaly—felt cheated out of territory at Berlin Conference (anti England), against Russians b/c anti-communist, and tension with France\n-Downside: one country against another—pulls in EVERYONE\nBalkan Wars \n-War #1\noSerbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, and other small provinces aided by Russia and Greece oppose Ottomans\noOttomans defeated\n-War #2\noSerbs, Bulgarians in particular squabble over spoils of war and land borders—distracted \noAustria can annex Bosnia and Herzegovina\nSerbia sees this as a loss of their own territory, breach of contract, act of aggression\nFranz Joseph sends Archduke Franz Ferdinand to Sarajevo to “review the books”\noBlack Hand\nTerrorist plot to assassinate archduke\nGavrillo Prinkep jumps out and assassinates archduke\noAustria gives Serbia ultimatum\nAustria wants to control Serbia or else\nAustria annexes Serbia\nRussia replies for Serbia, the annexation of Serbia would be seen as an act of war against Russians\nKaiser Vilhelm\nBlank check, Austrians get all the money they need for war from Germans against Russia\noAustria declares war on Serbia, Russia declares war on Austria, Germany helps Austria/declares war on Russia, France declares war on Germany\noEngland holds back for a while, have caveat\nWWI\n-August 1914\nWestern Front\n-Von Schlifen Plan/Blitz of Germany\noTake over France after starting Berlin, sweep through Belgium, then eastern front\noTakes Russia at least 3 weeks to mobilize\nTelegrams\nPeasant villages\nTransportation\nUniforms\nWeapons \noParis is key to France—go through north sea\no“Let last mine on right brush the column with his sea”\nolong string of German soldiers in control of everything from English channel to German border\noproblems\nBelgians retaliate unexpectedly, defend country\nAppeal to Germans to respect neutrality—then appeal to British for support, agree to help\nGermans assume that British will not help, try to stall them\n•Blockades, blow up bridges, etc.\n-French troops also moving toward Belgian border quickly to hold off Germans, sent them in taxi cabs—frantic move to halt German advance\n-stalemate forms on western front between September 1914 and Christmas/December of 1915\nostalemate exists between 1915-1918\noFirst Battle of Marne\noBelgians and French slow down Germans\noTrench warfare \nIntended to be interim solution until they move ppl to the eastern border\nBecome permanent\n100 miles in either direction—stalemate/moo point\nno one wins territory\n-1818—Armistice Line drawn as temporary solution before Treaty of Versailles \nEastern Front\n-Ottoman Turks\n-Battle of Tannenburg\n-Russians advance in to Austrian territories and Germany, pushed back by Austrians, then Germans respectively (Sep. 1914-1915)\n-Many casualties\n-Italy brought in—switches sides to Triple Entente\n-Bulgaria allies with Austria, Germany\n-Balkans brought into
843222
Most people say that it motivated Adolf Hitler and helped because the Central Powers i.e. the enemy in W W I were forced to pay and one result was the almost destruction of the German Economy that created hyperinflation.  The US great depression does not compare.\n\nSome say it was The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.\n\nWorld War I was about money and power so there was no need for the US to get involved.  This war was the POLAR or World War II. In W W I empires fought.  The Austrian-Hungarian empire lost and so did the Ottoman.  Mesopotamia was ruined by England as were the Kurds.  The Allies while fighting the Central Powers{they were NOT the Axis like in W W II} ignore the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman and to this date they mostly do.  \n\nThe following is an example and proof of how consequences from World War I has not fully died.\n\nPresident George Walker Bush fired "recalled" an Ambassador because he sided with the Armenians \nWant proof ?\n\nMay 27, 2006\nU.S. Ambassador to Armenia fired for referring to Armenian genocide\nU.S. Ambassador to Armenian John M Evans’ recall over his forthright remarks about the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
547633
You can post this question as many times as you want, you're still wrong.  Wrong on so many levels;\n\nWilson did not "force" the US into WW1.  War was declared as set out in the Constitution.  Wilson was elected President and given authority to take exactly those decisions.  Given the behaviour of German submarines while the US was still neutral the general view is that he behaved with remarkable restraint. Certainly the idea that he wanted a war is BS.\n\nIf the US had not declared war the most likely outcome would have been for the Germans to over run northern France and then the Allies would have sued for peace.  If you remember the Russians had recently signed their own peace treaty with Germany following the revolution.  Several million German troops were heading for the western front at the point the US entered the war.\n\nSuggesting that the Nazi Party just wanted "Redemption of Germany" is a particularly revolting smear on the memory of all the people murdered by Hitler's regime.  What the Nazi Party wanted is set out in black and white in Mein Kampf, published before Hitler came to power.  It's all there if you bother to read it.  How you can possibly equate the murder of 6 million plus innocents and the invasion of a dozen European countries with payback for the WW1 peace treaty is beyond me.\n\nThe Serbian state did not assassinate anyone.  It was the work of an extremist political group.  And the idea that the assassination "forced" Germany to invade Belgium is truly pathetic.
411201
which world war? there was two. if it was world war I then ok; world war 1 started on 1914, ended in 1918. June 28, 1914, reason why? Archduke Franz Ferdinand (of Austria) was assassinated by a team of \nSerbian nationalists while he was in Sarajevo to assert\nAustrian imperial authority over Bosnia, a Slavic territory.\n\nThis assassination triggered the cascade of events that quickly produced war world 1, which were fought by; 2 sides \n\nThe Allied Powers\n-\n led by the United Kingdom, France and until 1917 Russia , and, after 1917, the United States entered war.\n\nthe Central Powers (this side lost) \n-\nled by the German Empire,Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire (aka turkey dinasty.) \nThis is how it went;\nArchduke Franz Ferdinand was assesinated by a group of serbian nationalist while trying to assert austrias control of bosnia.\nAustria extremely mad about this, backed by Berlin, attacked Serbia on July 29 in retaliation, and Germany (a big austrian backer at that time, which secretly wanted a bigger presence in europe) invaded Belgium on August 3. Thus, the war commenced; also Germany and Austria-Hungary are seen as the initial aggressors, and thus, responsible for the outbreak of war world 1. Germany was assigned the guilt although, it was humiliated in 1920 by The War Guilt clause, or Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles/Treaty of Trianon, (proclaimed as the initial AGGRESORS) and required to pay war reparations and all future costs, such as pensions for all the Allied veterans. these payments were stopped however by hitler in 1933, the same year he became chancellor (not fuhrer yet). this war ended in 1918 shortly after the U.S joined-in, in 1917, and the Allied powers defeated the central.\n-\nnow world war II;\ntook place between 1939 and 1945. it IS to this day the biggest, largest and deadliest war ever seen.\nJapan had been fighting china for many years, but the "world" war is said to have begun on September 1, 1939 when as you know Germany with the soviet union (through a secret war pact before the war.) invaded Poland.  two days later france and britain declared war on germany. The "allies" (Poland, British Commonwealth, France) left battles strictly in poland untill May, 1940 Germany invaded Western Europe, taking on the British and French militaries. Six weeks later, france surrendered to germa. \n3months later, Germ, Italy,& Jap signed a mutual defense agreement, Tripartite Pact, and were known as the Axis Powers. soviet union got into the war, when germany double-crossed them and invaded soviet land. forcing unwillingly the soviets to the allied camp. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States (pearl harbor) bringing it too into the war on the Allied side. japan was on axis powers side (nazi side) after these events china instantly joined the allied side, as most of the rest of the world after  1940\nin 1942 Britain, USA, USSR, were fighting Germany and Italy; and all allies (except USSR) were fighting Japan. From then through August 1945, battles raged across all of Europe, in the North Atlantic Ocean, across North Africa, throughout Southeast Asia, throughout China, across the Pacific Ocean and, by air, in Japan.\nItaly surrendered in September 1943, Germany in May 1945. The surrender of Japan marked the end of the war, on September 2, 1945.\nHitler killed himself, along with his wife Eva braun (who he married few days before) and his 2 dogs on April 30, 1945 in a underground bunker there bodies were incinerated by servants by request; because of hitlers fear that what happend to mussolini (hanged by his toes) they would also do to his corpse.\nnote an estimated 60 million people died in this war estimates vary; About 64% of all casualties were civilians.\n3 million of them were polish jews, and 2 million polish "gentiles"
429578
After the united states congress denied to accept the 14 point plan of the 14th point the league of nations; because American wanted to remain isolated from Europe. The countries of Europe just said hey then we will make our own treaty. So everyone but the triple alliance Austria-Hungry was split and the government was gone, Italy pulled out at the begging to join the entente; the ottoman empire fell apart, and Germany was the only country that still had a government (even if it wasn't the cause of the war) to stand for the entente.\n\nSo the entente, basically France, Britain and Russia(Russia pulled too but still took credit). But they got together and left out Germany and this is what they did. \n\n*Billed Germany for the WHOLE war even if austria-hungry\n started it.\n*Germany was not allowed to build military weapons, but hitler never got that note.\n*Most of their trade production and food was sent to the \nentente, and Germany had basically no food or steel or anything.\n*And i think that a good soical thing that Germans after the first world war were like the scum of europe, till world war II where they had a total head trip, but had a reason.
743035
After the 1st World War, many in the U. S. were wary of becoming entangled in another war.  Senator Henry Cabot Lodge led a group of senators who were afraid the U.S. might get pulled into another war trying to enforce the Leagues wishes..or that the League might try to interfere with the business and wishes of our country.  They were called "isolationists'  and this was called the "isolationist era."  TODAY  the United States is very much involved in other coutries business, and in wars in other countries ...and now many people  again believe that we should back off from that.  Some Democrats say it was the fault of Republicans that we did not join the League.  Yet, it is the Democrats now who are saying we should get out of Iraq and mind our own business.  So, you  see, nothing is new...history repeats itself with different names.   There is a fine balance between isolationism and "assisting" other nations?  Understand?\nThis needs more thought than some of the flippant answers I see were given.  Also, I see one person said something about Israel...Israel did not exist until after the League was disbanded.  And, the United Nations was formed AFTER the League was disbanded.
175271
The United States had a policy called isolationism where they felt it was best for the country to not be binded to any treaty with Europe 9 this was from Washingtons early warning to stay out of conflict in his farewell address). The whole country wanted to stay neutral at all costs and it was only when Germany started taking out our ships with u-boats and also when they sent the Zimmerman Telegram to Mexico tell the mexicans that if they helped Germany would help them take back texas..\nfactors such as those made it too hard for us the stay out of war.
220254
Because they say the future of what would be needed in world community.  The US, except for President Wilson, was still in the isolated mode.  Without the US support the League of Nations did not last.
520043
The British hired Hessian (German) mercenary troops to fight the Colonists in the Revolutionary War.  Oops, that was before the USA was the USA.  America entered the War to end all Wars in 1918, but many Americans enlisted in the Canadian armed forces to fight the Kaiser before the US officially declared war on Germany after the Lusitania was sunk.
176108
The main reson to oppose WWI...\nIt's over.\n\nReally, specify which side your interested in...\n\nThe whole war or just US involvement, etc?
679343
Actually, you are misunderstanding the relevance of the Zimmerman Telegram, an attempt at wartime diplomacy between Germany and Mexico in 1916 during the First World War. Germany had suggested that, if the United States entered the First World War in Europe, the American army would be sent to Europe and the Rio Grande would be almost completely unguarded. Germany felt that if Mexico could be enticed into joining the Central Powers, it would act as a 'force in being' and that the United States would then have to retain large military forces to watch their southern flank.\n\nGermany did not, in fact, offer to send substantial military forces to Mexico and thus eventually assume power, as you are implying. Germany was not able to send reinforcements to any of their existing colonies in Africa or China or the Pacific because of British naval superiority and the German squadron at Singapore had been destroyed at Port Stanley in 1915.\n\nSorry to rain on your parade, but your statement really is without merit.
218685
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_war_I
128087
US President Woodrow Wilson and his administration were determined not to define the U.S. as an ally. But United States declared war on Germany on the grounds of German violations of American neutrality by attacking many international carriers, and was not at war with the Ottoman Empire at all. Therefore, the U.S. entered the war as an "associated power", rather than a formal ally of France and Britain, and maintained that distance through the war and the Paris Peace Conference, 1919.
676487
World War 1 is a big one.  Australia became  a federation (1901), Russian revolution.