{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-572d6a42.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-f4d0de30.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Why did the US join WWI?' data-url='/boclips/videos/5d56afdd90f88b24eeec020a' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5d56afdd90f88b24eeec020a' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nWhy did the US join WWI?\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30359896\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30359896\"\u003eThe Cynical Historian\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eIt’s been around a century since the US declared war on Germany in 1917, but why did we join WWI? It might seem like a straightforward thing to answer, but trying to do so leads us straight down a rabbit hole to the foundation of the...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eIt’s been around a century since the US declared war on Germany in 1917, but why did we join WWI? It might seem like a straightforward thing to answer, but trying to do so leads us straight down a rabbit hole to the foundation of the modern conspiracy theory movement. ------------------------------------------------------------ references: Report of the Special Committee on Investigation of the Munitions Industry (US Congress, Senate, 1936), 3-\u003ca href='https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/nye.htm' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'\u003e13.\u003c/a\u003e Kathryn Olmsted, Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11 (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2009), 13-\u003ca href='https://amzn.to/2unDgjI' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'\u003e45.\u003c/a\u003e Smedley Butler, War is a Racket (New York: Round Table Press, \u003ca href='https://amzn.to/2upIriM' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'\u003e1935).\u003c/a\u003e Alan Axelrod, Little-Known Wars of Great and Lasting Impact: The Turning Points in Our History We Should Know More About (Beverly, Mass.: Fair Winds Press, 2009), 204-\u003ca href='https://amzn.to/2JqC9nG' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'\u003e219.\u003c/a\u003e Alan Axelrod, America’s Wars (New York: Wiley and Sons, 2002), 368-\u003ca href='https://amzn.to/2NHcLOa' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'\u003e383.\u003c/a\u003e Max Boot, The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power (New York: Perseus Books Group, 2002), 129-\u003ca href='https://amzn.to/2NTVKjQ' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'\u003e181.\u003c/a\u003e ------------------------------------------------------------ SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE \u003ca href='http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=CynicalCypher88' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'\u003eVIDEOS\u003c/a\u003e contribute to my \u003ca href='https://www.patreon.com/CynicalHistorian' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'\u003ePatreon\u003c/a\u003e LET'S \u003ca href='https://www.facebook.com/cynicalcypher88' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'\u003eCONNECT\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca href='https://twitter.com/Cynical_History' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'\u003e\u003c/a\u003e ------------------------------------------------------------ Wiki: The American entry into World War I came in April 1917, after more than two and a half years of efforts by President Woodrow Wilson to keep the United States out of the war. Apart from an Anglophile element urging early support for the British, American public opinion reflected that of the president: the sentiment for neutrality was particularly strong among Irish Americans, German Americans and Scandinavian Americans, as well as among church leaders and among women in general. On the other hand, even before World War I had broken out, American opinion had been more negative toward Germany than towards any other country in Europe.[2] Over time, especially after reports of atrocities in Belgium in 1914 and following the sinking of the passenger liner RMS Lusitania in 1915, the American people increasingly came to see Germany as the aggressor in Europe. As U.S. President, it was Wilson who made the key policy decisions over foreign affairs: while the country was at peace, the domestic economy ran on a laissez-faire basis, with American banks making huge loans to Britain and France — funds that were in large part used to buy munitions, raw materials and food from across the Atlantic. Until 1917, Wilson made minimal preparations for a land war and kept the United States Army on a small peacetime footing, despite increasing demands for enhanced preparedness. He did however expand the United States Navy. In 1917, with Russia experiencing political upheaval following widespread disillusionment there over the war, and with Britain and France low on credit, Germany appeared to have the upper hand in Europe, while her Ottoman ally clung stubbornly to her possessions in the Middle East. In the same year, Germany decided to resume unrestricted submarine warfare against any vessel approaching British waters; this attempt to starve Britain into surrender was balanced against the knowledge that it would almost certainly bring the United States into the war. Germany also made a secret offer to help Mexico regain territories lost in the Mexican–American War in an encoded telegram known as the Zimmermann Telegram, which was intercepted by British Intelligence. Publication of that communique outraged Americans just as German U-boats started sinking American merchant ships in the North Atlantic. Wilson then asked Congress for \"a war to end all wars\" that would \"make the world safe for democracy\", and Congress voted to declare war on Germany on April 6, 1917. ------------------------------------------------------------ Hashtags: #History #WWI #ZimmermanTelegram #WoodrowWilson #Lusitania\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='action-container flex justify-between'\u003e\n\u003cbutton aria-expanded='false' aria-label='Read more description' class='rp-full-description' type='button'\u003e\n\u003ci class='fai fa-solid fa-align-left'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cspan id='read_more'\u003eRead More\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/button\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-report'\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-labelledby='resource-details-heading' class='rp-info-section'\u003e\n\u003ch2 class='title' id='resource-details-heading'\u003eResource Details\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-resource-details clearfix'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eCurator Rating\u003c/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e\u003cspan class=\"star-rating\" aria-label=\"4.0 out of 5 stars\" role=\"img\"\u003e\u003ci class=\"fa-solid fa-star text-action\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003ci class=\"fa-solid fa-star text-action\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003ci class=\"fa-solid fa-star text-action\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003ci class=\"fa-solid fa-star text-action\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003ci class=\"fa-regular fa-star text-action\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/dd\u003e\n\u003c/dl\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt class=\"educator-rating-title\"\u003eEducator Rating\u003c/dt\u003e\u003cdd\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"educator-rating-details\" data-path=\"/educator_ratings/rrp_data?resourceable_id=65290\u0026amp;resourceable_type=Boclips%3A%3AVideoMetadata\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"not-yet-rated\"\u003eNot yet Rated\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/dd\u003e\n\u003c/dl\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eGrade\u003c/dt\u003e\u003cdd title=\"Grade\"\u003e9th - 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