To the American public of 1914, the outbreak of war in
Europe – with Germany and Austria-Hungary fighting Britain,
France, and Russia – came as a shock. At first the encounter
seemed remote, but its economic and political effects were swift
and deep. By 1915 U.S. industry, which had been mildly
depressed, was prospering again with munitions orders from the
Western Allies. Both sides used propaganda to arouse the public
passions of Americans – a third of whom were either foreign-born
or had one or two foreign-born parents. Moreover, Britain and
Germany both acted against U.S. shipping on the high seas,
bringing sharp protests from President Woodrow Wilson.
Britain, which controlled the seas, stopped and searched
American carriers, confiscating “contraband” bound for Germany.
Germany employed its major naval weapon, the submarine, to sink
shipping bound for Britain or France. President Wilson warned
that the United States would not forsake its traditional right
as a neutral to trade with belligerent nations. He also declared
that the nation would hold Germany to "strict accountability"
for the loss of American vessels or lives. On May 7, 1915, a
German submarine sunk the British liner Lusitania, killing 1,198
people, 128 of them Americans. Wilson, reflecting American
outrage, demanded an immediate halt to attacks on liners and
merchant ships.
Anxious to avoid war with the United States, Germany agreed to
give warning to commercial vessels – even if they flew the enemy
flag – before firing on them. But after two more attacks – the
sinking of the British steamer Arabic in August 1915, and the
torpedoing of the French liner Sussex in March 1916 – Wilson
issued an ultimatum threatening to break diplomatic relations
unless Germany abandoned submarine warfare. Germany agreed and
refrained from further attacks through the end of the year.
Wilson won reelection in 1916, partly on the slogan:
"He kept us
out of war." Feeling he had a mandate to act as a peacemaker, he
delivered a speech to the Senate, January 22, 1917, urging the
warring nations to accept a "peace without victory." |
