America and the Great War
Assassination of Franz Archduke was the ultimate cause of the world war one. His wife was also killed in the same event in Sarajevo, Bosnia, a part of Austria-Hungary. The assassin was a young student of Serbia. The Austo- Hungarian made very tough demand to Serbia for the killings and eventually declared war on Serbia. Russia and France joined in support of Serbia. Then German declared war on France and Russia and consequently Britain declared war on Germany (Miles, 2001). A chain of such events of mutual defence followed until the war became a holocaust that affected most of the Nations in the world. It continued this way until many nations joined together to form alliances that ultimately led to the war out break. The two alliances that were formed were the Central Powers and the Allies (Triple Entente). It led to the division of European powers into two antagonistic groups. The secrecy of the alliances caused mutual tension, suspicion and fear (Blewett, 2001).
Imperialism, nationalism and militarism irrevocably led to the war. Between the late nineteenth century and the twentieth century European powers engaged in the activity of struggle for partition of African and Asian nations. Each European power wanted to acquire the greatest peaces of land in the two continents. Italy, Britain, France, Belgium and Germany were all involved in the struggle. During the struggle, boundary disputes would on many occasions arise among the colonialists. These vents of imperialism continued to amount pressure on the nations that were involved. The principle of nationalism too contributed to the out break of the war (Blewett, 2001). Many nations want to take pride in their sovereignty and to acquire back their territories that they had previously lost to other nations. Movements of nationalism led to unification of some nations like Germany and Italy. Pan-Slavism of Serbia was another sign of nationalism that received back up quite strongly from Russia. This created a lot of tension in the nations where Slavs were living and created enmity between Russia and pro- Austria-Hungary nations.
Leader from other nations feared the formation of Pan-Slav party in Russia that it would lead to the formation of a universal Russian dynasty. Allegations were made of Russia hypocrisy and its intention to convert everybody’s nationality to Russian which generated tension among nations. There was fear that if Russia took over, the Austrian Empire whose major occupants were Slavs would get divided on racial and language barriers. The media fuelled the tension further by making publications that portrayed Russia as a hypocrite nation that wanted to win the support of Slavs in Austrian empire. The Pan-Slavism movement was a movement meant for uniting all the Slavs in Europe. It was viewed as a double-edged sword by supporters and critics. The critics of Pan-Slavism argued that it was a move to destabilize the governance that nations had then as Slav was a Geographical name, not a nationality name. Germany being one of the countries that the Slavs occupied, showed interest in occupying other regions that the Slavs occupied. Germany’s interest in the land of Slavs generated a lot tension, as many nations feared Germany for its military superiority (Blewett, 2001). Many countries also engaged in the arm race and formation of very powerful militaries. By then, Germany was the most powerful nation in terms of military prowess.
The rest of European nations did not want to be left behind by Germany, they begun to invest in forming strong armies and weapons. Organizational and technological advancements enabled Germany to possess well organized staff and very advanced weapons. For example, the German’s very complicated plan of war on Russia and France attracted more countries into the World War 1. Armies and navies were multiplied in different countries. The efforts of disarmament made in Hague, Netherlands were overcome by the military rivalry that existed (Blewett, 2001).
The Boxer rebellion, a movement started by the Chinese in opposition to imperialism and Christianity exhibited by foreign nations also contributed to the war outbreak. The Boxer fighters ensured that no foreign power threatened the security of their nation. The aggression of the Chinese against the Christian missionaries caught the attention of foreign powers. Different nations in Europe and Asia curved out spheres of influence in China. This resulted in rivalry among the nations that were involved (Rotella, 2000).
For a long time United States of America kept distance from the rivalry that was there in Europe. America began feeling the impact as it used to trade with European nations and had actually accrued a lot benefits from the trade. Woodrow Wilson, the then president of US urged his people to remain impartial in mentality and actions. He wanted US to remain neutral. The Americans also did not have very strong army and navy. In addition, the Americans had sold a lot of weapons to the opposition camp in Mexico since it did not recognize the then president of Mexico. Since most of the Americans at that time were first and second generation of immigrants from Europe, they could not fail to take sides, though silently (Miles, 2001). The American government had ties with France and Britain based on democratic governance that they all advocated for. Besides that, America had language, religion and culture having a lot of similarities to Britain’s. To America, Germany appeared militaristic and a potential threat to America and the rest of the world. Each of the two alliances in Europe tried to win the support of America and eventually the allies did. Woodrow Wilson did not care much about the German-American and the Irish-American in his country who expressed their support for Germany. He termed them as recent immigrants to America. Trade between America and the allied nations was thriving as many American investors had allowed credit and loans to the allied powers (Chadwick, 2007).
America’s entry into the war occurred when the seas were declared as no-go zones and battlefields by Germany and Britain. This had an adverse effect on America’s trade. America declared to hold Germany responsible for the any loss of life by an American in the seas. This was after Germany began sinking enemy ships that were voyaging in the sea. Later the Britons intercepted the infamous Zimmerman telegram that was sent by Germans assuring Mexico of support to acquire Arizona and Texas. The telegram greatly offended America’s President Woodrow Wilson as it acted as proof of conspiracy of Germany against the United States. In April 1917 America formally declared war on Germany when it sank five US sea vessels in March the same year.
The Versailles treaty was the treaty that marked the end of war between Germany and the allies. It was negotiated by the allied powers and excluded Germany, Austria and Hungary. It was signed in June 1919. One of the provisions of the treaty was that German should accept to be responsible for all kind of losses incurred in the world as a result of war. German responded with numerous complaints, most of which were ignored by the allies. Other provisions required that all German colonies be taken by the League of Nations and Germany to have its military and naval power reduced. Wilson was confident in prevalence of peace since his fourteen points were accepted by both Germany and the allies. However, the treaty later failed after the parties involved in its formation had many disagreements. It led to divisions among the leaders in America and even divisions between Wilson who was hardliner and members of his government who were not hardliners (Rotella, 2000).
References
Blewett, D. K. (2001). The great world war, 1914-45. vol. 1: Lightning strikes twice. Library Journal, 126(6), 114-114. http://search.proquest.com/docview/196847014?accountid=45049
Rotella, M., Abbott, C., & Gold, S. F. (2000). The doughboys: America and the first world war. Publishers Weekly, 247(43), 72-73. http://search.proquest.com/docview/197027017?accountid=45049
Chadwick, E. (2007). The impossibility of maritime neutrality during world war 1. Netherlands International Law Review, 54(2), 337-360. doi:10.1017/S0165070X07003373
Miles, L. (2001). The irish famine: The birth of irish america / assassination of sarajevo: The trigger for world war I. School Library Journal, 47(7), 116-117. http://search.proquest.com/docview/211728743?accountid=45049
Rotella, M., Gold, S. F., Andriani, L., Scharf, M., & Chenoweth, E. (2004). POWER, TERROR, PEACE, AND WAR: Americas grand strategy in a world at risk. Publishers Weekly, 251(14), 57-57. http://search.proquest.com/docview/197069135?accountid=45049
