![]() ![]() Distinguish between long-term causes and triggering events in developing a historical argument. Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past. Use questions generated about multiple historical sources to pursue further inquiry and investigate additional sources. Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people’s perspectives. Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context. Analyze change and continuity in historical eras. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts. Explain points of agreement and disagreement experts have about interpretations and applications of disciplinary concepts and ideas associated with a compelling question. Even as the nation grappled with the enormous challenge of mobilizing for war and sending troops to the Western Front, Wilson began articulating the specific points of his ambitious vision to mold this conflict into "the war to end all wars." Most of all, the United States could "bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at least free." For almost three years, Wilson had struggled to safeguard American neutrality, but now the mission was far greater. By entering the conflict, predicted Wilson, the United States could use its share of victory to spread democracy, eradicate authoritarian rule, and sweep away the entangling, selfish military alliances that had engulfed Europe in war. The President duly noted German provocations, yet, as he stated in eloquent if abstract language, this was no mere retaliation against an aggressor. ![]() On April 2, Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany. Revelation the next month that Germany had sought a military alliance with Mexico (the infamous Zimmermann telegram) added to American outrage. Desperate to cut off Britain's access to food and munitions, Germany rescinded the Sussex pledge and commenced unrestricted submarine warfare in February. Embroiled in a conflict that had inflicted horrifying casualties, the belligerents ignored the proposal. In January 1917, Wilson delivered his "Peace without Victory" speech, which called for an end to the war and the creation of an international organization that would ensure peace through arms reductions, freedom on the seas, and the promotion of democratic rule. ![]() In November, Wilson won re-election, but the margin of victory was slim. Wilson now faced an acute dilemma: the more he tried to preserve neutrality, the closer the nation came to war. Not only did Britain refuse, it also began blacklisting American companies trading with Germany. In return, Germany expected the United States to pressure Britain to end its naval blockade. In May 1916, Wilson secured a German promise, known as the Sussex pledge, to not attack merchant ships without warning. German sinking of passenger ships, most notably the Lusitania in May 1915, further strained the U.S. Wilson and the Department of State strongly protested British infractions of American neutrality but did not retaliate. banks to warring nations to be a violation of neutrality, such lending was legal, and, in 1915, loans and credits began flowing to Europe, with most of the money going to the Allied side. Although Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan declared loans from U.S. Britain's expansive definition of contraband-prohibited items-provided an excuse to interdict American merchant vessels and seize almost anything headed to Germany. ![]() While exports to the Central Powers totaled $169 million in 1914, the United States shipped goods worth $825 million to their opponents. trade practices already favored the Allied nations. Such trade was, of course, an internationally recognized right of a neutral nation, but U.S. With an economic recession underway, American manufacturers, munitions makers, and agricultural producers were eager to capitalize on the belligerents' need for their goods. However, neutrality quickly proved easier to declare than practice. Americans welcomed their President's statement of neutrality in August 1914, believing that the European conflict was none of their business. ![]()
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