Many Americans could not believe that a civilized continent like Europe could sink so low as was illustrated by trench warfare and the failures related to such a strategy. When war broke out in Europe in 1914, America assumed a policy of none engagement as it was purely a European affair which did not threaten American interests. President Woodrow Wilson was re-elected in 1916 due to his support for American neutrality. The ramifications of the trench warfare assured the American government that it had made the right decision.
The naval blockade of the German coastline by the British navy forced the Germans to introduce unrestricted submarine warfare. Germany utilized U-boats to sink merchant ships around Britain and also ships of neutral countries due to the fact that allied ships used flags of neutral countries to avoid being targeted by the Germans. President Wilson warned the Germans that they will account for the loss of any American ship. The relationship between America and Germany was tested when the British ship, Lusitania was sunk killing 128 Americans on board. President Wilson ordered the arming of merchant ships to act as a deterrent against attack but the Germans responded by sinking more American ships (Hamilton&Herwig 101).
In a telegram handed to the US government by the British, Arthur Zimmerman, the German foreign minister, instructs the ambassador to Mexico to invite the Mexican government to join the war. In return they will be given financial aid and a chance to reclaim the territories of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona that it had lost to America during the 1840 conflict. The president kept the details of this telegram secret only releasing it to the public when there was no option but for the government to declare war on Germany. On the sixth of April 1917, the president formally declared war on Germany in an address to congress (Collins 77).
According to Benjamin freedman, within two yeas after the outbreak of world war one, Germany had won the war. Britain was faced with lack of ammunition for her soldiers and food supply for one week, the French soldiers mutinied while those of Russia were defecting. Germany offered England a negotiated peace agreement that called off the war and restored relationships as before the conflict. As the British government was seriously considering this, the German Zionists approached them with an offer to secure the American entry in the conflict and in exchange they get Palestine.
Utilizing their vast resources, powerful Jews in the US campaigned against Germany, depicting them as villains and they were even shooting Red Cross nurses. Shortly thereafter Wilson declared war on Germany. When the Germans learned of the Jewish betrayal during the Paris peace conference of 1919, they resented because it led to their defeat. Freedman was a well connected Jew before defection; therefore his allegations are valid (Sondhaus 89).
Before its entry to the war, America was neutral in that it allowed trade to continue with both sides involved in the conflict. It was the blockade of Germany by the British that only hampered its trade with Germany. American neutrality was also exhibited when it offered to mediate between the warring sides to end the conflict. American bankers were also allowed to lend money to both the allies and axis powers.
Had America stayed from the conflict, history could have re-written in many ways. First the Jewish state of Israel could not be in existence. Secondly the holocaust could have been averted and lastly Germany could have emerged as one of the world’s superpowers.