Reasons for United States' Involvement in World War I

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Reasons for United States' Involvement in World War I

At first the public opinion of Americans was firmly set on neutrality.

The majority of people had little or no concerns of the affairs of the

rest of the world - why should America interfere with the conflicts of

other nations? Americans supported a policy of isolationism, and

Democrat Woodrow Wilson was re-elected in 1916 on the grounds that he

had kept them out of the war. The president also knew only too well

that many Americans were unsympathetic towards Britain. There were

German Americans who routed for a German victory, whilst Irish

Americans disliked British rule over Ireland. On top of this, the

Jewish Russians who had fled from the hated Tsar of their home country

did not want to fight on the side of those from whom they had fled,

hence they were eager for Germans to defeat Russia. Wilson commented

on this to the German Ambassador, claiming if they did not remain

neutral their mixed populations would wage war on each other. At the

outbreak of the war in 1914, ...

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