The Role of America and the Great War - Essay Example

The Role of America and the Great War Introduction Among the causes of the First World War were domestic political factors in numerous countries especially in German and France and international relations issues among the leading economies at the time. Such factors included imperialism, nationalism, and militarism. Imperialism, which refers to a case in which a country grows its wealth and power by extending its control over new territories, was one of the main causes of contention before the war. European countries including France, Germany and Britain were scrambling for territories in parts of Asia and Africa. The additional territories would provide the nations with additional raw materials thereby contribute to their wealth. However, the scramble for colonization led to conflicts among the nations as was evident between the Germans and the Britons in East Africa and the French and the Britons in West Africa among others. The growing conflicts enhanced the growing suspicion that the European nations had about each other thereby leading to the war. Militarism was yet another significant factor that led to the outbreak of the war. Militarism referred to the desire for the various European countries to arm themselves with lethal weapons of mass destruction. The European countries led by Germany entered an arms’ race at the beginning of the 20th century. Germany increased its funding for arms, and the country experienced the greatest increase in the soldierly build up. The same was the case in Britain, France and Russia. In both Russia and Germany, the military began enjoy the great influence of the prevailing public opinion thanks to the rise of authoritarian leaders who were eager for war. With the rapid growth of the military in numerous countries, the countries began agitating for war with the view to testing their military might a feature that led to war since the countries were aggressive and domineered towards each other. The rise of nationalism further enhanced the agitation and aggressive interaction among countries at the beginning of the 20th century thereby contributing to the breakout of the First World War. Nationalism just as the name suggests refers to a political ideology that enhances people to develop a strong attachment to their nations. As the countries militarized and developed their economies, so did patriotism and a sense of belonging developed in citizens of various European countries. The rise of nationalism led to the rise of a number of young people who were willing to join their domestic armies to fight for their countries. The culmination of nationalism that led to the war was the push by the Slavic people living in Herzegovina and Bosnia to quit Austria-Hungary and join Serbia. The rise of nationalism among the Slavic people coupled with the formation of alliances led to the ultimate outbreak of the Great War. As explained earlier, the Slavic people desired to be part of Serbia a feature that led to the rise of Pan-Slavism. The movement sought to unite the Slavic people thereby creating a formidable force that began pushing for a move out of Austria-Hungary with the view to joining Serbia. The growth of Pan-Slavism across Europe had major implications as the Slavic people began defending their rights. The formation of defense alliances further enhanced the agitation that arose from the spread of the movement across Europe. The alliances that existed at the time included the alliance between Serbia and Russia, Austria-Hungary and Germany, France and Russia, Japan and Britain, France, Britain and Belgium. This implied that Russia readily defended Serbia’s interests and so did Germany in defending Austria-Hungarian interests. The conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia following the rise of the Pan-Slavism movement readily led to the the war between Germany and Russia two of the most armed nations at the time (Keene, 2006). As the war began in 1914, the United States remained neutral often pushing for diplomatic ways of resolving the conflict. Apparently, the United States was a major trade partner to both parties engaged in the war. The country, therefore, believed that taking sides would its future relations with either side. As such, President Woodrow Wilson called for neutrality of the Americans in the war as he sent emissaries to both sides of the war in an attempt to broker a peaceful resolution to the conflicts that had led to the war. Unfortunately, both sides were proud and sure of victory. They, therefore, defied the diplomatic calls made by the United States and continued with the war. As the war continued so did, the pressure continues mounting for the United States to take a proactive role in defending global democracy and human rights that both sides had defied in the war. While the United States remained neutral and instead kept calling for respect for human rights and for the warring parties to uphold the international laws, Germany intensified its warfare and began acting recklessly and without respect to civilian lives. In 1915, the German U-boat submarine sank a passenger liner known as the Lusitania belonging to the British. In the liner were 128 Americans. The attack and subsequent sinking of the Lusitania was a major agitation to the United States a feature that changed the public opinion and the American approach to the war. The changing public opinion led to the emergence of a preparedness movement in the eastern states. The movement called for the United States to prepare its military in readiness to join the war (Keene, 2014). Ethnicity played a role in the neutrality of the United States to the war. America comprises of immigrants from different regions. As the preparedness movement spread across eastern states, most German-Americans and Scandinavian Americans continued to call for the neutrality of the United States. In 1917, the Germans resumed extensive and unrestricted submarine warfare. The resumption of such extensive warfare was in breach of a deal between the United States and Germany after the sinking of the Lusitania. Furthermore, Germans continued their aggression of the United States in many ways. British intelligence intercepted a telegram the Germans sent to Mexico urging the country to join the fight by collaborating with the Germans. In return, the Germans promised Mexico that it would help her reclaim territories of New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas that Mexico had lost in the American-Mexico war. The intercepted intelligence reminded Americans of the threat the war presented. President Wilson, therefore, sought the approval of the Congress to make the United join the war to fight alongside the allies. America’s entry into the war offered a major reprieve to the already weary allied forces. American soldiers entered the battled front at a rate of 10,000 soldiers a day a move that replenished the already weary allied forces. The entry of the Americans into the war spelled doom for the Germans who could not replenish their soldiers owing to the heavy causality they had suffered. The American soldiers spearheaded the a hundred Days of Offensive, which exhausted the German forces thereby ending the war by defeating the Germans. After the war, France, Russia and Britain formed the Treaty of the Versailles in which they outlined major economic penalties for Germany (Kennedy, 2004). The treaty of the Versailles would later fail because of a number of nations. The reasons for the failure of included the refusal of the United Nations to join. The treaty outlined many economic sanctions against Germany. Instead of joining the treaty, the United States signed a peace treaty with Germany and her allies. The move weakened the treaty since the other countries were major trade partners of the United States. Another equally significant reason for the failure of the treaty was the formation of the League of Nations, which made the treaty, appear both redundant and retrogressive. Before, during and after the war, President Woodrow Wilson attempted to safeguard the rule of law, democracy and respect for basic human rights. The president made efforts to resolve the conflict peacefully and only joined the war with the view to protecting global democracy and restoring peace. After the war, the president spearheaded reconciliation thereby enhancing the redevelopment of diplomatic relations between the warring countries and economic growth once again. References Keene, J. D. (2006). World War I. Westport, Ct. [u.a.: Greenwood Press. Keene, J. D. (2014). The United States and the First World War. New York: Routledge. Kennedy, D. M. (2004). Over here: The First World War and American society. Oxford [u.a.: Oxford Univ. Press. Read More