High School History - WW I

Americans Question Neutrality

In 1914, most Americans saw no reason to join a struggle 3,000 miles away. The

war did not threaten American lives or property. This does not mean, however,

that individual Americans were indifferent to who would

win the war. Public opinion was strong—but divided.

DIVIDED LOYALTIES Socialists criticized the war as a capi-

talist and imperialist struggle between Germany and England

to control markets and colonies in China, Africa, and the

Middle East. Pacifists, such as lawyer and politician William

Jennings Bryan, believed that war was evil and that the

United States should set an example of peace to the world.

Many Americans simply did not want their sons to expe-

rience the horrors of warfare, as a hit song of 1915 conveyed.

“ I didn’t raise my boy to be a soldier,

I brought him up to be my pride and joy.

Who dares to place a musket on his shoulder,

To shoot some other mother’s darling boy?”

Millions of naturalized U.S. citizens followed the war

closely because they still had ties to the nations from which

they had emigrated. For example, many Americans of

German descent sympathized with Germany. Americans of

Irish descent remembered the centuries of British oppres-

sion in Ireland and saw the war as a chance for Ireland to

gain its independence.

On the other hand, many Americans felt close to

Britain because of a common ancestry and language as well

as similar democratic institutions and legal systems.

Germany’s aggressive sweep through Belgium increased

American sympathy for the Allies. The Germans attacked

civilians, destroying villages, cathedrals,

libraries, and even hospitals. Some atrocity

stories—spread by British propaganda—

later proved to be false, but enough proved

true that one American magazine referred

to Germany as “the bully of Europe.”

More important, America’s economic

ties with the Allies were far stronger than

its ties with the Central Powers. Before the

war, American trade with Britain and

France was more than double its trade with

Germany. During the first two years of the

war, America’s transatlantic trade became

even more lopsided, as the Allies flooded

American manufacturers with orders for all

sorts of war supplies, including dynamite,

cannon powder, submarines, copper wire

and tubing, and armored cars. The United

States shipped millions of dollars of war

supplies to the Allies, but requests kept

coming. By 1915, the United States was

experiencing a labor shortage.

Vocabulary

emigrate: to leave

one’s country or

region to settle in

another; to move

D

The First World War 583

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

D

Analyzing

Motives

Why did the

United States

begin to favor

Britain and

France?

ECO NOMICECO NOMIC

TRADE ALLIANCES

Maintaining neutrality proved diffi-

cult for American businesses.

Trade with Germany became

increasingly risky. Shipments were

often stopped by the British block-

ade. In addition, President Wilson

and others spoke out against

German atrocities and warned of

the threat that the German Empire

posed to democracy.

From 1912 to 1917, U.S. trade

relationships with European coun-

tries shifted dramatically. From

1914 on, trade with the Allies

quadrupled, while trade with

Germany fell to near zero.

Also, by 1917, American banks

had loaned $2.3 billion to the

Allies, but only $27 million to the

Central Powers. Many U.S. lead-

ers, including Treasury Secretary

William McAdoo, felt that American

prosperity depended upon an

Allied victory. (See trade on page

R47 in the Economics Handbook.)

Great Britain France Germany

All Other European Countries

D o ll a rs ( in m il li o n s )

2,000

1,600

1,200

800

400

0

1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917

U.S. Exports to Europe, 1912–1917U.S. Exports to Europe, 1912–1917

SKILLBUILDER Interpreting Graphs 1. By how much did total U.S. exports to Europe

rise or fall between 1914 and 1917?

2. What trends does the graph show before the start of the war, and during the war?