I Want To Enter Ww1 Dbq Essay

Traditional historians have always accepted the idea that the United States was delayed to enter WWI due to the nation’s isolationist foreign policy approach. Only once the federal government felt that war was necessary because of tension debilitating the nation’s democracy, as evidenced by the Zimmerman Note, Sinking of the Lusitania, and breaking of the Sussex Pledge, did President Wilson declared war on the Allied Powers. In addition, WWI was viewed as a war for democracy, in which the U.S. hoped to bring peace in Europe. However, many revisionist now argue that the U.S.’s policy during the war was largely driven by the need to become the leading power in the world. It is also assumed that Wilson broke his pacifist ideals in order to strengthen

the economy. Such explanations are inconsistent with American traditional values, as they represent pure economic gain and disregard any moral values that Americans were believed to have had at the time.
Those who defend President Wilson claim that his announced reasons for entering the world, such as those listed above, are in fact his actual basis and not a facade.

In his war message to Congress, Wilson expressed his desire to enter the war in order to bring peace and liberation among all people, including Germans. He argues that this is a war of democracy and, because of that, the world must be made safe, so that both those who are privileged and unprivilidefe have respect for the meaning of the word, “obedience” (Doc C). It is made clear in his address that he has no selfish desires, but rather, wishes to satisfy and secure the faith and freedoms the United States stands for. Nonetheless, if he did have selfish intentions, never would he publicly announce them, but rather he would try to do everything in his power to drive attention and any suspicions away from

him.
On the other hand, many historians argue that Wilson used the threat of the German U-boats and the Zimmerman Note as a diversion, so that he could distract his real reasoning for entering the war, which would have been economic relief. In a speech the Senate in April of 1917, Senator George W. Norris stated, “We are going into a wr upon the command of gold,” (Doc D). Both France and Great Britain were in debt with the United States, at some point towards the end of the war Wilson must have realized that if the Entente lost, the U.S. economy would collapse as well because the debt would never be paid off. Therefore, it was only reasonable that the U.S. entered the war so late, once all the European powers were drained. Also, such factors would allow the U.S. to dominate any debates regarding the Treaty of Versailles because, by default, it would be the strongest nation at the end of the war, therefore allowing Wilson’s Fourteen Points to be acknowledged and hopefully placed into effect.
Depending on which perspective one believes in, it will affect as to whether the reasons for entering the war upheld American values.

Oswald Garrison Villard, a well established writer and journalist, in particular does not truly reason with either perspective, yet he argues that the Wilson’s reasons to enter the war do not coincide with American standards. In his article, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, written in the spring of 1916, Oswald reminds Americans that the nation’s armed forces should always be subordinate and that citizens should not allow the federal government to increase its powers. He then continues to state that democracy does not equate to powerful military powers, but rather strong citizens who are not afraid to utilize their rights. As a pacifist, Norman Thomas, another editorial writer, is also against the war, but he argues that by allowing the nation to go to war, its citizens are forfeiting their freedoms (Doc E). This will soon reign true as freedom of speech, a right guaranteed in the first amendment, is restrained by the Espionage and Sedition

Acts.
In conclusion, there will always be discussion revolving as to whether the United States’s involvement in WWI can be justified with moral reasoning. Many revisionist argue that economic advancements and world domination were Wilson’s true basis for entering the war, despite it being inconsistent with American traditional values, while traditionalist will continue to stand behind the belief that defending a free democracy was Wilson’s underlying motive. One thing is for sure, it can be assumed that no one will ever know the real reason the U.S. entered the war so late.