U.S. Involvement in World War I

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Document # 1 Perspective of a Citizen
1. The citizen was furious because innocent American people on board the British passenger ship were killed from an unannounced torpedo attack. After this tragedy, the unknown individual expressed their anger in Perspective of a Citizen by stating, “I was outraged of the fact that most of the people on the U-boats had died, was ill, or injured on the Lusitania, when the United States decided to remain neutral” (4). During the First World War, Germany introduced unrestricted submarine warfare to combat the British navy. The U.S. had no reason to be associated with the European conflict. They desired neutrality and avoided fighting for an extended period of time. However, that would later change when Germany sunk the Lusitania and made a new enemy.
2. The sinking of the Lusitania would ultimately cause the U.S. to get involved in the foreign war. “We and the government decided to reply to the sinking by declaring war” (4). The sinking turned public opinion in America against Germany during the time where nationalism and patriotism was growing. President Woodrow Wilson insisted on protecting the people of his country but in reality, nobody was safe out in the water. In order to stop the sinking, fighting was the only option. The U.S. was beginning to grow tired of people dying in order to cut off trading.
Document #2 Captain Walter Schwieger
1. Captain Walter Schwieger wrote the account of the sinking of the Lusitania. Seeing people on board the ship made him feel guilty, he could no longer go through with the attack. According to Walter Schwieger, he could not fire a second torpedo into a group of people who were trying to escape and live (4). It was obviously something he did not want to procee...

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....S. strictly went to war because they were not able to avoid it. “The attack on the United States ship may have been a helping factor, but we all know the reason they got involved was because the United States can’t keep themselves out of war” (9). America is known to fight quite often because apparently, everything going on the world is relevant to them. This has been proven over time that the U.S. is drawn to war, they love to fight.
2. This would cause the U.S. to get involved in the war because they were unfairly attacked. Germany is adding insult to injury by bashing them basically, saying that they could not dodge war. “To say the German submarine attack on a United States ship was the main reason for the United States involvement in the war would be ridiculous” (9). This was their belief, they had the right to attack America and that they would love to fight.

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