Justification Of Entering WWI

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Tara Miller Justification of Entering WWI Essay As World War I got underway the U.S. government protested the involvement of both cenral powers and allies. The U.S. claimed neutrality but due to several events that occurred during that time the U.S did join war efforts. There were several justifications to entering WWI, they spanned moral, economic and political efforts. War and political reasons seem to go hand in hand in a great deal of situations; it seems World War I was no different. In Woodrow Wilson’s proclamation of August 4, 1914 (document 1) he speaks of keeping the peace and having pride with the decision to remain neutral. Secretary of State Robert Lansing in 1916 (document 9) speaks against the submarine campaign by saying the British violators’ affected American property and the German violators affected American lives. The Zimmerman Telegram from January 19, 1917 (document 10) mentions again the United States attempts to remain neutral and that still being the goal despite the plan to begin unrestricted submarine warfare on the first of February.…show more content…
In Viscount James Bryce’s report to the British Parliament in 1915 (document 4) he tells a story of entire family including a young child killed in a grotesque way and treated as trash as the house is burned down with their bodies thrown on top. The political cartoon “Babes on Bayonets” from Life Magazine in 1915 (document 7) depicts portions of the story told in document 4 with the German officer carrying dead children on the end of his rifle. In the pamphlet “Why America Fights Germany” from 1918 (document 17), we have the gruesome description of what would happen if Germany invaded the
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