For 150 years the United States followed George Washington\’s advice \”steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the foreign world.\” It avoided European wars and, indeed, declared itself neutral when the Great War broke out in 1914. Up until 1917 the United States had never fought in a war beyond it\’s own North American continent. 

Since the battles occurred across the Atlantic Ocean, Americans felt detached from the warin it\’s early years; and they expressed a broad range of attitudes about the war\’s validity. With millions of Americans having recently immigrated, a large proportion of our population had significant ties to at least one of the embattled nations of Europe. In fact, more than one third of the Euro-American population was either foreign born or had at least one parent who had been. Some retained foreign citizenship and many cared deeply about the fate of their motherlands. Memory, nationality, and family played a role in which side Americans supported. Historical memory of France\’s role in the American Revolution and common culture with Great Britain prompted pro-allied sentiment. Additionally, over ten million German Americans lived here, and often openly supported the German cause. Millions of Americans of Irish descent regarded Britain as a tyrant, and saw Germany as the means of liberation. Millions of Euro-Americans held personal concerns for relatives still living in their native lands. 

Woodrow Wilson continued to push the idea that America was the World\’s last great hope. \”We are at peace with the World\”, he said in December 1914. However, the United States, and Wilson became increasingly uncomfortable with Germany\’s unrestricted submarine warfare as the war went on. Anyone sailing on a British liner was subject to attack, but American and European travelers continued to board ships anyway. On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed the Lusitania- one of the world\’s largest and well-known passenger lines, which sailed from New York to Britain. The attack killed 1,198 people out of 1,962 passengers on board, including 128 Americans. This did not sit well with the American public. Germany apologized and pledged to end unrestricted warfare. But six months later, in November 1915, another German U-boat sank an Italian liner with more than 270 people on board, including 25 Americans. Public opinion began to turn against Germany. On January 31, 1917 Germany announced it would resume unrestricted warfare in war-zone waters. This was an effort to slow down American shipments of arms and cargo to the Allies. Three days later, the U.S. broke diplomatic relations with Germany- and hours after that, Germany sunk the American ship Housatonic. On February 22nd Congress passed a $250 million arms appropriations bill to make the U.S. ready for war. On April 6, 1917 the United States declared war on Germany, officially ending it\’s neutral stance and entering the Great War. In what seems like an instant, America changed it\’s collective mind and rallied it\’s citizens to believe in the cause wholeheartedly. With astonishing speed, the U.S. mustered more than 4.7 million service members.