Entry of The United States

Entry of The United States. Williams County World War I Memorial. , Non-intervention , At the outbreak of the war the United States pursued a policy of non-Intervention, avoiding conflict while trying to broker a peace When a German U-boat sank the British liner Lusitania on 7 May 1915 with 120 Americans among the dead. President Woodrow Wilson Insisted that "America is too proud to fight” but demanded an end to attacks on passenger ships. Germany complied Wilson unsuccessfully tried to mediate a settlement. However, he also repeatedly warned that the U.S.A. would not tolerate unrestricted submarine warfare, In violation of international law. , Former president Theodore Roosevelt denounced German acts as "piracy" Wilson was narrowly reelected in 1916 as his supporters emphasized "he kept us out of war. , In January 1917, Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare, realizing it would mean American entry The German Foreign Minister, in the Zimmerman Telegram, Invited Mexico to join the war as Germany's ally against United States. In retum, the Germans would finance Mexico's war and help it recover the territories of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona Wilson released the Zimmerman note to the public., and Americans saw it as "a cause for war". Wilson called on antiwar elements to end all wars, by winning this one and eliminating militarism from the globe. He argued that the war was so important that the US. had to have a voice in the peace conference. , U.S. declaration of war on Germany , Woodrow Wilson Urges Congress to Declare War on Germany after the sinking of seven U.S merchant ships by submarines and the publication of the Zimmerman telegram, Wilson called for war on Germany, which the US. Congress declared on 6 April 1917 , First active U.S. participation , The United States was never formally a member of the Allies but became a self-styled "Associated Power" was sending 10,000 fresh soldiers to France every day, In 1917, the US. Congress gave U S citizenship to Puerto Ricans when they were drafted to participate in World War I, as part of the Jones Act. Germany had miscalculated, believing it would be many more months before American soldiers would arrive and that their arrival could be stopped by U-boats. , The United States Navy sent a battleship group to Scapa Flow to join with the British Grand Fleet, destroyers to Queenstown, Ireland, and submarines to help guard convoys. Several regiments of U.S. Marines were also dispatched to France The British and French wanted U.S. units used to reinforce their troops already on the battle lines and not waste scarce shipping on bringing over supplies. The U.S. rejected the first proposition and accepted the second. General John J. Pershing, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) commander, refused to break up U.S. units LO be used as reinforcements for British Empire and French units. As an exception, he did allow African-American combat regiments to be used in French divisions. The Harlem Hellfighters fought as part of the French 16th Division, earning a unit Croix de Guerre for their actions at Chateau-Thierry, Coctrine called for the use of frontal assaults, which had long since been discarded by British Empire and French commanders because of the large loss of life.