Was World War I right or wrong?
In my policy class here at gce we have been talking about the executive branch, cabinet positions like the chief of staff, sec. of commerce, attorney general, etc. We also focused on different wars like the Korean War, Vietnam War, World War I, and many more. We talked to Tessine Murji from Sierra Club, she works for a non-profit organization that focuses on government and political issues like federal tax law, national popular vote, rights of government employees, citizens united decision. For our action project this unit we were asked to pick a war that the United States was involved in. To make sure we got information not only from the internet we took a trip to the Harold Washington library and picked out books that we thought would be helpful for this action project. I decided talk about World War I and why I think it was just.
World War I began in July of 1914. The majority of the fighting took place in Europe along two fronts, the western front and the eastern front. The western front was a long line of trenches that ran from the coast of Belgium to Switzerland. The eastern front was between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Belgium on one side and Russia and Romania on the other side. Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Great Britain, France, The Ottoman Empire, Russia, Italy, Romania, Canada, Japan, and the United States were involved in World War I. Tensions had been brewing throughout Europe especially in the troubled Balkan region of southeast Europe. The assaination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was the big set off.
The president at the time was Thomas Woodrow Wilson. Wilson saw no immediate reason to join the fight at first but eventually the war spread from the battlefield to the seas and American vessels and passengers headed for Europe soon found themselves caught up in the naval and trade war unleashed by Germany and Britain. Believing that Germany represented a clear danger to the nation’s economic and territorial security, Wilson reluctantly asked congress to declare war (World War I, The American Soldier, Jennifer D. Keene). Wilson cited Germany’s violation of its pledge to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as well as its attempts to entice Mexico into an alliance against the United States, as his reasons for declaring war. On April 4, 1917, the U.S. Senate voted in support of the measure to declare war on Germany. The House concurred two days later. The United States later declared war on German ally Austria-Hungary on December 7, 1917.
At the outbreak of fighting in 1914, the United States remained on the sidelines of World War 1, adopting the policy of neutrality favored by President Woodrow Wilson while continuing to engage in commerce and shipping with European countries on both sides of conflict. Because of this President Woodrow Wilson Proposed policy of strict and impartial neutrality. Many Americans wanted the United States to stay out of the conflict, supporting President Woodrow Wilson’s policy of strict and impartial neutrality. I believe this was a good move for the United
States because we had no reason at the time we didn’t have a reason to fight. From what I found, impartial neutrality isn’t illegal.
I personally think this war was both just and unjust. The United States joined the war because they felt threatened by Germany which is understandable but at the same time other countries had better reasons to join. There was also a little chance of Germany directly invading the United states, Germany’s policy of unconditional submarine warfare threatened the lives and property of Americans engaged in the thriving war trade with France and Britain. In the end though Wilson led the country into war proclaiming the defeat of Germany would usher in a future of peace, democracy, and free trade (World War I, The American Soldier, Jennifer D. Keene).
I enjoyed this action project, I never looked this far into World War I before this so this project was very informative. I enjoyed deciding whether this war was just or unjust and overall enjoyed this unit all together.
Works cited
“World War I Begins.” Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs - State of Delaware, 13 Apr. 2021, https://history.delaware.gov/world-war-i/.
History.com Editors. “World War I.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 29 Oct. 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/world-war-i-history.
“World War I.” Ducksters, https://www.ducksters.com/history/world_war_i/.
“U.S. Entry into World War I, 1917.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/wwi.
“U.S. Enters the War.” National WWI Museum and Memorial, https://www.theworldwar.org/learn/about-wwi/us-enters-war.
Comments
Post a Comment