WWI Big Questions

1. One of the events that helped the US become involved with WWI was the Zimmerman Telegram which was a telegram Germany sent to Mexico suggesting that if the US and Germany go to war, Mexico should help Germany. Great Britain intercepted the telegram giving it to the US. This built sentiment to join the war. The second event was the fall of the czarist regime in Russia in 1917. The US didn't want to ally with a despotic monarchy. Armies on both sides of the war were decimated by the time the US decides to get involved. Great Britain specifically was suffering from many losses from German submarine attacks. Germany also torpedoed 3 American ships which pushed the US to declare war. The US sent out wartime drafts to hundreds of men to be drafted into the army to prepare for the war. They also used propaganda to get American people more involved and dedicated to the war.

2. The US didn't want to ally with Russia as long as it had the czarist regime. America was split because German Americans and Irish Americans sympathized with Germany and many others sympathized with Great Britain including President Wilson. The US stopped trading with Germany because GB placed a blockade on Germany, but kept trading with Great Britain. Their supplies to Great Britain were being intervened by German submarines. Wilson's League of Nations was also a topic of debate. He claimed it would guarantee world peace post war.

3. The involvement in WWI for the US was terrible because of the life in trenches. They were frequently shelled, muddy, polluted, and infested with rats. Also, many diseases spread through the trenches.

4. The war affected America's government, economy, and society. The US spent about 32 billion dollars directly towards the war. This money came from liberty bonds bought by American people and taxes. The WIB coordinated the many government purchases of military supplies. The government had to mobilize an industrial economy for a total war which took a lot of involvement in the economy and people's lives. The US lost about 112,000 people in the war due to mostly disease. The Great Migration occurred due to the war which was hundreds of thousands of black people moving from the South to northern industrial cities to find work in factories. The war created new opportunities for women which led to the creation of the Woman's Peace Party and National American Women's Suffrage Association fighting for women's suffrage.