Problem
Early in 1917, President Wilson pressed for a compromise end to the bloodshed by proposing the concept of"peace without
" However, desperate to use its strongest weapon to best advantage, the Germans declared "unlimited warfare," vowing to sink all ships in the war zone. This resulted in the sinking of four unarmed American merchant vessels. Meanwhile, public sentiment was aroused when the note was intercepted seemingly an attempt by the Germans to recruit (a country) as an ally in the event of war with the United States. Wilson finally asked Congress for a declaration of war in April of 19.
It is pretty clear on pages 705-706 that the authors think that Wilson had little choice but to jump into this war. Wilson, they say, "was forced to lead a hesitant and peace-loving nation into war" against "Germany's warlords." Do you fully buy this interpretation? Do you think that U.S. involvement could reasonably have been avoided? If so, how?