The US Joins WWI

Divided Opinions, Step 1• Originally the US declared itself neutral in WWI• Different groups had different opinions about what the US

should do• Your group will be assigned a question about American

views on WWI. Use page 583 to research and answer the question1. How did German and Irish immigrants view the war in Europe?2. Which groups of Americans were most likely to want to

support the allies?3. What were the main arguments people gave to support

neutrality?4. How did trade affect the U.S. attitude about the war?

Divided Opinions, Step 2

• In your second group, each person should go over the question and answer from the previous group

• Everybody should take notes

The US Enters the War• Three events helped lead to US involvement in WWI– The sinking of the Lusitania

• Britain blockaded Germany, preventing any supplies from reaching them• Germany responded by using submarines to sink any ships bringing

supplies to the allies• The British ship Lusitania was sunk, killing 128 Americans

– The Zimmermann Note• Germany proposed an alliance with Mexico against the US, angering

Americans

– The Russian Monarchy is overthrown• This allows Americans supportive of the war to argue that it was a

conflict of democracies against oppressive monarchies

• The US joined the war on the side of the allies in April of 1917, 2 ½ years after the start of the war