Woodrow Wilson tried to maintain a fairly neutral foreign policy. Despite embroiling himself in the Mexican Revolution in 1910, Wilson thought that staying out of European conflicts would benefit America. The president wanted to maintain a neutral stance on the war, and allowed American industries to sell weapons and other goods to both the Austro-Germanic armies and the Triple Entente. Wilson contented himself with mild reprimands towards Germany when a U-boat sank the British civilian passenger ship
Lusitania. He warned the Germans that the next time they sank a ship it would be viewed as "deliberately unfriendly" but the United States remained neutral.
After his second inauguration, Germany began to use submarines to attack the United States by means of their merchant ships. Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany on April 2, 1917, citing the world's need to maintain democracy. Wilson's commitment to fighting Germany and the Austro-Hungarians allowed the Allies to win the First World War. This effort was vastly helpful to Europe, and Wilson's foreign policy righted itself to aid the European forces.
The RMS Lusitania
2 comments:
this is a very insightful look into how Woodrow Wilson combatted his own opinion on foreign policy. This post gives a good look into how Wilson's policy had to change at the brink of WWII.
Did Wilson accomplish in maintaining the neutral stance of the war??
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