America and the Great War, Essay Example

Abstract

This paper tackles how nationalism, imperialism and militarism affected and contributed to the Great War (World War 1). In addition, this paper also discusses the reasons why Americans remained neutral between the years of 1914-1917 and the role that ethnicity played in the neutrality of Americans. Moreover, the defeat of the Treaty of Versailles as well as its effect on the role of America in the world during the 1920s and 1930s are also discussed.

Nationalism, Imperialism, and Militarism and World War 1

Undeniably, the events that led up to World War 1 were the result of the increase of the power rendered to the military as well as the increasing power and boost on the national pride and imperialism. The force of nationalism is actually what started World War 1. Not to mention that it is also the reason why the war continued for such a long time which is contrary to the previous wars who have all been short and ending up with a respect for one country’s enemy after the conflict has been resolved especially amongst the European nations. The looming occurrence of World War 1 was triggered by the government’s black propaganda of informing the European population that the nation’s enemy did not have any moral standing and should be considered the lowest of the low. In addition, the proceedings in the history where the French sought revenge for the German’s occupation of Alsace-Lorraine, where the army of the British Empire had sudden increased of recruitment activities in the 1914 to join the deployment in France, where the allies of wars kept on fighting and pushed through the repulsions of the trough war, were fuelled only by one common denominator: the hate of Germans.

Imperialism, on the other hand, contributed to the war due to the fact that Germany was able to place a lot of pressure on the Triple Entente in the country’s quest for colonial and a central empire in Europe. In doing so, Germany threatened the empire of Britain incessantly in order for the Germans to secure the allegiance and approval of certain territories such as the Pacific and Africa. However, the country of Germany did not realize that such threats and the pressure on the Triple Entente only strengthen the alliance between Britain and France.

Moreover, militarism is all about the strength of the military and the army of each European nation. The main agenda of countries such as Russia, Germany and France was to outdo each other’s military capabilities and reputation. There was a cry of desperation between these countries to ensure that their military was the top army all over the world. In this regard, the aforementioned countries did their very best to recruit most of their male populace in the guise of defending their own country against the enemies. The propaganda was that the country has to be defended from invading forces that posited threat to the identity, culture and freedom of the nation. It was not surprising, though, that the male population of each country signed up for the military and tasted war. The nationalism that was surging in the blood of the people got them ready to fight. Everyone was willing to fight and defend their freedom from whatever threatening force there was. While the building of the army was important to these nations, Germany was building a massive army of itself- a clear indication that they were preparing for war. The modernity of the navy and the army of the Germans heightened the threat it was trying to use to intimidate Britain. In doing so, it only forced Britain into the arms of the France. Hence, an alliance was formed.

It cannot be denied that the alliances that were formed between Germany and Russia, Britain and France and Serbia and Austria/Hungary dragged the war as it involved all of Europe. Germany and Austria/Hungary comprised the central powers and the Ottoman Empire while the Russia, France and the United Kingdom were known as the Triple Entente. The alliance established between these nations has contributed largely to the quest for power and thirst for winning the war. As a result, the small war had become one of the world’s unforgettable major conflicts (Blakey, 1970).

Ethnicity and Neutrality

While the tension in Europe was getting stronger as culminated by the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand as spearheaded by a Serbian terrorist group, the United States of America remained neutral about it. Even when the war in Europe became enraged, then United States of America President Woodrow Wilson contended that the country must remain neutral about and concerning the European conflict. President Wilson further urged the Americans to become impartial with the issues relating to the war not just in their thought but as well as in their actions. The war did not actually bother the United States of America and its people due to the geographical barrier between the two continents. In this regard, the Americans readily, willingly and easily embraced the position of President Wilson to remain neutral and disassociate with it (Tucker, 2007).

It is a known fact that the United States of America is the land of opportunity and many people from different parts of the globe immigrated to the United States of America. During the war, it was approximated that about 1/3 of the citizens in America were originally from Europe or were from a European descent. Despite this fact, these citizens opted to follow President Wilson in taking a neutral stance on the issues that pertained to the war and the conflict in Europe. The citizens stayed out of the clash and were relieved in doing so. Although it was feared that the immigrants will oppose the neutral stance of the country, such anticipation was dissolved right away by the adherence of the immigrants. This is primarily due to the president’s disapproval of the hyphenated Americanism. Meaning to say, everyone who immigrated in the United States of America was considered an American and not a Polish-American or German-America. Therefore, everyone felt welcomed and proved their loyalty to their adopted country.

However, the neutral stand of the United States of America did not last very long. This is due to the fact that even in the midst of the conflict, the Americans still wanted to continue its trading relationship with the British and the Germans. Yet, when the Americans continued its trading activities with the Germans, the British declared the goods to be contraband and would hold the goods for days. This was done to ensure that the trading aspect of the German’s economy would suffer greatly (Zieger, 2000). But still, even this dirty tactic of the British back in the day did not successfully engaged the Americans to war. The Germans, in return, started targeting the ships of the Americans and the British to stop the trading activities. President Wilson did not tolerate this activity and held the Germans accountable as the Americans were outraged when one of the American vessels sank due to Germany’s attack.

Hence, in April of 1917, the congress had issued a declaration of war against Germany. Several propagandas were initiated against Germany that included the Americans’ rejection of everything German such as music, food and even literature. More importantly, the military power of the United States of America has helped tremendously in ending the war. The German government did not think that the United States can actually help its enemy referring to the U.S army as just cowboys. Therefore, the strength and the undeniable speed of the American military surprised Germany. As a matter of fact, this was considered to be the utmost tactical revelation of the 20^th century. The industrial strength of the U.S military helped in making sure that the allies were given enough supplies of weapons, foods and the manpower that were needed to survive and win the war (Tooze, 2014).

Defeat of the Treaty of Versailles

The signing of the Treaty of Versailles marked the end of the World War 1 on the 28^th of June 1919. Primarily, the Treaty of Versailles was the peace defrayal with Germany. It laid out the various things that Germany had to acknowledge such as the acceptance of the blame for starting the war; losing its colonies, navy, army and all its forces; losing its territories in all over Europe and; paying £6.6 billion as a form of reparations. Even in the formation of the League fo Nations, Germany was not allowed to join. The defeat of the Treaty of Versailles lies on the fact that the Germans never liked what is contained in the Treaty. There was a strong opposition to it. As a matter of fact, when the Treaty was being drafted and negotiated, the Germans only had very little participation in it. The Germans did everything within its power and capacity to reverse the terms of the Treaty. It was in the 1920s when Hitler gained the support and following of the German people when Hitler promised the reversal of the Treaty. Britain agreed that Germany should be allowed to reverse what was stated and negotiated in the Treaty. This was allowed in the form of appeasement wherein Germany promised to show good behavior so that it can take back its lands, building and military (Schaffer, 1991). The rest is history.

It cannot be denied that the rigorous implementation of the Treaty of Versailles had resulted to more problems than expected. The Germans did not like the Treaty and made exerted every effort they can to overturn its provision especially the reparations aspect of it. In this regard, one can wonder whether or not the Treaty of Versailles has opened the pathway to World War II.

References

Blakey, G. (1970). Historians on the homefront: American propagandists for the great war. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.

Schaffer, R. (1991). America in the great war: The rise of the war welfare state. New York: Oxford University Press.

Tooze, A. (2014). The deluge: The great war, America and the remaking of the global order 1916-1931. New York: Penguin Books.

Tucker, R. (2007). Woodrow Wilson and the great war: Reconstructing America’s neutrality, 1914-1917. Virginia: University of Virginia Press.

Zieger, R. (2000). America’s great war: World war 1 and the American experience. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.