What caused World War 1 was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by the Serbian Black Hands terrorists. Germany had a plan to try and starve Britain by using unrestricted submarine warfare. At first they only sank Allied ships...but one ship they sunk...the "lusitiana" held a bunch of Americans and many of them died. The US threatened to go to war...but Germany backed down and stoped the sinking...but after a little while, they thought they could bargain and started up again this time sinking allied ships as well as nuetral ships...they thought they could be able to starve Britain before US joined the war....they were close to their goal...but were wrong... http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_events_brought_the_United_States_into_World_War_1
Reply
Andrew Bates
12/8/2009 12:50:43 am
America entered World War 1 in April 1917 for many different reasons. The main reason being that Germany had started using more and more submarines in their warfare. Unrestrained Submarine Warfare was not just using submarines in war, but allowing these powerful weapons to attack anything they could including: fishing ships, cargo ships, transport ships, and all other innocent ships that crossed their path. The German Chancellor worried that this tactic would make America join the fighting, something that he did not want to happen because of America's large navy.
One of the things that brought America into WWI was the Sussex Pledge. The Sussex pledge was a pledge that the German Government made to America. Germany promised to alter their naval and submarine policy of unrestricted submarine warfare and stop the indiscriminate sinking of non-military ships. Instead, Merchant Ships would be searched and sunk only if they contained contraband, and then only after safe passage had been provided for the crew and passengers. The Sussex pledge was issued because on March 24th 1916 a German submarine in the English Channel attacked what it thought was a minelaying ship. It was actually a French passenger steamer called 'The Sussex' and, although it didn't sink and limped into port, fifty people were killed. Several Americans were injured and, on April 19th, the US President (Woodrow Wilson) addressed Congress on the issue. He gave an ultimatum: Germany should end attacks on passenger vessels, or face America 'breaking off' diplomatic relations. However, this pledge didn't last. As the war raged on in 1916, the German High Command became convinced that, not only could they break Britain using a full policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, they could do it before America was in a position to fully join the war. Consequently, on February 1st 1917, Germany broke the Sussex Pledge and returned to sinking all 'enemy' craft. These actions contributed heavily to America's declaration of war on Germany, issued April 6th 1917. http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/worldwar1/p/prsussexpledge.htm
Reply
Cimone
12/8/2009 01:07:27 am
In my opinion, I believe that Germany brought us into the war. They were sinking all ships that weren't theirs and called them "Enemy Ships." We tried to make an agreement with them but they refused to let it last.
I believe that Germany brought us into the war. I pretty much agree with Cimone
Reply
Cimone
12/8/2009 01:10:56 am
And basically in the end of WWI we kicked Germany back into their country leaving them in povery. This basically started the second World War.
Reply
Andrew Bates
12/8/2009 01:15:06 am
I believe that Germany sinking everything in the water was a good reason for America to enter the war. I think that even though it would have killed more people, Germany should have thought farther through this plan to see what America would do.
Vienna's initial reaction to the assassination was muted.[citation needed] Franz Ferdinand was not popular at court or among the people, and his death posed no threat to the continuation of the Habsburg dynasty. After all, two other monarchs had already been assassinated in the region: Alexander I of Serbia in Belgrade in 1903 by members of Black Hand and King George I of Greece in 1913, just the year before.[14] Prussia and the other Great Powers agreed that Vienna would have to deal with this affront in some way, but Hötzendorf chose to declare war on Serbia. A strong ultimatum, intended to be unacceptable, was delivered to Belgrade on 23 July. Serbia acceded to all demands but one: that Austro-Hungarian police be allowed to operate on Serbian territory to apprehend and interrogate conspirators. Vienna was not interested in compromise, and declared war on 28 July, just one month after the assassination. This started the chain of events that led to the outbreak of World War I. The Kaiser and the Czar initially made strenuous efforts to contain the crisis, but once it became clear mobilisation could not be stopped, the Kaiser's position hardened significantly. France and Germany mobilised simultaneously. Within a week all major powers had declared war. Fighting began on 4 August when German troops crossed the Belgian frontier. From today's perspective it would appear that in 1914 all European nations were developing into modern, progressive nations whose social and political problems could be resolved through compromise and legislation.[citation needed] Many, such as Karl Kraus, a Viennese political commentator, warned about the massive social upheavals the war would create.[15] Frederick Morton argues the assassination was the trigger for a sociological phenomenon that had been brewing for decades, perhaps since the French Revolution. Beneath Europe's apparent prosperity lay a population seething with discontent. With rising productivity many European workers felt the fruits of their labors were unfairly going to new capitalists and old aristocracy. People whose families had lived off the land for generations felt their agrarian way of life being threatened by industrialisation. Many seemed to share the view that war would remove barriers between men and make them brothers in arms. According to Morton, once it became clear that war was imminent, many socialists and even pacifists abandoned their antiwar stance and joined the conflict with enthusiasm. It may be that the Great War was an event whose time had come whether Franz Ferdinand had been killed or not.
Reply
Ruben
12/14/2009 04:35:53 am
There is many things that could have began to get America involved in WWI. Here are some possibilities: The death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand caused many diplomat debates and may have set America in war World I. in June 28 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were shot at Sarajevo as they were going to a formal Gathering. http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/harrachmemoir.htm Germans are cheaters During WW! German adopted unrestricted submarine warfare. One of the promises was that a civilian ship would not be attacked without warning. In 1915 Germany sank the American RMS Lusitania in hope to cut the supply lines between North America and Britain. America thought that this was unfair for Germany to attack a ship without warning. This caused major global debate. This might be a strong factor that would bring America into War World I.
