Speaking to the Congress and the people of the United States, President Wilson made this declaration on November 11, 1918:
When Marshal Foch, the foremost strategist in the world, representing the governments of the Allies and the United States, delivered to the emissaries of Germany terms upon which they might surrender, he brought to an end the bloodiest, the most destructive and the most beneficent war the world has known. It is worthy of note in this connection that the three great wars in which the United States of America engaged have been wars for freedom. The Revolutionary War was for the liberty of the colonies; the Civil War was waged for the freedom of manhood and for the principle of the indissolubility of the Union; the World War, beginning 1914, was fought for the right of small nations to self-government and for the right of every country to the free use of the high seas.
More than four million American men were under arms when the conflict ended. Of these, more than two million were upon the fields of France and Italy. These were thoroughly trained in the military art. They had proved their right to be considered among the most formidable soldiers the world has known. Against the brown rock of that host in khaki, the flower of German savagery and courage had broken at Chateau-Thierry. There the high tide of Prussian militarism, after what had seemed to be an irresistible dash for the destruction of France, spent itself in the bloody froth and spume of bitter defeat. There the Prussian Guard encountered the Marines, the Iron Division and the other heroic organizations of America’s new army. There German soldiers who had been hardened and trained under German conscription before the war, and who had learned new arts in their bloody trade, through their service in the World War, met their masters in young Americans taken from the shop, the field, and the forge, youths who had been sent into battle with a scant six months’ intensive training in the art of war. Not only did these American soldiers hold the German onslaught where it was but, in a sudden, fierce, resistless counter-thrust they drove back in defeat and confusion the Prussian Guard, the Pommeranian Reserves, and smashed the morale of that German division beyond hope of resurrection.
The news of that exploit sped from the Alps to the North Sea Coast, through all the camps of the Allies, with incredible rapidity. “The Americans have held the Germans. They can fight,” ran the message. New life came into the war-weary ranks of heroic poilus and into the steel-hard armies of Great Britain. “The Americans are as good as the best. There are millions of them, and millions more are coming,” was heard on every side. The transfusion of American blood came as magic tonic, and from that glorious day there was never a doubt as to the speedy defeat of Germany. From that day the German retreat dated. The armistice signed on November 11, 1918, was merely the period finishing the death sentence of German militarism, the first word of which was uttered at Chateau-Thierry.
It was February 24, 1917 when the British government presented then American president Woodrow Wilson with the now famous Zimmermann telegraph. Although not the only factor, the telegraph’s message, along with the increase in German submarine warfare, would take America out of its traditional and seemingly steadfast policy of isolationism and hurl it full force onto the world stage.
The war to end all wars, also known as World War I, had begun in 1914 with the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand by Serbian freedom fighter, Gavrilo Princip. The international incident brought the dizzying map of European alliances into a war nobody had expected. The main players became Germany, Russia, England and France although nearly every European country as well as their allies from other continents took part in the devastating warfare. America declared itself to be neutral.
Despite fantastic trade and friendly relations with most European countries, the United States had little desire or indeed means to be involved in a war. After the Mexican American War in 1848 and the crippling bloodshed of the American Civil War, Americans had little desire to involve themselves in the conflicts of other nations. Friends with both England and Germany, to take sides would mean a drop in trade as well as a commitment the country may not be fit to undertake.
Woodrow Wilson was enjoying his second term as the president after campaigning on a platform of keeping the country out of the war. This college professor turned governor made for a balanced president, drawing on both the academic and real world experiences to run his administration. Having lost his wife in 1914 and remarried in 1915, Wilson had experienced a lot of personal ups and downs but managed to keep the country out of the European war claiming that as long as Germany and her allies did not attempt to interfere with American trade or travel, there really was little reason to involve the nation in a war that was not theirs.
In 1915 the British luxury liner, the RMS Lusitania was sunk by German u boats, at a cost of over a hundred American lives. Most of the public had determined with whom their sympathies lay but Wilson still resisted involvement.
By early 1917, the British were feeling the pinch of battle, low on troops, supplies and morale. German subs filled the waters surrounding the proud island and trench warfare in France was taking its toll in bodies and spirit. Help was needed in order for the Allies to successfully defeat Germany and her forces. In January of that year British code breakers stumbled across the Zimmermann telegraph.
“FROM 2nd from London # 5747.
“We intend to begin on the first of February unrestricted submarine warfare. We shall endeavor in spite of this to keep the United States of America neutral. In the event of this not succeeding, we make Mexico a proposal or alliance on the following basis: make war together, make peace together, generous financial support and an understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The settlement in detail is left to you. You will inform the President of the above most secretly as soon as the outbreak of war with the United States of America is certain and add the suggestion that he should, on his own initiative, invite Japan to immediate adherence and at the same time mediate between Japan and ourselves. Please call the President’s attention to the fact that the ruthless employment of our submarines now offers the prospect of compelling England in a few months to make peace.” Signed, ZIMMERMANN.”
Arthur Zimmermann was the then foreign minister of Germany and he sent the intercepted message to von Eckhardt who was the German Ambassador to Mexico. It would take the British almost a month to present the intercepted note to President Wilson. Some claim it was to protect intelligence sources, others that it was to allow anti-German feelings to increase with the onset of their plan of all out submarine warfare. To date, no clear and decisive motive has been made. The effect however of the telegraph was powerful and Wilson called on congress to declare war on Germany in April of 1917 officially ending American neutrality.
World War I remains a stain on modern history with over 20 million lives lost in four years. Its bitter end and settlement treaties sparked the Second World War which again through America into a war that was not their own. Hitler never officially declared war on America. By World War II, the United States had clearly shown where its alliances lay. Even today, the British and American governments have a “special relationship” supporting each other in military actions across the globe.
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In an era when America is considered a global policeman with a mission to bring democracy on all four corners of the world, it is sometimes difficult to imagine that once such involvement would have been considered inconceivable. But it was less than a century ago when all that changed as the infamous Zimmermann telegraph landed on President Wilson’s desk.
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