APUSH Ch. 29 Essay Questions – Flashcards

Thesis: Wilson finally decided to enter WWI because of factors such as the U-boats, Lusitania, and most importantly, the Zimmerman note. The U.S. should have entered the war because it had to assert the power and respect that the Germans were taking advantage of. Paragraph: When World War I began, Wilson was intent on remaining neutral. While the majority of Americans were anti-German, they were also strongly opposed to war. However, many factors arose that ultimately led to America joining World War I. Firstly, prior to the U.S. getting involved, Germany was very fond of using U-boats. Then, a German U-boat struck a British ship, Lusitania, which resulted in the deaths of 128 Americans. The U.S. became very upset at this because they were trying to stay out of conflict. Germany kept sinking British ships without warning until the Sussex pledge, which stated that Germany would not sink passenger ships without warning again. One "condition" that Germany placed with this pledge was that America would have to persuade the Allies to end the blockage on trade; since this was not going to happen, war with Germany was just around the corner. This was not possible because America relied on trade with the Allies, and they could also trade with Germany, but Britain blocked the road for Germany to trade with America. Another strong factor in America joining WWI was the Zimmerman note. A secret note was intercepted and leaked to the public by the German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman, which proposed an alliance between Germany and Mexico. Therefore, if the U.S. ever went to war with Germany, Germany would have Mexico on their side, and thus have easy access to attack the Southern end of America. The Zimmerman note upset the Americans very much. About a month and 4 more unarmed sunken ships later, in April, Wilson asked Congress to declare war. Wilson's decision for the United States to enter World War I was, unfortunately, a good decision on his part. Prior to the U.S. entering the war, Germany was taking advantage of America's neutrality. They were attacking unarmed passenger ships knowing that America was trying very hard to stay out of conflict. While America was aware of this risk, they needed to continue trading because that was how the nation and industry prospered, they could not just stop because of German threats. Especially after the Lusitania incident and the Zimmerman note, it was obvious that Germany was trying to provoke the United States. Therefore, the United States had to fight back and show Germany, and the rest of the world for that matter, that it was a force to be reckoned with. While they tried to remain neutral, Americans were not just going to sit back and take all the hits without retaliation. Even so, Wilson came up with the Fourteen Points to try to come to a peaceful agreement and end the war.

Thesis: After getting involved with WWI against the wishes of many Americans, Wilson had to come up with a way to inspire patriotism amongst Americans. To do this, the government created the Committee on Public Information which used the media to spread its message via posters, speeches, movies, songs, etc. Paragraph: Prior to the U.S. getting involved in World War I, Americans were very anti-war and tried to remain neutral. After a series of events including the U-boats and the Zimmerman note, Wilson decided to enter the U.S. into the war, which some Americans were still against. American attitudes were still very apathetic towards the war. To help spark enthusiasm and patriotism, the American government tried many methods. One of the most recognizable of which was the Committee on Public Information, or Creel Committee; it was created by George Creel. This committee helped influence American attitudes to become more energetic about the war. Creel was a muckraker who created the committee to influence America heavily using the media. His tactic was to use words and images as weapons. This committee created posters, pamphlets, and leaflets which were spread around the nation like wildfire. Also, movies were released with posters showing the Kaiser as a beast, that had titles such as "Hang the Kaiser" and "the Beast of Berlin". Finally, one of the strongest methods was the "four-minute men" speeches. They were part of the committee and they gave countless speeches across the nation which contained "patriotic pep". The methods used by the U.S. included a lot of propaganda against Germany, that depicted them as monsters and beasts, and Americans as heroes.