Writing Prompt: Why do you think the US finally caved in and declared war?

1)German Submarine Warfare  German U-boat: submarine  Changed the rules of naval warfare  Element of surprise – give no warning to their targets  Americans felt like this was unfair and unjust

2) British Influence  Britain had destroyed the transatlantic cable connecting Germany and US so all communication came through Britain.  Information biased – but helped shape the attitudes of US in favor of Britain  Exaggerate stories to try and create a stir. Common story in newspapers was that German troops would chop off the hands of Belgian babies. Of course after the war this proved to be untrue.

3) Sinking of the Lusitania: British Passenger liner  Germany spotted the Lusitania in the Irish Sea and suspected correctly that it was carrying weapons for the allies.  Fired on the line and within 18 minutes the ship sunk with its 1,198 Passengers  128 of the dead were Americans  Sparks started flying at home

4) Zimmerman Telegram  A telegram from Germany was intercepted on its way to Mexico by Britain and they release it to the U.S

5) Russian Revolution  By 1917 Russian had suffered enormous casualties:  1.8 million killed  2.4 million taken prisoner  2.8 million sick or wounded

Imagine that this morning you woke up to the headlines “U.S. Declares War”. Write a journal entry of your thoughts and feelings. What is going through your head right now?