1. US Enters the War!!!
Objective: Analyze causes and impacts of the US entering the war
Essential Question: In your opinion, should the United States have entered the war? Support your answer with examples.

2. Why did it take so long for America to get involved in the war?
America was isolationist
“Why should I get involved in someone else’s problems”

3. Deep Thoughts
Should Isolationism be an option for a country as powerful as the United States?

4. Which side should the US pick?
Central Powers:
Allies:
11 million German-Americans
Irish-Americans hated Great Britain
Close cultural ties to England
France helped us win the Revolutionary War
Big business loaned many $$$$ to allies
US Exports to both sides:

5. What did it take to get the US involved?
In May, 1915 Germany told Americans to stay off of British ships
Germany wanted to win the war by starving Great Britain.
In order to do this they declared “unrestricted submarine warfare,” in other words they would sink any ship that attempted to leave or reach Britain

6. What did it take to get the US involved?
May 7, 1915, Germany sunk the Lusitania, a British luxury cruise-liner
Lusitania torpedoed, sinking with 1200 passengers and crew (including 128 Americans)
This made Americans furious
3 more ocean liners with US citizens were sunk by German U-boats over the next two years, leading to widespread hatred for the Germans.

8. What did it take to get the US involved?
British deciphered a note from Germany to Mexico
This note, called the Zimmerman Telegraph, asked Mexico to declare war on the United States and join the war with Germany
It promised after the war once the war was won, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona would be given to Mexico

9. In January of 1917, British cryptographers deciphered a telegram from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the German Minister to Mexico, von Eckhardt, offering United States territory to Mexico in return for joining the German cause. This message helped draw the United States into the war and thus changed the course of history.

10. The telegram had such an impact on American opinion that, according to David Kahn, author of The Codebreakers, "No other single cryptanalysis has had such enormous consequences." It is his opinion that "never before or since has so much turned upon the solution of a secret message."
In an effort to protect their intelligence from detection and to capitalize on growing anti-German sentiment in the United States, the British waited until February 24 to present the telegram to Woodrow Wilson.
The American press published news of the telegram on March 1.
On April 6, 1917, the United States Congress formally declared war on Germany and its allies.

11. What did it take to get the US involved?
April 6, 1917 US enters the war
Zimmerman Note + the sinking of 4 unarmed American ships led to a declaration of war

12. How did the War Affect the US?
Women filled many jobs, showing the ability to contribute to the work force, which led to an increase in rights of women over the next 20 years which led to the 19th Amendment – Women’s Right to Vote
The last year of the war, the US was able to provide up to 250,000 troops every month, while German forces were continuously weakening. This allowed Great Britain and France to emerge victorious. War of Attrition – who can outlast whom?
When the United States entered the war, they brought the deadly flu virus with them that ended up around the world, leading to over 20 million deaths.
Because of the US lending so much money to all nations involved in the war, the US came out of this war as the most powerful, most wealthy nation in the WORLD.