Bringing America Into The War

President Wilson faced a hard decision after March 1, 1917. That date was the discovery of the Zimmerman telegram. The Zimmerman telegram was a secret telegram from Germany to Mexico that was intercepted by the US government. The Germans were asking Mexico to go to war with America and promised them the territories of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona. This event enraged Americans, and brought the nation one step closer to war with Germany. The Zimmerman telegram coupled with the unrestricted submarine warfare being committed in the Atlantic, finally convinced a solemn Wilson that war was the best option for America. This came as a surprise to many, for Wilson had been the biggest proponent of ¨peace without victory¨. Wilson did not want to bring America into a bloody war, and bought into the American ideal of isolationism from the rest of the world. After the Zimmerman telegram and acts of unrestricted submarine warfare, Wilson felt the pressure and need to bring America into the conflict.
Wilson started his campaign for war with Germany with a speech to congress. On April 2, 1917, Wilson stood in front of a joint session of congress and asked for a declaration of war. Abandoning his ideals of isolationism, Wilson was now on track to convince the American public it was necesarry to fight a foreign war that much of the population did not want to fight in. Four days later, Wilson got what he wanted. Congress entered the war against the Central Alliance. Wilson used his skillful leadership to convince the American public that going to war was for a necessary cause.
Wilson could not convince many Western and Mid West states that America should go to war for the economic freedom that unrestricted submarine warfare destroyed. Instead, Wilson had to rethink his plan. He created a more broader approach to explain the reasoning why America should go to war. Wilson's two goals were for ¨a war to end war¨ and a crusade ¨to make the world safe for democracy¨. His second goal was the most crucial. Wilson aroused the American populaces support by claiming that America needed to fight for the sake of democracy. Wilson claimed that America had no intentions of grabbing land or profiting, and had the noble cause of ¨shaping an international order in which democracy could flourish without fear of power crazed autocrats and militarists¨. By including the ideal that America should be fighting for democracy Wilson harnessed America's wish to be the noble country who would be the shining example who restored peace. He hoped that this would be a war to end all wars, and with the inclusion of his 14th point of his 14 points, he claimed that a major war would never be possible again with the organization known as the League of Nations.
Another great asset of Wilson was the Committee on Public Information. The Committee for public Information was a propaganda machine on a huge scale. Creel helped ready citizens for war, and hoped to convince and excite the American people about the war. Employing 150,000 people, the sheer amount of propaganda that could be pumped out was enormous. The organization consisted of men who would go around the country giving frenzied speeches supporting Wilson and giving ¨patriotic prep¨. Artists were employed in what was known as the Battle of the Fences. Posters, billboards, and all sorts of pamphlets were created to churn out support for the war. Anti-Germanic tensions were at an extreme high at this time, and many posters showed this. By creating Anti-German feeling through sensational propaganda that fed on emotional appeals helped rally support. Pamphlets were produced in the millions which were showered over all parts of the United States. Anti-Germanic movies such as ¨The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin¨ and ¨To Hell with the Kaiser¨ generated anti Germanic sentiment.
Wilson's propaganda and arguments that the US should make a world safe for democracy was effective. American's supported the war and rallied behind President Wilson. The type of propaganda used created huge problems for the Germans living in the United States. This hurtful, rasisct, and dangerous propaganda against Germans was against the basic rights they had. It was wrong of Wilson to call upon Anti-Germanic slogans and propaganda, because many Germans were hurt or killed in a mob mentality way. This is not a moral way to get support for a war, but President Wilson needed the support at this time. Wilson employed a call for democracy and anti-Germanic propaganda to bring America into the war.