Did The U.S. Enter WW1 For Economic Reasons?
Yes, many prime economic reasons forced the U.S. to enter WW1.
Here, we will discuss two prime economic reasons that pushed the United States of America into the First World War.
1. First Reason: The US was at risk of losing all the money that they lend Great Britain, Italy, and France as loans. They were afraid, if the allies were defeated by Germany, they would lose all the money.
2. Second Reason: Secondly, During World War I, the United States was making a lot of money by supplying commercial goods to Europe. But from 1915, German U-boats started causing major preventions to the US supplies; especially to Great Britain.
The US leaders were concerned that if they wouldn’t stop Germany soon, it would cause severe consequences to their trade & commerce in Europe.
Explanation – Did The U.S. Enter WW1 For Economic Reasons?
1. The U.S. Was At Risk of Losing All The Money
Early World War 1, in October 1915, the United States of America’s government permitted loans to fulfill allied nations’ war effort.
Till 1916, the money started greatly benefiting countries like Great Britain, Italy, and France.
Although the US granted some money to the Germans, but it was much lower than they provided to the allies. Germany borrowed around 27 million dollars from the United States.
Compared to Germany the US lend approximately 7 billion dollars to the allies. Among these 7 billion, Great Britain borrowed 3.7 billion dollars, France borrowed 1.9 billion dollars, and Italy borrowed 1.4 billion dollars.
American lawmakers were afraid and confused thinking about what would happen if Germany (or Axis power) won the war – it was unclear, whether they would get back the money or not.
Although, the US still has not yet entered the war, but they didn’t want allies to lose it under any circumstances.
On April 4th, 1917, along with Unrestricted Submarine Warfare and Zimmermann’s Telegram, this economic cause significantly pushed the United States to enter World War 1.
2. Economic Losses Caused By German U-Boats In The Atlantic
In early 1915, the German authority officially launched the ‘Unrestricted Submarine Warfare’ policy to prevent all the necessary supplies to Great Britain.
German authority ordered their navy to attack and sink all the merchant & civilian ships in the area around the British Isles.
Germans hoped the naval blockade would break the backbone of the British and it would push them to surrender the war.
However, things changed, when German U-boats started attacking American merchant ships to Europe (including other neutral countries too).
The US lawmakers were concerned because the war game in the Atlantic caused a lot of losses to their supplies.
In late 1915, the United States authority strongly warned and demanded Germany to end the U-boats’ attack. In September, because of the pressure from America, the German government paused it for some time.
But on 31st January 1917, the German authority declared to resume the war game once again. It backfired them so badly.
Because to protect their supplies to Europe, this event made the United States obliged to enter the war.
Did You Know?
World War I and World War II were the two most beneficial events to the United States economy.
These two events greatly benefited the US economy. Over the years, the nation built itself into a global superpower.
