On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson delivered this address to a joint session of Congress and called for a declaration of war against Germany. The resulting congressional vote brought the United States into World War I.
As hostilities broke out between several nations of Europe in 1914, almost
immediately, President Wilson declared America’s intent to stay neutral
and called on all Americans to remain impartial in thought as well as deed.
However, Wilson and the United States found it increasing difficult to remain
neutral. The series of events between 1915 and 1917 led Wilson to finally deliver
his war message to Congress on April 2, 1917. German submarine warfare had resulted
in the sinking of several ships and the loss of American lives. Most remarkable
was the attack against the Lusitania, on May 7, 1915, when 128 Americans died.
While that ship flew the American flag of neutrality, it also carried several
thousand cases of ammunition and shrapnel headed to Britain. After stern warnings
from Wilson, the Germans pledged to abide by traditional rules of search and
seizure. Increasingly, however, America was drawn to the side of the British.
In addition to the historic cultural ties to both Britain and France, munitions
shipments to those countries from the United States had increased from around
$6 million in 1914 to almost $500 million in 1917. American bankers had loaned
the Allies over $2 billion.
On the heels of the German announcement to renew unrestricted submarine warfare
on February 1, 1917, the British, on February 24, revealed the
Zimmerman Telegram. When Wilson released the message to the press on March
1, Americans were shocked and angered. With the support of his entire cabinet,
Wilson, who had been reelected in 1916 on the slogan “He kept us out of
war,” reluctantly concluded that war was inevitable. In his speech before
a special session of Congress, Wilson, as usual, took the moral high ground
and declared that not only had America’s rights as a neutral been violated
but that “The world must be made safe for democracy.” Americans
must fight “for the rights and liberties of small nations” and to
“bring peace and safety to make the world itself at last free.”