The United States had many reasons for joining World War I. The four long-term causes were nationalism, militarism, imperialism, and the alliances system. The four main causes of the US being forced into the war was the Zimmerman Note, the Unrestricted Submarine Warfare, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and the sinking of the Lusitania. Americans had been able to stay neutral from the first three years of the war. Despite their goal to maintain neutrality, Germany …show more content…
The United States didn’t have the resources needed for a war, including troops. When the war was declared, there were less than 400,000 troops in the U.S. Army. In order to gain more soldiers, the Selective Service Act was passed. “The act required men between the ages of 21 and 30 to register for the draft” (American Involvement in WWI). After this act was passed, over 24 million men were drafted under the act. (Crash Course #30). Along with the U.S Army, food and equipment had to be shipped overseas. In order to protect the merchant ships from being attacked, they used the convoy system in which destroyers escorted the ships. It was found to be effective because “out of the almost 2 million Americans who sailed to Europe during the war, only 637 were lost to U-boat attacks” (The Americans).The United States being introduced to the war was a huge advantage because now the Allied powers had more food and weapons as well as more soldiers to fight on their side in the war. These resources came as useful because they would not have to worry as much about whether they would have enough food, water, or if too many of their troops would die. They knew that they most likely had enough to last through in the war. As you can see, the U.S. prepared for the war by gaining more troops and shipping their resources overseas. They also made sure to train their