Chapter 30: Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and Abroad (1912-1916)

A Precarious Neutrality Wilson proclaimed neutrality But the British were closely tied to the US, and their censors ensured that only tales of German brutality reached the states And the Germans and Austro-Hungarians had about 11 million countrymen in the US, some of whom were sympathetic Most Americans were anti-German because of the apparently arrogant autocracy of Kaiser Wilhelm II and the published German conspiracy for industrial sabotage Still, most Americans wanted to stay out of the war

America Earns Blood At the outbreak of war, America was in an economic depression, but British and French Money (Also, the war orders brought American industry into a peak of prosperity Submarine War) America and the Allies were close trade partners, ex. J.P. Morgans $2.3 billion advance, but Germany could not trade with the US because of geography and the British blockade So starting February 1915, Germany began submarine (or U-boat) attacks around the British Isles The submarine was such a new weapon that international laws regarding its use had not yet been devised German officials said that they would try to not sink neutral ships, but that mistakes could happen; Wilson continued to claim trading rights, but declared that Germany would be held to strict accountability for any attack May 1915 a U-boat sunk the British passenger liner Lusitania with over a thousand civilians dead, 128 of them Americans; the Germans justified the sinking citing the smallarms ammunition it was carrying, but the American public was outraged Wilson strongly wished to avoid war; despite Roosevelt and Secretary of State Bryans opposition, sent increasingly strong messages urging the Germans to take accountability After the August 1915 sinking of the British liner Arabic, Germany agreed to not sink unarmed, unresisting passenger ships without warning But then March 1916 a U-boat sunk the French passenger ship Sussex, so Wilson threatened to cut off diplomatic relations with Germany So Germany agreed to not sink passenger and merchant ships without warning, but stipulated that Wilson must persuade the Allies to modify their blockade Wilson Wins Reelection in 1916 The Progressive Party wanted to run Roosevelt, but he refused to run because of the Republican split, so was the end of the Progressive Party The Conservative Republicans nominated Supreme Court justice Charles Evans Evasive Hughes; faced opposition because of his fence-straddling on the war issue and from Roosevelt, who thought him similar to Wilson with regards to the war The Democrats nominated Wilson and based their platform on the claim that if elected, Hughes with Roosevelts strong support would go to war The election was close, with Wilson winning; Hughes swept the East, but Wilson had the support of the westerners and mid-westerners because of his progressive reforms, prolabor agenda, and antiwar policies