In 1917, the public opinion was divided about whether the USA should enter the war and fight, or stay neutral. In 1914, when the war broke out, President Wilson declared the United States neutral, which was a very popular idea back then. After Germany invaded neutral Belgium however, America saw Germany as a ruthless intruder and broke the standards of a lawful nation. Woodrow Wilson was re-elected as president in 1916, stating that the United States would not intervene in the war. The American opinion of the war favored the British allies. The Germans sunk the American Tourist ship, the RMS Lusitania. This made Americans further assess the Germans and if the US should oppose them in the war instead of going neutral. President Wilson tried to agree on terms to end the war with the Germans, but the Germans dismissed it. The Kaiser of Germany dismissed any American threats, which riled up Americans into disliking Germany even more, and caused a nationalistic movement across the American public. The House and Senate both overwhelmingly voted to go to war.
During-War Opinion:
The American public embraced the war once it was declared. Americans around the country joined in the "war effort". There was also an explosion of patriotic attitudes that spread around the American public. The whole country came in unison(except immigrants) about the war. There was also a lot of anti-german violence occurring domestically.
Propaganda:
Propaganda was a big part of World War 1, even thought the US was only in the war for a short time, they produced more propaganda posters than any other nation in the war. The posters were often used to inspire, or scare Americans, simple images, and slogans that told a political message. Some told people to fight for "liberty" or "civilization", others exclaimed that entering the war was bad. Propaganda posters displayed appealing messages as well as a desire for people to recreate them and spread the ideas. One of the most popular propaganda pictures was "Uncle Sam", by James Montgomery Flagg.
Sources:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/posters-sold-world-war-i-american-public-180952179/?no-ist
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/ww1posters
http://histclo.com/essay/war/ww1/cou/us/home/w1cush-opi.html
Great post Nathan. You really delve into how the opinion of Americans regarding the war changed and progressed and the specific actions by the government or by foreign nations such as Germany affected the overall American view of the war. I also would consider that during the war, American opinion was not only influenced by a great nationalistic feeling compounded by propaganda,but also was fueled by government interference. Specifically, the government of the United States utilized Espionage and Sedition Acts of 1917 as a tool to drown out any anti-war feelings. This was an important reason for why popularity regarding the war was high during the period in which America entangled itself as people who were against the effort were silenced and thus drowned out by the nationalistic feelings present by those who fervently agreed to the war.
ReplyDeleteI think this does a great job at covering what people thought about the war in the early 1900s. It gives detail about the reason why America chose to go against Germany and what Germany did to lead Americans into disliking them. I also liked the pictures of the propaganda you chose because I feel like they really helped in outlining the point of what people felt and saw throughout the war which was to help their country during the time of war. I wish you would of explained why it was that immigrants were not a part in helping with the war and wether or not if made a difference.
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