The United States Entered World War I
On this day · 6 April 1917
After three years of neutrality, America abandoned the sidelines and threw its weight behind the Allies in the Great War.
For nearly three years, the United States watched the Great War from a distance. That changed in early 1917, when Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare, sinking merchant and passenger ships without warning. The intercepted Zimmermann Telegram, which proposed a German-Mexican alliance against America, hardened public opinion further.
On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went before a joint session of Congress and asked for a declaration of war, arguing that the world “must be made safe for democracy.” The Senate voted in favor on April 4 by 82 to 6, and the House of Representatives concurred two days later, 373 to 50.
“The United States declared war on April 6, 1917.”
With Wilson’s signature on April 6, 1917, the nation formally entered the conflict. The decision committed millions of American troops and vast industrial power to the Allied cause, helping to break the stalemate on the Western Front and reshaping the United States into a leading world power.
Sources & references
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