Political Opinion Shaping Military Action

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he German occupation of territories was known as beastly and horrific. Humanitarians were appalled at the killing of nurses and bombarding of many medieval relics such as the Louvain Library and Rheims cathedral. The stories of the horrors of war were compounded by the increasing amount of propaganda flooding in from overseas while Germany’s case remained unheard.
The war created a debt to American businessmen through the sale of arms and food to Allied powers. This gave the entrepreneurs of America a vested interest in Allied victory, as huge loans were issued to finance these purchases. In addition to having humane reasons for going to war, the American public now had an investment in the war. America’s pocketbook was at stake.
The sinking of the Lusitania and other U.S. vessels prompted the American public to grasp the handles of war even more tightly. The loss of American lives to the “Evil Germans under Kaiser” gave America and all its agendas reason and cause to become an integral part of World War I. On April 6, 1917, America entered the war with the support of the American public.
In order to maintain public support for entering World War I, the American government had to convince its citizens that war was in the best interest of the country. The Committee for Public Information played a vital role in using propaganda to keep America chanting war cries.
The first reason given for going to war was the renewal by Germany of submarine warfare. This struck a chord with the American public. Prior to World War I, restricted submarine warfare was employed. Submarines would warn its prey before sinking it, to at least give notice for evacuation purposes. Germany began the use of unrestricted warfare during World War I. Entire crews were killed as ships were sunk without warning. Of these ships, American trade vessels were involved. This cut off trade for Americans to many parts of Europe.
Second, Im...