World War I Essay, Research Paper

President Wilson tried to conduct foreign relations in keeping with high moral principles. When a revolution erupted in Mexico, Wilson refused to recognize what he considered a lawless government. Wilson then ordered the navy into Veracruz and almost brought on a full-scale war with Mexico.

The assassination of the Austrian Archduke and his wife in the Balkans in July 1914, plunged Europe into World War I. Background causes of the conflict included imperialist rivalry, a rising spirit of nationalism, increased militarism, and a system of entangling alliances. When the crisis came, all the great powers of Europe were drawn into conflict

As the European powers marched to war, the United States struggled to maintain its neutrality. Finally, after three years of fighting and after German U-boats took many American lives, Wilson asked congress to declare war against Germany.

American troops went into action in France as the Germans on the Western Front were closing in on the Allies. Americans, both on the home front and in the armed forces, helped turn back the Germans. An armistice finally halted the fighting in 1918.

President Wilson wanted to achieve a lasting peace following World War I through a plan he proposed to congress, the Fourteen Points. At the peace conference in Paris, Wilson held out doggedly for his plans calling for a League of Nations. To his dismay, Wilson was unable to sell the idea to the U.S. Senate. Wilson made an emotional appeal to the nation, but the United States never became a member of the League.

World War I was fought on many different fronts. After Germany s initial plunge across Belgium into France, a two-year stalemate developed along the Western Front. The worst of many deadlocked battles during that time was Verdun, which cost nearly a million lives and results in no change of position for either side.