Image Source: Global Research
Originally Sourced: Private Blog
By Atmadeep Sengupta
“But armed neutrality, it now appears, is impracticable”, declared Woodrow Wilson, the erstwhile President of the United States of America in his address to Congress on the 2nd of April, 1917. This would mark the beginning of the departure from its traditional policy of isolationism, which advocated non-intervention in world affairs. On the 6th of April 1917, the American Congress voted in favour of joining the war. The policy of isolationism as a federal-level policy was advocated by the man regarded as the founder of the American state, George Washington. He had pressed for USA’s geographical isolation be put to use by pursuing a “different course”. President Wilson’s address signified the beginning of USA’s entry into world politics, although its experience in first World War would prompt its return to isolationism in the 1920s and the 1930s.
Before this, there have been isolated instances where the US had gone beyond its policy of isolationism to ensure peace, the prime example of that being its involvement in Cuba’s revolt against Spain. This involvement had triggered the four month long Spanish-American war, which ended in the US triumphing over Spain. However, it can be argued that this instance cannot be compared to joining the First World War, given the scale in which it took place. It should be remembered that roughly three years earlier, during the start of the First World War, the US under the guidance of Woodrow Wilson had clung on to its traditional stance of isolationism, declaring that it would take a neutral stance in the war of the Allies and the Entente. Ironically under the to reign of the same President, the US decided to go to war. It is at this juncture that the occurrence of the sinking of the British luxury ship ‘Lusitania’ in 1915 gains importance.
Lusitania was a massive British luxury ship weighing 32,000 tonnes making its journey from New York to Liverpool. Dubbed as being the “fastest and largest steamer now in Atlantic Service”, it was carrying some of the biggest names of those times on board, including the likes of Alfred Vanderbilt and George Kessler. Lusitania started its journey from New York on the 1st of May, 1915. On the 7th of May, 1917, at around 2 p.m. in the afternoon, Lusitania was hit by a torpedo fired at it by a German U-boat. This resulted in the death of almost 1200 civilians, 128 amongst who were Americans. The entire vessel sank in a matter of eighteen minutes, making it practically infeasible to launch lifeboats. This event ignited friction between the Allies and the Entente, and made the US, which had kept itself insulated from the war, sit up and take notice. There was huge uproar amongst the Americans in the wake of the attack, with public sentiment favouring a war against Germany in retaliation. In fact, some newspapers and intellectuals even ridiculed President Wilson for his stance of neutrality with regard to the war, with the New York Herald running a headline exclaiming “What A Pity Theodore Roosevelt Is Not President”. Importantly, Theodore Roosevelt, during his tenure as the President greatly advocated the usage of strong arm tactics while pursuing his foreign policy, including interventions in Latin America. This particular event was responsible for changing the opinion of the average American regarding war. In fact, Theodore Roosevelt published a letter in which he vehemently expressed his disapproval at the way Wilson was still choosing to not go to war against Germany.
Nevertheless, President Wilson stuck to his policy of non-intervention, but decided to send four diplomatic protest notes to Germany in retaliation, something which obviously did not go down well with his critics. President Wilson’s secretary of State, William Jennings Bryan resigned in protest in June 1915, after the first diplomatic note was sent. In September 1915, Germany decided to restrict the operations of its own military submarines, portraying themselves as willing to comply with the demands made in the diplomatic dialogue. Wilson’s ideals held up once again, and war was evaded for the time-being. The diplomatic relations of the two countries were not the same anymore, given how the perception of Germany had changed within the government itself. To Germany, too, the US was considered to be a part of the Entente. With polarization already taking place in case of the US, the first step to a war stood fulfilled.
Germany’s decision to change its policy of restricting movement of the submarine on the 1st of February 1917 ignited the fire once again. The feeling of mutual trust that existed between the two countries evaporated quickly when Germany started targeting the US’s ships, with ten ships being destroyed in in the two months between Germany’s change in policy and the declaration of war by the US. There was an actual shift in public opinion of war at this point of time for the people there.
The sinking of Lusitania therefore marked the beginning of the frosting of ties between USA and Germany. This particular event will go down in history as one of the primary causes that drew the US out of its shell of isolationism. This was USA’s first taste of playing a major role in a world war, which would culminate in Woodrow Wilson’s “Fourteen Points” and the “Treaty of Versailles”. USA’s role in formulating the Treaty of Versailles acts as a glimpse of what can materialize if it scrapped its policy of isolationism. A look at USA’s foreign policy after the Second World War and thereafter would serve testimony to the claim. In seeking to trace the origins of the foreign policy of the USA, it therefore becomes extremely important to know the events of, and leading to, the sinking of Lusitania.
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