The War of Attrition, more commonly known as World War One, lasted four years. In the war, there were two sides, the Central Powers, which included Germany, AustriaHungary, and the Ottoman Empire, and the Allies who consisted of France, Great Britain, Russia, and later in the war the U.S.The U.S came into WWI because of a series of events including the sinking of the Lusitania and the Zimmerman Telegram. These events forced America to enter the war in 1917.
One reason America joined the Allies was because of Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare. The subs surrounded the U.K to stop all trade and unfriendly boats that might be carrying supplies. Despite the blockade, the main threat was the fact that those submarines were unrestricted. That means they could sink any ship without warning. They sank a ship called the Lusitania on May 7th, 1915. 128 Americans and 1070 passengers from the U.K died. After the ship sank, Germany claimed that the ship contained ammunition and it was. Even though it was, Germany needed to be stopped after starting a horrible war and going through neutral territory.
The second reason the U.S should have entered WWI is because of the Zimmerman Telegram. The Zimmerman Telegram was a telegram from Germany to Mexico. It said that Mexico should ally with Germany and attack the U.S. If Mexico accepted, Germany would help them gain back Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, once the Central Powers won WWI. With the help of Mexico keeping the U.S occupied, the Central Powers could have won. Clearly, Germany didn’t want America to join the war. That is why they should have gone into the war. The telegram meant that Germany thought the U.S was weak but Germany is wrong. The U.S is strong and would show their strength by going to war.
If the U.S did not enter WWI they would be isolationists and would have let the Central Powers take over Europe. The U.S. isolationists are people who want nothing to do with other countries’ affairs. The Allies couldn’t have won without the help of fresh troops and supplies from America. Many lives would be saved if the U.S didn’t enter the war but even more would be lost when the U.S was taken over. Maybe the Central Powers would want to start another war, maybe they would want to obliterate the U.S. The United States’ only choice was to enter the war and join the Allies because they would be forced to take action and protect themselves from the threat.
No matter what the War of Attrition would have turned out pretty bad if America had not joined. With the Lusitania sinking and the Zimmerman Telegram, how could the U.S resist? How could the United States of America ignore the fact that they could be taken over or destroyed? These are all reasons why America should have joined the Allies in WWI.