America had been avoiding joining the war since the start, but felt obliged to join when Germany killed some Americans in merchant boats in The Atlantic Ocean.
Why did they Join the War?
In January 1917, the Germans resumed submarine warfare. A few days after this announcement, the Wilson administration obtained a copy of the Zimmermann Telegram, which urged Mexico to join the war effort on the side of Germany and pledged that in the event of a German victory, the territories of Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico would be stripped from the United States and returned to Mexico.The publication of the Zimmermann Telegram and the escalation of German submarine attacks on US merchant vessels led the US Congress to declare war on Germany on April 6, 1917.
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US President Woodrow Wilson sought to maintain US neutrality but was ultimately unable to keep the United States out of the war, largely because of escalating German aggression. On May 7, 1915, the Germans sunk the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania, which had over a hundred Americans on board. Wilson warned that the United States would not permit unrestricted submarine warfare or any further violations of international law.
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