Essay: The United States’ entry into the War of 1898 and World War I in 1917

The United States’ entry into the War of 1898 and World War I in 1917 resulted from strikingly similar factors and each played crucial roles in establishing US hegemony. Both President William McKinley and Woodrow Wilson faced parallel events prior to each war such as US economic interests abroad, mounting pressure from public opinion, and threats to national security and Americans abroad. Both presidents similarly entered each war citing humanitarianism and democratization as a justification for US entry. Additionally, both wars gradually led to US hegemony. The War of 1898 served as a stepping stone toward hegemony, as the US asserted its dominance in the Western hemisphere. Moreover, United States involvement in World War I was its first act as a global policeman – a role that it has continued to assume throughout the 21st century. The United States’ entries into the War of 1898 and again in the First World War in 1917 were each caused by a parallel confluence of equally significant economic, domestic, and international factors and ultimately influenced future policies regarding
American globalism.
One of the primary factors in President McKinley’s decision to go to war in 1898 was a growing imperialist sentiment. Many government officials, including Theodore Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, believed that the war would provide a land grab in which the US could obtain the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam.1 Additionally, by entering the war the United States would gain international respect, as it would be asserting its dominance in the Western Hemisphere.2 Finally, this imperialistic goal served as an economic opportunity. The
1 Kennan, George F. American Diplomacy. Sixtieth-Anniversary Expanded Edition. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012), 14.
2 Paterson, Thomas G., J. Clifford Garry, Robert Brigham, Michael Donoghue, Kenneth Hagan J., Deborah Kisatsky, and Shane Maddock J. American Foreign Relations: A History. 8th ed. Vol. 2. Since 1895. (Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2015), 9.
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land acquisitions would provide future economic endeavors and add to the $50 million invested in Cuba.3 These future and current economic interests were at risk if the US failed to act.
Mounting pressure on McKinley from the American public and the press was another factor that led to US intervention. For the Yellow Press, war created lucrative stories; thus, the press frequently sensationalized stories of Spanish atrocities. Cubans were often seen as helpless dark-skinned victims who could only be saved by heroic white men. 4 One event that highlighted the victimization of Cubans was Governor-General Valeriano Nicolau Weyler’s institution of the “reconcentrado” program. Weyler’s plan relocated Cubans into concentration camps, executed those found outside of the camps, killed livestock, destroyed crops, and polluted water sources.5 The New York World described this atrocity as “Blood on the roadsides, blood in the fields, blood on the doorsteps, blood, blood, blood.”6 In addition to fueling a paternalistic sentiment, the press also promoted war as a manly right of passage and asserted that McKinley was weak because he had not acted quickly enough. 7 Through various cartoons depicting McKinley as weak, flabby, and feminine, the American public as well as other government officials inflicted a pressure upon McKinley to go to war.
In early 1898, the US encountered threats to the security of Americans abroad as well as threats to international respect – furthering the push to go to war. In February, the US received a copy of a letter sent by Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, the Spanish Minister to the United States, intended for a Spanish politician in Cuba.8 In addition to insulting President McKinley, De Lôme
3 Ibid., 12. 4 Ibid., 4. 5 Ibid., 12. 6 Ibid.
7 Ibid., 13.
8 Kennan, George F. American Diplomacy, 10.
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noted that Spain was not taking any reforms seriously. Less than one week after the New York Journal labeled this incident as the “worst insult to the United States in history,”9 the USS Maine was sunk in Havana, killing 266 Americans on board.10 Americans then coined the phrase, “Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain.” 11 Following the explosion, McKinley attempted to resolve the conflict diplomatically by demanding the termination of the reconcentration policy and relief to the Cubans.12 After Spain did not acknowledge his demands, on April 11, 1898 McKinley decided to intervene in the war, marking the beginning of American globalism.
Nearly two decades after the War of 1898, the United States entered war again in April of 1917 under President Woodrow Wilson. Similar to the War of 1898, US economic interests were crucial in the decision to enter the war. However, in this case economic interests were far more important than before. In 1914, the United States exported a total of $754 million to England and France and $345 million to Germany. The following year, exports to England and France increased to $1.28 billion, while exports to Germany fell to $29 million. In 1916, exports to France and England continued to rise to $2.75 billion, while German exports plummeted to $2 million. Additionally, the US had shipped more than $3 billion in goods and gave loans to British and French industries.13 Thus, the US had a vested economic interest in the Allies’ success.
Domestic political opinion along with various racial and ethnic tensions were influential in Wilson’s decision to go to war. Irish Americans, who had recently suffered under the British,
9 Ibid., 15.
10 Ibid., 2.
11 Ibid.
12 Kennan, George F. American Diplomacy, 12.
13 Paterson, Thomas G., J. Clifford Garry, Robert Brigham, Michael Donoghue, Kenneth
Hagan J., Deborah Kisatsky, and Shane Maddock J. American Foreign Relations: A History, 83.
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sided with the Central Powers, as did German Americans.14 Jewish Americans were outraged at supporting the Allies because it would mean siding with Russia’s Tsar Nicholas II.15 However, after the Russian Revolution of March, a democratic government was created and Wilson argued that Russia was now, “a fit partner for a league of honor.” 16 Despite loyalties to various motherlands, an underlying Anglo-American commonality was felt, leading the majority of Americans to press for aid on the side of the Allies.
As was the case in 1898, the Great War caused threats to US citizens abroad as well as direct threats to national security. Germany’s continued atrocities were the source of these threats. One of these atrocities was the sinking of the Lusitania. On May 7, 1915 the British passenger ship was sunk by a German U-boat, killing nearly 1,200 people, 128 of them Americans.17 This was not the Germans’ first violation of these rights. In August of 1914, the Germans sieged Belgium, another violation of a neutral country.18 Wilson was outraged at these attacks and saw them as a gross violation of the laws of war and the rights of neutrals. Despite an order by President Wilson that the Germans disavow any further submarine warfare, U-boat attacks continued. Germany, in fact, implemented unrestricted submarine warfare in January of 1917. Shortly after this German declaration, the US intercepted the Zimmerman Telegram, which served as evidence that national security was at risk. In February of 1917 Arthur Zimmerman, the German foreign minister, sent a message to Mexico that suggested if Mexico
14 Ibid., 81.
15 Ibid., 88.
16 Paterson, Thomas G., and Dennis Merrill. Major Problems in American Foreign
Relations 7th ed. Vol. 2. Since 1914. (Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning,
2010), 32
17 Paterson, Thomas G., J. Clifford Garry, Robert Brigham, Michael Donoghue, Kenneth
Hagan J., Deborah Kisatsky, and Shane Maddock J. American Foreign Relations:
A History, 77. 18 Ibid., 82.
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helped fight the United States from the south, Germany would, in return, help Mexico regain lost territories in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.19 The telegram proved that Germany was not going to cooperate diplomatically and intervention was necessary.
In the years leading up to US entry, Wilson had been developing and promoting the idea of a post-war world, “in which barriers to political democracy and the Open Door came down, in which revolution and aggression no longer threatened.” 20 Wilson believed that America needed to intervene, not only because of the domestic, international, and economic factors, but also because it was their duty to serve as peacemakers and democracy promoters. This, in essence, paralleled the paternalistic sentiment and the desire to spread democracy to the “uncivilized” people of Cuba that was felt in the war of 1898. Wilson’s own post-war goals converged with the plethora of economic, domestic, and international factors and solidified entry into World War I.
Though the War of 1898 and World War I are seemingly independent, unrelated events, the US involvement in each of these wars was strikingly similar. Prior to US entry into the wars, the United States was neutral in each conflict and was not directly attacked by any aggressors. Thus, one could argue that the United States had no business getting involved in either conflict. However, in both instances the United States had numerous factors that, in many ways, compelled involvement. Economic ties were undoubtedly a factor, as the US was quickly emerging in the global economy. Both presidents were also swayed by domestic public opinion, a desire to promote democracy, and threats to national security and the safety of Americans abroad. In addition to similarities regarding the circumstances of US entry, each of these wars resulted in a lasting impact on US foreign policy.
19 Ibid., 88. 20 Ibid., 89.
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While there are obvious similarities in the events that led to US involvement in each war, one key difference was the location of each war. The War of 1898 was a regional war in which the US asserted itself as the dominant power in the Western Hemisphere.21 Whereas, World War I was a global war that allowed the US to join the world’s leading powers. In the War of 1898, the United States posed as a regional policeman promoting its entrance as a fight for humanitarianism. It is also clear that this act allowed US interests in the region to thrive. The Platt Amendment as well as the acquisition of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, and control of the sea lanes serve as evidence to this claim. Similarly, in 1917, the United States displayed its dominance by entering into World War I, continuing the global fight for democracy while simultaneously benefiting economically and politically. After World War I concluded, Wilson was able to play a leading role in reordering the geography of Europe, arranging reparations, as well as asserting his Fourteen Points under an international spotlight..22 It is clear that United States’ successful assertion of regional hegemony in the War of 1898 led to an even bolder act – entering the First World War and attempting global hegemony. Both of these wars could arguably be the source of the longstanding United States foreign policy role as the world’s policeman – determined to defend global democracy, while benefiting politically and economically.
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