Why did America not join the Great War until 1917 when the war actually started in 1914?

Answer 1

President Wilson was a pacifist. He did not believe in war except in the most extreme cases. Many Americans joined him in that belief. And too, the US was not being directly attacked by Germany.

But, it became obvious in 1916 that England and France and other countries would be overrun and occupied by Germany and other warlike countries unless the US stepped in and helped them. The problem was that the US had no expeditionary military force, so much time was used to add thousands and thousands of soldiers to the Army and to train them.

Answer 2

The United States was not forced into the war by treaties with other nations, as Russia, Germany, France and Great Britain all were drawn into the war. The United States had a long tradition of 'avoiding European entanglements'. The Monroe Doctrine established America's policy that we were primarily interested in this hemisphere and that we desired peace and open trade with all nations.

Answer 3

Simply because at first it did not effect them at first. Later England asked for their help in the war, as it lasted longer then anyone expected it to. The German soldiers where trained better then the English and French troops (and even the American troops). Russia started to pull out of the war because the unstable nature of their government. If Russia was to pull out and no one was to take their place, the outcome of the war could of been very different. Once the USA resized their was a possibility that Germany could win the war they started to mobilize, as they could not afford to lose their biggest allies (England, France, Canada etc).

Answer 4

• It was unprepared.
• It lacked justification.
• It had far to many in country opponents of such an action.
• It lacked the political will.