Celebration Of Those Who Fought For Our Freedom Part IV

World War I actually began in July, 1914 but the United States did not enter the war until April 6, 1917. The U. S. originally pursued a policy of isolationism avoiding conflict while trying to broker a peace.

Of course, Britain was fighting yet another war and at first, they really didn't want the U. S. to get involved because they feared that the U. S. might be on the other side. There was an anti-colonial stance in America. But things starting happening that got U. S. citizens in an uproar.

In 1915, a German U-boat sank the British liner Lusitania and there were 128 Americans on board. But that still wasn't enough for the U. S. to join the war. There were unauthorized German submarines along the U. S. East coast. Germany agree to stop it for a while. Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in the spring of 1917 and this provided more reason for the U. S. to join the war. Also in 1917, the British intercepted a proposal from Berlin to Mexico. The message related to Mexico that if the U. S. were to enter the war then Mexico should declare war against the United States and enlist Japan as an ally. This would prevent the United States from joining the Allies and deploying troops to Europe and would give Germany more time for their unrestricted submarine warfare program to strangle Britain's vital war supplies. In return, the Germans would promise Mexico support in reclaiming the territory of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Okay, enough was enough and President Wilson called for war on Germany and the U. S. Congress declared war on April 6, 1917.

The war raged on until November 11, 1918 when an Armistice was declared. The Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919. No other war had changed the map of Europe more dramatically: four empires disappeared - the German, Austria-Hungarian, Ottoman and the Russian; four defunct dynasties - the Hohenzollerns, the Habsburg, the Romanovs and the Ottomans together with all their ancillary aristocracies. Belgium and Serbia were badly damaged, as was France with 1.4 million soldiers dead. Germany and Russia were similarly affected. The United States lost 116,516 brave and heroic soldiers.

I would like to add the following information about this war because I found it devastating. The aftermath of this war took a terrible toll on many European nations. About 750,000 German civilians died from starvation caused by the British blockade during the war. By the end of the war, famine had killed approximately 100,000 people in Lebanon. Also, a major flu epidemic spread around the world. Overall, the Spanish flu killed at least 50 million people. In 1914, louse-borne typhus killed 200,000 in Serbia. There were about 3 million deaths from typhus in Russia from 1918 to 1922. A 1921 Russian famine followed the war with an estimated death toll of 5 million to 10 million people.

This was a terrible war but when America is pushed into war, Americans rise to occasion and do everything in their power to protect our freedom. Our armed forces are Heroes.