Module 4

Document Title: Declaration of War against Germany

Source: Address by the President of the United States, Congressional Record, 65th Cong.
Author: Woodrow Wilson
Date: 1917

The outbreak of World War I in Europe created great distress in the minds of the American
public, however they were under the false conviction that the United States would always
maintain a safe distance. During early 1917, Germany, embroiled in a bitter war against Britain,
Russia and France had begun to increase its attacks on neutral shipping vessels in the Atlantic,
seeking to cut off the pipeline of American shipment to Britain. This led to a chain of events that
resulted in the loss of hundreds of American lives as five American ships were sunk by German
submarines. This raised a public outcry and American intervention in the First World War had
become inevitable.
This document contains President Wilsons address to a joint session of Congress urging
Congress to declare war on Germany. This address was delivered shortly after Wilson had been
re-elected and it marks a profound break from traditional American Foreign policy. According to
Wilson, retaliation against Germany was necessary not only for self-defense and national
security but also to make the world safe for democracy. In Wilsons view, national interests
alone cannot guide American foreign policy: We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no
conquestWe seek no compensation for the sacrifices that we shall be freely making. Wilson
would have the actions of America impact the universal good of mankind and thus viewed the
war as a crusade to create permanent peace and uphold the rights and liberties of small nations.
In his address, Wilson also lays emphasis on his belief that the German public was not to be
blamed for the actions of their government: It was not upon their impulse that their government
acted in entering this war. He implies that the German people were alienated from the German
governments war efforts and it was in some sense his duty to liberate them from autocratic rule.