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The outlook of the U. S. entering WWI became most promising after the chain of events following the sinking of the Lusitania. Each situation made the U. S. more vulnerable for entering the war and finally there was no honorable way to stay neutral.
Germany created a war zone within the waters surrounding Great Britain and Ireland so that German sub-marines could sink enemy vessels. The passenger ship, Lusitania, was torpedoed by the Germans because they claimed that the ship was carrying arms, a charge Great Britain and the U. S. denied.
Americans were outraged that 128 of the dead passengers were American. Strong protests by the U. S. State Department brought a promise from Germany not to sink any passenger liners without taking precautions to protect the lives of innocent civilians. However, in March 1916, German sub-marines sunk a French steamer, Sussex, with two Americans aboard. President Wilson then threatened to stop diplomatic relations with Germany.
Finally in May of that year, Germany agreed not to sink merchant vessels without prior warning and without saving the lives of those aboard. The United States became severely agitated when the Germans broke their Sussex pledge. They declared unrestricted sub-marine warfare in a zone larger than the zone they created in 1915. This caused President Wilson, on February 3, 1917, to end diplomatic relations with Germany and later at his request, Congress passed a bill permitting U. S. merchant vessels to arm.
The discovery of the Zimmermann Note, a plan made by the German Foreign Office to unite Germany, Mexico, and Japan against the United States if they entered war, led Wilson, on April 2, 1917, to request a declaration of war with Germany. On April 6, 1917, Congress passed this declaration and the United States entered WWI.
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