Abandoning American Neutrality

During the first 18 months of World War I, Woodrow Wilson sought to maintain American neutrality, but as this carefully argued study shows, it was ultimately an unsustainable stance. The tension between Wilson's idealism and pragmatism ultimately drove him to abandon neutrality, paving the way for America's entrance into the war in 1917.

1. "An Awful Cataclysm": British War Aims, Neutral Rights at Sea, and Early US Mediation Efforts, July 1914 September 1914 2. "An Exceedingly Tender Spot": The Conclusion of the Declaration of London Debate, Britain's Revised Order in Council, and the US Mid-Term Congressional Elections, October 1914 November 1914 3. "At Peace With the World": The Developing Anglo-American Munitions Trade and US Efforts to Maintain the Spirit of Neutrality, October 1914 December 1914 4. "A Friend to All of Them": Munitions Bills, A Government Owned Merchant Marine and Restarting Talks of Mediation, December 1914 January 1915 5. "Twittering of a Sparrow": House's Second Mission to Europe, German Submarines, Strict Accountability, and the Tightening of the Allied Blockade, February 1915 April 1915 6. "The Palliations of Piracy": The Submarine Crisis, Shell Shortages, and the Failure of House's Second Mission to Europe, April 1915 June 1915 7. "The Shadow of War": Britain's Economic Emergency, US Distrust of Germany, the New Course for U. S. Policy toward the Belligerents, June 1915 August 1915 8. "He Has Thus Crossed the Rubicon": The Conclusion of the Arabic Crisis, German Sabotage, and Clandestine US Mediation Efforts, September 1915 December 1915