History 158 Mid-term Exam - Essay Example

President William McKinley was known not to have taste for war, but the public opinion and the press proved to be a force that changed his mind and drove him onward. The violent aggression and conflicts in Cuba caused so much political and economic instability in the region. This was a cause to worry and it caught the attention of the United States which had long-held interest in managing the Western Hemisphere. The tensions between Spain and the United States had been gradually mounting for months.

With the mysterious sinking of the battleship Maine in Havana harbor that killed 259 sailors and injuring 80, military intervention by the United States in Cuba became very likely. On the 11th of April 1898, President William asked for the authorization from the Congress to end the conflicts in Cuba between Spanish forces and the rebels. The United States wanted peace, tranquility and security of its citizens and the Cubans living on the island and the way to do it was to establish a stable government which would oversee law and order maintained.

McKinley was authorized by the Congress to use whatever military force deemed necessary to ensure Cuba’s Independence. . On the 2nd of April 1917, President Wilson requested the joint session of Congress to declare war on Germany. His request for war was based upon Germany’s involvement in submarine warfare in the Mediterranean and the North Atlantic, and several attempts to get Mexico into an alliance with them against the United States. The U.S senate voted unanimously in support of war on Germany, Austria and Hungary on the 7th of December 1917 (Davis 68).

Germany’s involvement in submarine attack on merchant and passenger ships was the primary driving force behind president Woodrow’s decision that led the US into World War One. President Woodrow had to balance issues regarding German’s submarines attacks as well as their numerous attempts to pull Mexico into an alliance against the United States. On the 19th of January 1917, the British intelligence had decrypted an intercepted telegram that had been sent by the German Foreign Minister Zimmerman.

The telegram was sent to the Ambassador in Mexico and in it was the promise by German Government to help Mexico regain the territories it had surrendered to the US after the Mexican-American War. All that the German government wanted were the full support of Mexico in the war against the United States and its allies. Initially, the Britons had not shared the telegram news with United States officials mainly because they wanted to keep secret their ability to break the German’s code. Germany’s resumption of submarine warfare could not hold the secret back and the Britons decided to use the telegram to help sway public opinion and American officials to join the World War (Davis 73).

Despite the shocking telegram’s news, President Wilson hesitated on