US Neutrality & Entry (1914–1917) Terms CH4

Strict Neutrality

The initial diplomatic stance declared by Woodrow Wilson in August 1914, demanding Americans remain impartial "in thought as well as action".

Isolationism

A deeply rooted US political tradition dating back to Washington’s Farewell Address, which resisted political or military entanglements in European power struggles.

Associated Power

The formal, independent status the US claimed upon entering the war in 1917, explicitly refusing to join a permanent military alliance with the Entente Powers to keep total freedom of action.

Freedom of the Seas

The principle of international law allowing neutral nations to trade freely with any country during wartime without interference from belligerents.

British Blockade (North Sea Declaration)

The maritime blockade of Germany that strangled neutral trade with the Central Powers, forcing US commerce to become heavily asymmetric and biased toward the Allies.

Wartime Loans / J.P. Morgan

Massive financial credits extended by American banks to the Entente nations, which tied US domestic economic prosperity directly to an Allied victory.

Contraband of War

Items classified by Britain (including cotton and food) as illegal for neutrals to ship to Germany, which systemically undercut America’s legal claims to impartial trade.

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare (USW)

Germany's naval policy of using U-boats to sink any merchant or passenger vessel entering designated war zones without warning.

Sinking of the Lusitania

The May 1915 torpedoing of a British passenger liner, which killed 128 Americans and galvanized US public outrage against German tactics.

The Sussex Pledge

A 1916 German promise to stop sinking merchant vessels without warning after the US threatened to sever diplomatic ties; its revocation in February 1917 was the immediate trigger for war.

Armed Neutrality

Wilson's failed interim policy in early 1917 of mounting defensive weapons on civilian merchant ships to resist U-boat attacks without launching a full war.

The Zimmermann Telegram

A secret German diplomatic memo intercepted by the British in January 1917 that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico if the US entered the war.

Territorial Irredentism

The promise made by Germany to help Mexico reclaim its lost territories in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, which turned a distant European conflict into an immediate domestic national security crisis.

Yellow Journalism / Press Publication

The nationwide publication of the telegram in March 1917, which successfully neutralized anti-war, isolationist sentiment in the American Midwest and West.

Carranza Doctrine

The Mexican foreign policy stance established by President Venustiano Carranza, which ultimately rejected Germany's offer to maintain a position of strict neutrality during the conflict.

"Safe for Democracy"

The moral justification used by Woodrow Wilson in his war address to Congress on April 2, 1917, framing American intervention as a crusade for global human rights rather than conquest.

The Fourteen Points

Wilson's progressive blueprint for a peaceful post-war world order, which included open diplomacy, free trade, disarmament, and self-determination.

March Revolution (Russia)

The overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II in March 1917, which conveniently allowed Wilson to frame the war as a clean ideological battle between democracies and autocracies.

Collective Security

The geopolitical principle that an attack on one nation is an attack on all, which formed the intellectual foundation for the future League of Nations.