Modern Era · North America · War

1917

America enters the war

April 6, 1917

Wilson, who had been reelected on keeping the country out, asked Congress to declare war on Germany after the Zimmermann telegram and unrestricted submarine warfare. The United States had almost no army. Within eighteen months it had two million men in France and an industry that would decide the outcome.

More from 1917 Modern Era

In context

Also in 1917 (6 other events on record)

Bolsheviks seize Petrograd · Europe · Politics
February Revolution topples the Tsar · Europe · Politics
Balfour Declaration promises Jewish homeland · Middle East · Politics
First American troops land in France · Europe · War
Lawrence's Arabs take Aqaba · Middle East · War
Silent Sentinels at the White House · North America · Politics

Before and after in North America

Before: 1915: Birth of a Nation released
After: January 8, 1918: Wilson's Fourteen Points

Before and after in War

Before: August 1916: Arab Revolt launched
After: November 11, 1918: Armistice in the Compiegne forest

Era

Modern Era (1901–2000), one of 590 events from that era on Saeculum.