The Perils of Prosperity 1914 1932 by William E Leuchtenburg In this book Leuchtenburg talks about the role of the United States in World War I and of the consequences of this war in American politics economy and society He also talks of the years between the entrance of the US in this war and the end of postwar prosperity He also talks of the values of old American rural old stock l and the values of people living in cities It was a time of paradoxes a statement that seems contradictory an age of conformity and of liberation of the persistence of rural values and the triumph of the city of isolationism one who opposes the involvement of his or her country in international alliances or agreements and new international ventures of laissez faire the policy or practice of letting people or owners of industry and business act without interference or direction with minimum governmental regulation or control but also of government intervention of competition and of merger merging two or more companies into one of despair and of joyous abandon unrestrained freedom of action or emotions surrender to one s impulses Many of the paradoxes can be explained by the reluctance or unwillingness of the people to accept the changes that were occurring and by their attempt to hold on to the older ways of thought and action at the same time that they were often against their will committed or engaged in the new ways In the summer of 1914 war broke out in Europe between the allies headed by Great Britain France and Russia etc and the Central Powers led by Germany Austro Hungary etc The president of the United States at that time Woodrow Wilson issued at that time its neutrality the status or policy of a nation not to participate directly or indirectly in a war between other nations Inspired by the hope that the United States might eventually be able to mediate in the European conflict Wilson tried to maintain American neutrality but in vain One difficulty of the United States as a neutral were with Great Britain because they were intercepting American vessels that traded with neutral countries Although the British government promised to compensate citizens of the US for their seized non contraband products such as agricultural products But the primarily legal dispute of the United States with Great Britain over maritime policy was quickly overshadowed by the aggressiveness of Germany s submarine policy which threatened not only the property but also the lives of American citizens The United States protested vigorously against the attacks by submarines On May 1915 a German submarine torpedoed a British liner ship named Lusitania President Wilson trying to avoid war and strove through diplomatic pressure to persuade Germany to abandon its attacks on commercial ships On September 1915 the German government announced that passengers liners would not be sunk by submarines without the protection of noncombatant people In March 1916 the French passenger steamer named Sussex was torpedoed in the English Channel injuring some on board including two Americans Wilson sent an ultimatum to Germany that unless it ended its present methods of submarine warfare the US would break diplomatic relations German s reply called the Sussex Pledge gave assurances that Germany would not sink merchant vessels without warning and without saving human lives Germany maintained this policy for the next nine months Germany afterwards announced unrestricted submarine warfare that U boats submarines would sink all ships passenger or merchant neutral or belligerent armed or unarmed in the war zone American ships fearing submarine attack refused to sail unless they were armed farmers and factories would not be able to export causing problems to American economy Wilson broke then diplomatic relations with Germany The struggle to defend American neutrality was paralleled by a campaign to prepare the nation for the possibility of war The Preparedness Campaign by A few weeks after the German announcement of resumed submarine warfare British intelligence agents intercepted and made available to Wilson a note written by German Secretary of Foreign affairs Arthur Zimmermann to the German minister in Mexico Zimmerman suggested that in the event of war between the United States and Germany a Mexican German alliance might be arranged that would enable Mexico to recover Arizona New Mexico and Texas from the United States Further Mexico was to urge Japan to leave the Allies and to side with the Central Powers The precipitation of war was the result of resumption of submarine warfare there were many ships being sunk by Germany and therefore American cargo vessels did not want to go to Atlantic and this could bring a serious depression in the country that affected farmers workers and everyone Furthermore another reason was that the sinking of US ships came in the season as the revelation of the Zimmerman note Wilson had one final set of motivations for the war In order both to fashion a new world order and help foster American commercial interests he wanted a seat at the peace table which he knew that if he became a belligerent fighting that opportunity would not be denied to him Because the tzar of Germany was overthrown Wilson could say that World War I was a fight of democracy against non democratic countries In 1917 Congress voted for war declaration of war against the Central Powers The decision to fight in the war did not represent the President s will alone but the attitude of a generation that had a new sense of mission to repress evil and impose virtue aboard and that to this they had to participate in the war The war marked the first large scale experience with government control in America with federal agencies directing every important economic sector For example the Selective Service of 1917 required men between the ages of 21 to 30 to register for the draft for obligatory service subsequent legislation lowered the age to 18 and the maximum age to 45 therefore the US was able to mobilize about 2 million troops to fight the Central Powers Axis War brought significant changes to the United States The American economy boomed an industrial and agricultural output increased to meet the demands of the costly war New economic opportunities new social opportunities and new civic opportunities came about and at the same time and enormous government role in shaping the economy and society One result was the rising anti German sentiment There