Romanian Eagle

Sure enough, Edel did not expect that on the tenth day after the outbreak of the Russian Revolution, the United States announced that it would cut off diplomatic relations with Germany. The rationale is that Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare threatens U.S. freedom of shipping and trade.

When Washington, the founding president of the United States, left office in 1796, he confessed to the public: The great principle of our dealings with foreign nations is to have as little political connection as possible in extending our commercial relations with them... It is certainly not wise to enter into the constant political ups and downs of Europe, or the constant wars of enemies and friends. John Adams put it bluntly: We should make this a first principle and never forget: in all future wars in Europe neutrality in China.” The diplomatic tone set by America’s founding leaders is known as isolationism.

Therefore, after the outbreak of World War I in 1914, then US President Wilson declared the neutrality of the United States and demanded that the United States must remain neutral not only in name but also in fact. In his message to the envoys of the belligerent countries, he also urged: Don't show any non-neutral feelings, even words are not enough.

Since the United States became independent, it has actually been surrounded by the colonies of the European powers Britain, France and Spain. It is always necessary to be vigilant against the interference of foreign powers. It is a wise choice to keep a distance from all European powers. Disputes in Europe. Another important reason for maintaining neutrality is that the United States is relatively weak and needs to keep a low profile, seek a peaceful development environment, single-mindedly seek development, and enhance its own strength.

On the eve of the Spanish-American War in 1898, the American army was less than 30,000 people, and in the whole world, it was not as good as Bulgaria. Considering the size of the land of the United States, this number is pitifully small, and its naval power is even more insignificant. In addition, the United States is a country of immigrants, and European immigrants occupy an important position, and they are overly involved in the European war. It may also cause different European ethnic groups in the country to fall into division due to their allegiance to their own countries of origin. By staying neutral and watching tigers fight, you can profit from European disputes.

War will create a lot of logistical demands, which are all opportunities for American companies, so the United States not only neutralizes itself, but even hopes that other countries will let the bullets fly. Throughout the 19th century, the United States took advantage of the contradictions between European countries to expand its territory from east to west, and desperately expanded its own strength.

The United States purchased Louisiana from France in 1803, forced Spain to abandon Florida in 1819, annexed northern Mexico to become Texas in 1845, acquired Oregon by treaty with Britain in 1846, and annexed territories from Mexico to form New Mexico and Upper California in 1848. , purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867.

The end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century was the Gilded Age in the United States, and society was making rapid progress on the road of progress. The hard power indicator is that in 1890 the United States' steel production was already the world's first, and by 1900 the United States' steel production was 13.3 million tons, about the sum of Britain and Germany. The relative share of the United States in world industrial production surpassed that of the United Kingdom in 1900, at 23.6%, compared with the United Kingdom's 18.5%. The total relative industrial potential also surpassed that of the UK by a quarter in 1900.

The population of the United States was only 3 million in 1783 and 32 million in 1860. Since the 1880s, the population of the United States has increased rapidly, mainly because a large number of immigrants from Southeast Europe began to flow into the United States. From 39 million in 1870 to 63 million in 1890.

From 1898 onwards, the U.S. military also developed very rapidly, and by 1900 it had grown to 100,000 people, of which 10,000 were stationed in Cuba and 60,000 were fighting in the Philippines. In 1884 the U.S. Navy also ranked 12th in the world.

In 1914, the population of the United States was 98 million, and the national income of $13.7 billion was more than 13 times that of the United Kingdom of $1 billion. The per capita income of $377 was also much higher than the United Kingdom's $244. The combined national income of all European countries, including Russia, is on par with the United States.

The United States has the third largest navy in the world, after Britain and Germany. At this time, even the most ignorant of the old world can feel the strength of American muscles and struggle to adapt, including of course the United States itself.

It is not objective to say that the United States will inevitably give up isolationism just because of its muscular development. A major foreign policy change will inevitably involve the challenge of core interests. A closer look at American isolationism isn't just about neutrality.

It is specifically referring to the relationship between the United States and Europe, not applicable to other parts of the world, and specifically referring to politics and military affairs, excluding economics and culture. This sentence has two meanings. The first meaning is that the United States As long as they are not involved in the military and political disputes in Europe, other places outside Europe are not necessarily neutral, especially the Americas.

In 1823, in his seventh State of the Union address to Congress, U.S. President James Monroe laid out the red line of isolationism: We regard all attempts by European nations to expand their institutions to any part of the Western Hemisphere as Threats to peace and security. We have not and will not interfere with any existing colonies or possessions of European countries, but any interference by any European country to oppress those countries that have declared their independence will be treated as a violation of the United States Unfriendly behavior.

That is to say, no matter what the foreign powers do in Europe, the United States does not care, and doing things in the Americas belongs to the core interests of the United States. The second layer means that isolationism is only military and political non-intervention, but requires equal opportunities in terms of economy and culture. Even in your colonies, you need to be open and share interests. In the high seas, you need freedom of navigation at sea. This principle has the brute force of a backward power. It has the same confidence as the Monroe Doctrine, which is to say that American isolationism is a Conditional and bottom line. In short, isolationism serves the economy, and interests are king.

After the outbreak of World War I, massive and high-priced military orders from both sides filled the pockets of American businessmen. In August 1914, France shipped large quantities of gold to the safes of the American Morgan Company in exchange for a $100 million loan. In October 1915, Morgan lent another $500 million to Britain and France, which could only buy American goods. There are also more than 470 million in loans and military supplies to Russia. During the First World War, the United States did not refuse trade with allies such as Germany.

But the British sea power was too strong and blocked trade with Germany. The British military's maritime superiority quickly transformed the neutral trade of the United States into a de facto channel for blood transfusions to the Allies. The British and American maritime trade became the hatred of the Germans, and the contradiction between the United States and Germany began to intensify.

On February 4, 1915, the German Admiralty launched unrestricted submarine warfare and demarcated a blockade of the British islands. All passing surface ships, both military and civilian, would be attacked without warning. The freedom of shipping was restricted, and Americans were unable to do business.

On March 28, 1915, the American cruise liner Falaba was sunk, killing an American. Five weeks later, a large British passenger ship, the Lusitania, was sunk off the southern Irish Sea, killing more than a thousand people, 128 of them Americans. The incident of the Lusitania caused civilian casualties and caused uproar in American society. When the Germans cheered, We are watching with joyful pride this recent feat of our navy, the American public has formed the opinion that the Germans are vicious and disrespectful of basic human rights.

President Wilson issued a series of diplomatic notes with extremely strong language and threats. Dissatisfied with the note that could lead to diplomatic mishaps leading to war, then-Secretary of State and pacifist Brian resigned angrily. In fact, Wilson's biggest political goal at the time was to be re-elected in 1916. During the campaign, he used the slogan He kept us out of the war and advertised himself as enabling the United States to continue trade without entering the war.

Wilson, who came from the South, desperately needed the votes of the Northeast and Great Lakes, which had benefited the most from the war trade, so that those voters could continue to profit from the war. Not paying for the war is a precondition for Wilson's reelection. Fortunately, after this, the German submarine warfare was somewhat restrained, but on March 24, 1916, the Sussex incident occurred again. A German submarine sank the French passenger liner Sussex without warning in the English Channel, seriously injuring or drowning 80 passengers, including four Americans. The incident, while not serious, added fuel to the already deteriorating U.S.-German relationship.

In 1916, the US trade surplus increased from more than 430 million US dollars to more than 2 billion US dollars, that is, an increase of 3.7 times. The war wealth of the First World War made the United States accelerate the upgrading of its industrial structure. Industry and agriculture, especially the military industry, developed extremely rapidly, and it also won the initiative in finance, and it jumped from a debtor country to a creditor country. Comparing the transaction volume between the United States and the Allied countries and the Allied countries respectively, we will find that the United States and the Allied countries are more tightly bound economically, and the capital exported by the United States to Germany only accounts for 2% of the total capital exported by the United States. And if the Allied powers are defeated, the huge investment of the United States will be wiped out, which is obviously not what the Americans want to see.

The Germans are at a disadvantage in economic warfare and propaganda warfare. The U.S. government issued an ultimatum to Germany to sever diplomatic ties, and Germany had to announce that it would stop sinking unresisted merchant ships without warning, the Sussex Guarantee.

As the war situation changed, on February 1, 1917 Germany resumed its most effective naval battle trump card - unrestricted submarine warfare, and pushed submarine technology to its peak. Germany judged that even if the United States entered the war, it would take a year and a half for the U.S. military to form and transport it to Europe, and whether it could be transported to Europe under the blockade of German submarines is another matter. Germany only needs to end the war before the Americans come. The Germans were always overconfident when considering the war capabilities of the enemy and foe, and took strategic risks.

On February 25, Wilson received a confidential cable from the ambassador to the UK, Page, which contained a top-secret cable from German Foreign Minister Zimmermann to the German ambassador to Mexico on January 19.

We intend to begin unrestricted submarine warfare on February 1, while at the same time we will strive to keep the United States neutral, and if we cannot do this, we intend to cooperate with Mexico on the following: Building alliances on the basis of: cooperating, making peace, generous financial aid, we tacitly accept that Mexico will regain the lost territories of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, the details are arranged by you, we expect to go to war with the United States. Your Excellency should immediately inform the President of Mexico in secret , and asked him to take the initiative to invite Japan to join the war and to regulate Japan's relations with us. Please tell the President that unrestricted submarine warfare will force Britain to make peace within a few months. Please reply. - Zimmerman.

This cable not only admitted to fight against the United States, but also reached out to Mexico, which the United States regards as its back garden.

Seeing the outraged American people, Wilson certainly wouldn't let this opportunity slip by. On March 12, Wilson overstepped Congress to authorize the State Department to declare that merchant ships sailing in the theater were armed and could fire on German submarines.

A few days later, three more ships, Memphis City, Illinois, and Vigilancia, were sunk, and both people and goods were damaged, and calls for participation in the war grew louder. Then on March 15-18, the U.S. Congress voted to declare war on the Allies, with the slogan “Fight for Democracy, Freedom (and American Money).”

Eder watched for at most ten seconds after receiving the intelligence that the United States declared war. Now, as far as he is concerned, the United States has no direct influence on Romania. Because what is happening in Russia now has the most direct impact on Romania.