Expansion

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Expansion
The policy of isolation in America prohibited US interference with foreign matters in line with the Monroe doctrine. The US president, Woodrow Wilson maintained a neutral position, and many of the citizens preferred his position. However, strains soon ascended between U.S and Germany over the latter’s endeavored seclusion of the British Islands. Germany mines sunk several ships crossing the Atlantic and this infuriated the U.S, who had trading relations with Britain (Norton, pg595-614). In 1917, Germany declared the unrestricted submarine warfare against the United States. This was aimed at cutting down Britain’s supply shipping to America and enhance the victory of Germany. The united states could enter the war, but that was a risk worth taking since Germany could realize victory before the U.S soldiers were shipped across the Atlantic. This German challenge to American neutral rights and economic welfares was soon shadowed by German threat to U.S security.
Arthur Zimmerman, the German foreign minister, sent a secret telegram to Mexico. However, British decrypted the code and disseminated it to Washington for publication (Walter Lafeber). In the telegram, Germany had incited Mexico to attack the US in the promise of helping her to recover the territory she had surrendered to the U.S. This outlook of Germany and Mexico partnership amplified the pressures among the American in the Southwest, where th…