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The most effective opponents of the war were the Irish Catholics. They had little interest in the continent, but were adamant against helping the British Empire, because it continued to reject independence for Ireland. (The [[Easter Uprising]] in Dublin, 1916, was stamped out, its leaders hung.) The Irish-Americans dominated the Democratic party in most large cities, so Wilson had to take account of their views in his definition of the nation's goals. They did not prevent him from being hostile to Germany, but they did force him to keep his distance from Britain. Indeed, Irish pressure guaranteed that the US would not become a full-fledged ally of Britain, and would not be pledged to Britain's war aims, but would try to restructure the world in a liberal democratic fashion after the war was won.<ref>William M. Leary, Jr. "Woodrow Wilson, Irish Americans, and the Election of 1916." ''Journal of American History'' 1967 54(1): 57-72 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1900319  in JSTOR]</ref>   

The most effective opponents of the war were the Irish Catholics. They had little interest in the continent, but were adamant against helping the British Empire, because it continued to reject independence for Ireland. (The [[Easter Uprising]] in Dublin, 1916, was stamped out, its leaders hung.) The Irish-Americans dominated the Democratic party in most large cities, so Wilson had to take account of their views in his definition of the nation's goals. They did not prevent him from being hostile to Germany, but they did force him to keep his distance from Britain. Indeed, Irish pressure guaranteed that the US would not become a full-fledged ally of Britain, and would not be pledged to Britain's war aims, but would try to restructure the world in a liberal democratic fashion after the war was won.<ref>William M. Leary, Jr. "Woodrow Wilson, Irish Americans, and the Election of 1916." ''Journal of American History'' 1967 54(1): 57-72 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1900319  in JSTOR]</ref>   

==Preparedness Movement==

==Preparedness Movement==

By 1915, Americans were paying much more attention to the war. The sinking of the Lusitania was the eye-opener for most people regarding German brutality. That year, a strong "Preparedness" movement emerged. It argued that the United States needed to immediately build up strong naval and land forces for defensive purposes; an unspoken assumption was that America would fight sooner or later. General [[Leonard Wood]] (still on active duty after serving a term as Chief of Staff of the Army), ex-president [[Theodore Roosevelt]], and former secretaries of war [[Elihu Root]] and [[Henry Stimson]] were the driving forces behind Preparedness, along with many of the nation's most prominent bankers, industrialists, lawyers and scions of prominent families. Indeed there emerged an "Atlanticist" foreign policy establishment, a group of influential Americans drawn primarily from upper-class lawyers, bankers, academics, and politicians of the Northeast, committed to a strand of Anglophile internationalism.  Representative was Paul D. Cravath, one of New York's foremost corporation lawyers. For Cravath, in his mid-fifties when the war began, the conflict served as an epiphany, sparking an interest in international affairs that dominated his remaining career. Fiercely Anglophile, he strongly supported American intervention in the war and hoped that close Anglo-American cooperation would be the guiding principle of postwar international organization.<ref>Priscilla Roberts, "Paul D. Cravath, the First World War, and the Anglophile Internationalist Tradition." ''Australian Journal of Politics and History'' 2005 51(2): 194-215. Issn: 0004-9522 Fulltext in Ebsco </ref>

By 1915, Americans were paying much more attention to the war. The sinking of the Lusitania was the eye-opener for most people regarding German brutality. That year, a strong "Preparedness" movement emerged. It argued that the United States needed to immediately build up strong naval and land forces for defensive purposes; an unspoken assumption was that America would fight sooner or later. General [[Leonard Wood]] (still on active duty after serving a term as Chief of Staff of the Army), ex-president [[Theodore Roosevelt]], and former secretaries of war [[Elihu Root]] and [[Henry Stimson]] were the driving forces behind Preparedness, along with many of the nation's most prominent bankers, industrialists, lawyers and scions of prominent families. Indeed there emerged an "Atlanticist" foreign policy establishment, a group of influential Americans drawn primarily from upper-class lawyers, bankers, academics, and politicians of the Northeast, committed to a strand of Anglophile internationalism.<ref> John P. Finnegan, ''Against the Specter of a Dragon: The Campaign for American Military Preparedness, 1914-1917'' (1975)</ref>  

 

Representative was Paul D. Cravath, one of New York's foremost corporation lawyers. For Cravath, in his mid-fifties when the war began, the conflict served as an epiphany, sparking an interest in international affairs that dominated his remaining career. Fiercely Anglophile, he strongly supported American intervention in the war and hoped that close Anglo-American cooperation would be the guiding principle of postwar international organization.<ref>Priscilla Roberts, "Paul D. Cravath, the First World War, and the Anglophile Internationalist Tradition." ''Australian Journal of Politics and History'' 2005 51(2): 194-215. Issn: 0004-9522 Fulltext in Ebsco </ref>

The Preparedness movement had a "realistic" philosophy of world affairs--they believed that economic strength and military muscle were more decisive than idealistic crusades focused on causes like democracy and national self determination. Emphasizing over  and over the weak state of national defenses, they showed that America's 100,000-man Army even augmented by the 112,000 National Guardsmen, was outnumbered 20 to one by Germany's army, which was drawn from a smaller population. Reform to them meant UMT or "universal military service." They proposed a national service program under which the 600,000 men who turned 18 every year would be required to spend six months in military training, and afterwards be assigned to reserve units. The small regular army would primarily be a training agency.  

The Preparedness movement had a "realistic" philosophy of world affairs--they believed that economic strength and military muscle were more decisive than idealistic crusades focused on causes like democracy and national self determination. Emphasizing over  and over the weak state of national defenses, they showed that America's 100,000-man Army even augmented by the 112,000 National Guardsmen, was outnumbered 20 to one by Germany's army, which was drawn from a smaller population. Reform to them meant UMT or "universal military service." They proposed a national service program under which the 600,000 men who turned 18 every year would be required to spend six months in military training, and afterwards be assigned to reserve units. The small regular army would primarily be a training agency.  

* Early, Frances H. ''A World without War: How U.S. Feminists and Pacifists Resisted World War I.'' 1997.

* Early, Frances H. ''A World without War: How U.S. Feminists and Pacifists Resisted World War I.'' 1997.

* Esposito, David M. ''The Legacy of Woodrow Wilson: American War Aims in World War I. '' (1996) 159pp [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=14266596# online edition]

* Esposito, David M. ''The Legacy of Woodrow Wilson: American War Aims in World War I. '' (1996) 159pp [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=14266596# online edition]

* Finnegan, John P. ''Against the Specter of a Dragon: The Campaign for American Military Preparedness, 1914–1917.'' 1975.  

* Finnegan, John P. ''Against the Specter of a Dragon: The Campaign for American Military Preparedness, 1914–1917.'' (1975).  

* Gibbs, Christopher C. ''The Great Silent Majority: Missouri's Resistance to World War I'' (1988)  

* Gibbs, Christopher C. ''The Great Silent Majority: Missouri's Resistance to World War I'' (1988)  

* Grubbs, Frank L. ''The Struggle for Labor Loyalty: Gompers, the A. F. of L., and the Pacifists, 1917-1920.'' 1968.  

* Grubbs, Frank L. ''The Struggle for Labor Loyalty: Gompers, the A. F. of L., and the Pacifists, 1917-1920.'' 1968.  

* Herman, Sondra. ''Eleven Against War: Studies in American Internationalist Thought, 1898-1921.'' 1969.  

* Herman, Sondra. ''Eleven Against War: Studies in American Internationalist Thought, 1898-1921.'' 1969.  

* Higham, Robin and Dennis E. Showalter, eds. ''Researching World War I: A Handbook'' (2003), 475pp; highly detailed historiography, [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=107066504 online edition]

* Higham, Robin and Dennis E. Showalter, eds. ''Researching World War I: A Handbook'' (2003), 475pp; highly detailed historiography, [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=107066504 online edition]

* Hodgson, Godfrey. ''Woodrow Wilson's Right Hand: The Life of Colonel Edward M. House.'' 2006. 335pp  

* Hodgson, Godfrey. ''Woodrow Wilson's Right Hand: The Life of Colonel Edward M. House.'' (2006). 335pp, popular biography

* Kazal, Russell A. ''Becoming Old Stock: The Paradox of German-American Identity.'' 2004. 390 pp.

* Kazal, Russell A. ''Becoming Old Stock: The Paradox of German-American Identity.'' (2004). 390 pp.

* Kennedy, David M. ''Over Here: The First World War and American Society'' (1982), covers politics & economics & society [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=106147343 online edition]

* Kennedy, David M. ''Over Here: The First World War and American Society'' (1982), covers politics & economics & society [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=106147343 online edition]

* Koistinen, Paul. ''Mobilizing for Modern War: The Political Economy of American Warfare, 1865-1919'' (1997)

* Koistinen, Paul. ''Mobilizing for Modern War: The Political Economy of American Warfare, 1865-1919'' (1997)

* [http://sources.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_Wilson%27s_War_Address President Wilson's War Address]

* [http://sources.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_Wilson%27s_War_Address President Wilson's War Address]

===Footnotes===

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