The Un­declared
War

Neutrality criticized; RMS Lusitania; Burying the Lusitania’s deceased; Teddy Roosevelt and Kaiser Wilhelm II; Helen Johns Kirkland; Artillery in the desert; The U-boat that sank the Lusitania in harbor

War Spilled
Across Europe and the Middle East in mid-1914, pitting the empires of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottomans – known as the Central Powers – against the Allied forces. Most Americans viewed the conflict as a European problem and wanted to avoid any American involvement. In response, President Woodrow Wilson declared America’s neutrality, even as he and others took advantage of the opportunity to boost the country’s economy, allowing unrestricted sales of commercial goods, food supplies, and munitions. This policy, however, would not go unchallenged by Germany, which undertook a secret war, on U.S. soil, with American industry as its primary target.