The United States Joins World War One

Poster based on the original British Lord Kitchener poster of three years earlier. It was used to recruit soldiers for both World War I and World War II. The artist, James ,Montgomery Flagg used a modified version of his own face for Uncle Sam

April 6 1917 – 14 Nisan 5677

 

As Jews prepared for their Seder, Woodrow Wilson declared war on Germany, bringing the United States into World War One. By the end of the war a quarter of a million Jews would be serving in the US armed forces, 20% of them volunteers. Among the events that forced Wilson’s hand was the sinking of the SS Lusitania by a German U-boat, killing over a hundred American citizens. Another was the discovery that Germany was plotting to aid Mexico in its attempts to conquer parts of the United States.