86 e lusive v ictories
Britain, France, and Russia), looked across the Atlantic to purchase
munitions for their military forces and food for their hungry people.
Th e Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary, soon joined by
the Ottoman Empire) likewise valued American exports, though the
volume of trade was signifi cantly less.
American military power, though a mixed bag, also infl uenced both
sides. Following the striking success of the U.S. Navy in the war against
Spain in 1898, the service continued to expand, particularly during the
presidency of Th eodore Roosevelt. At the outset of the war, the United
States possessed one of the world’s more formidable battleship fl eets,
though a number of its ships were already outdated by the advent of
modern dreadnought-class vessels. If the country entered the confl ict,
its ships might tip the balance at sea decisively. (Only as the war
progressed would it become evident that the naval war hinged on
submarines and the measures to counter them.) Th e U.S. Army, by
contrast, frightened no one, its modest numbers making it insignifi cant
in the scale of warfare that would be waged in Europe. Appreciating
both the importance of American resources and the potential impact of
the American fl eet, the combatants hesitated to antagonize the United
States.
Th e United States had much at stake in the war, but it is not clear
that Woodrow Wilson appreciated this at the outset. As the leading
economic power, America most needed a stable world order in which
nations could trade securely. Th e country had benefi ted greatly from
decades of free security provided by the Royal Navy and from the peace
that had prevailed in Europe for most of the previous century. ^
However, the German decision to challenge British naval supremacy
posed a threat to stability and represented a risk to American trade.
During the previous twenty years, the British government had bent
over backward to avoid confl icts with the United States, eff ectively
ceding naval control in the Western Hemisphere to Washington (and
doing likewise in the Pacifi c to Tokyo) as it prepared for the expected
showdown with Germany. The latter, by contrast, seemed eager to
confront the United States; witness a series of disputes ranging from
Samoa to the Philippines. Wilson admired aspects of both British and
German culture, and he was deeply shocked when war erupted. (He
was also distracted from the European crisis by the death of his fi rst