Civics question 101 of 128

Why did the United States enter World War I?

Source: official USCIS question list for the 2025 version of the civics test. This site is independent and not affiliated with USCIS.

Background

Three answers are accepted: because Germany attacked U.S. civilian ships, to support the Allied Powers, and to oppose the Central Powers. The United States stayed neutral for nearly three years while Britain and Germany fought at sea. Germany's resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917, sinking merchant and passenger ships without warning, was the immediate cause, and the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 with 128 Americans aboard had already turned opinion. The Zimmermann Telegram, a German offer of alliance to Mexico intercepted by the British, added to the case. Congress declared war in April 1917, and roughly two million troops reached France within eighteen months. The Senate then refused the peace treaty, keeping the country out of the League of Nations.

This background section is written by US Citizenship Test Practice to explain the civics fact. It is not part of the USCIS question list, and the official answer above is the one to give at the interview.

Where this question sits

It is part of Recent American History and Other Important Historical Information, inside the American History section of the test.

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