WWI/The Great War

[tbob]

1) Matty never saw live action in Europe as a soldier. His death was as a result of a tragic and sad training fiasco.
2) The first draft was passed very late in the war, unlike WW2. Most Americans felt this was "Europe's war" and were reluctant to fight. There was sympathy for the Germans not only because of the large German-American population in the U.S. but also many Irish-Americans despised the British. The Allies had a very successful well-tooled propaganda machine which centered on atrocities in Belgium by German soldiers (retaliating for sniper file from civilians on their troops) and the sinking of the Luisitania in which some American passengers died (now it has been discovered that there were actually large shipments of armaments aboard headed to England), but it was not until the famous "Zimmerman telegram" in which a German official promised Mexico huge chunks of land in the Southwest if they attacked America that sentiment changed.
I think the general sentiment prior to that time was to follow George Washington's old urgent plea to "avoid foreign entaglements at all costs." This might have played a part in American ballplayers following the lead of many non-sporting men to avoid the war.
P.S. I have no axe to grind here, my grandfather and his little brother both volunteered and heroically fought in the War for the United States, being decorated for bravery at the front, despite the fact their parents were immigrants from Axis countries (Germany and Austria).

[bmarlowe1]

"the sinking of the Luisitania in which some American passengers died (now it has been discovered that there were actually large shipments of armaments aboard headed to England), "

This is way O/T but, no - this hasn't been proven. All that has been proven is that there was a sizeable shipment of rifle bullets (as indicated on the ship's cargo list). Rumors of a large amount of high explosives has never been proven.

[howard38]

American sentiment was already unalterably turning against Germany before the Zimmerman telegram was made public. The telegram (assuming it was authentic) was was sent only after Germany repudiated the Sussex Pledge and resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in January 1917 thus ensuring America's entry into the war.

[tbob]

Originally Posted by howard38

American sentiment was already unalterably turning against Germany before the Zimmerman telegram was made public. The telegram (assuming it was authentic) was was sent only after Germany repudiated the Sussex Pledge and resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in January 1917 thus ensuring America's entry into the war.

I disagree. Sentiment may have been turning but even before the release of the telegram, there was still a very strong isolationistic feeling in the United States.
On February 24 Britain released the Zimmerman telegram to Wilson, and news of the telegram was published widely in the American press on March 1. The telegram had such an impact on American opinion that, according to David Kahn, author of The Codebreakers, "No other single cryptanalysis has had such enormous consequences." It is his opinion that "never before or since has so much turned upon the solution of a secret message." On April 6, 1917, the United States Congress formally declared war on Germany and its allies. The Zimmerman telegram clearly had helped draw the United States into the war and thus changed the course of history.

[bmarlowe1]

"Divers for the owners of the Luistania found large numbers of munitions in areas where cargo was not being carried. It is now definitively believed that there were hidden armament munitions on the ship."

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What is your source? Definitively believed by whom? While it is possible, it has not been proven.

[tbob]

Originally Posted by bmarlowe1

"the sinking of the Luisitania in which some American passengers died (now it has been discovered that there were actually large shipments of armaments aboard headed to England), "

This is way O/T but, no - this hasn't been proven. All that has been proven is that there was a sizeable shipment of rifle bullets (as indicated on the ship's cargo list). Rumors of a large amount of high explosives has never been proven.

Divers for the owners of the Luistania found large numbers of munitions in areas where cargo was not being carried. It is now definitively believed that there were hidden armament munitions on the ship.
The British government has always been evasive about the presence of munitions on Lusitania. Two cargo manifests were submitted; the second, filed after the ship sailed, indicated there were light munitions on board. Some believe the ship was carrying much more, however, and that the British Navy attempted to destroy the wreck in the 1950s to conceal its military cargo.