In his Declaration of Neutrality made to Congress in 1914, Woodrow Wilson stated:.
The people of the United States are drawn from many nations, and chiefly from the nations now at war. It is natural and inevitable that there should be the utmost variety of sympathy and desire among them with regard to the issues and circumstances of the conflict. Some will wish one nation, others another, to succeed in the momentous struggle.
In the same Declaration of Neutrality, Wilson urged Americans to remain neutral, not only in form by its formal declaration of neutrality but also, by the behaviour of its citizens: .
I venture, therefore, my fellow countrymen, to speak a solemn word of warning to you against that deepest, most subtle, most essential breach of neutrality which may spring out of partisanship, out of passionately taking sides. The United States must be neutral in fact, as well as in name, during these days that are to try men's souls. We must be impartial in thought, as well as action, must put a curb upon our sentiments, as well as upon every transaction that might be construed as a preference of one party to the struggle before another. .
In 1914, the United States and its citizens, therefore, saw no clear benefits if it entered the war. Unlike Germany, Woodrow Wilson and his government did not have imperialistic sentiments and America's relationship at that time with Britain was not strong enough for the United States to enter the war only on Britain's behalf.
The American people and its government, however, failed to understand that it was impossible for the United States to truly remain neutral. The American government could not take a foreign position that would not in some way benefit one of the belligerents and harm the other. The growth of America's economy internationally had ironically lessened its own self sufficiency because the United States was now part of an international economic structure.
