Editing Woodrow Wilson (section)

=== First-term foreign policy ===
{{main|Foreign policy of the Woodrow Wilson administration}}

==== Latin America ====
{{see also|United States involvement in the Mexican Revolution|Banana Wars}}
[[File:VillaUncleSamBerrymanCartoon.png|thumb|A cartoon depicting [[Uncle Sam]] entering [[Mexico]] in 1916 to punish Pancho Villa with Uncle Sam saying, "I've had about enough of this."]]
Wilson sought to move away from the foreign policy of his predecessors, which he viewed as imperialistic, and he rejected Taft's [[Dollar Diplomacy]].<ref>Berg (2013), pp. 289–290</ref> Nonetheless, he frequently intervened in [[Latin America]], saying in 1913, "I am going to teach the [[South America]]n republics to elect good men."<ref>Paul Horgan, ''Great River: the Rio Grande in North American History'' (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1984), p. 913</ref> The 1914 [[Bryan–Chamorro Treaty]] converted [[Nicaragua]] into a ''de facto'' protectorate, and the U.S. [[United States occupation of Nicaragua|stationed soldiers]] there throughout Wilson's presidency. The Wilson administration [[United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916–24)|sent troops to occupy]] the [[Dominican Republic]] and [[United States occupation of Haiti|intervene]] in [[Haiti]], and Wilson also authorized military interventions in [[Cuba]], [[Panama]], and [[Honduras]].<ref>Herring (2008), pp. 388–390</ref>

Wilson took office during the [[Mexican Revolution]], which had begun in 1911 after liberals overthrew the military dictatorship of [[Porfirio Díaz]]. Shortly before Wilson took office, conservatives retook power through a coup led by [[Victoriano Huerta]].<ref>Clements (1992), pp. 96–97</ref> Wilson rejected the legitimacy of Huerta's "government of butchers" and demanded Mexico hold democratic elections.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 1007454|title = Woodrow Wilson, Victoriano Huerta, and the Recognition Issue in Mexico|journal = The Americas|volume = 41|issue = 2|pages = 151–176|last1 = Henderson|first1 = Peter V. N.|year = 1984|doi = 10.2307/1007454| s2cid=147620955 }}</ref> After Huerta arrested U.S. Navy personnel who had accidentally landed in a restricted zone near the northern port town of [[Tampico]], Wilson [[United States occupation of Veracruz|dispatched the Navy to occupy]] the Mexican city of [[Veracruz]]. A strong backlash against the American intervention among Mexicans of all political affiliations convinced Wilson to abandon his plans to expand the U.S. military intervention, but the intervention nonetheless helped convince Huerta to flee from the country.<ref>Clements (1992), pp. 98–99</ref> A group led by [[Venustiano Carranza]] established control over a significant proportion of Mexico, and Wilson recognized Carranza's government in October 1915.<ref name="Clements (1992), pp. 99–100">Clements (1992), pp. 99–100</ref>

Carranza continued to face various opponents within Mexico, including [[Pancho Villa]], whom Wilson had earlier described as "a sort of Robin Hood."<ref name="Clements (1992), pp. 99–100"/> In early 1916, Pancho Villa raided the village of [[Columbus, New Mexico]], killing or wounding dozens of Americans and causing an enormous nationwide American demand for his punishment. Wilson ordered General [[John J. Pershing]] and 4,000 troops across the border to capture Villa. By April, Pershing's forces had broken up and dispersed Villa's bands, but Villa remained on the loose and Pershing continued his pursuit deep into Mexico. Carranza then pivoted against the Americans and accused them of a punitive invasion, leading to several incidents that nearly led to war. Tensions subsided after Mexico agreed to release several American prisoners, and bilateral negotiations began under the auspices of the Mexican-American Joint High Commission. Eager to withdraw from Mexico due to tensions in Europe, Wilson ordered Pershing to withdraw, and the last American soldiers left in February 1917.<ref>Link (1964), 194–221, 280–318; Link (1965), 51–54, 328–339</ref>

==== Neutrality in World War I ====
[[File:The American War-Dog by Oscar Cesare 1916.jpg|thumb|A cartoon of Wilson and "Jingo", the American war dog, ridiculing jingoes baying for war]]
[[World War I]] broke out in July 1914, pitting the [[Central Powers]] (Germany, [[Austria-Hungary]], the [[Ottoman Empire]], and later [[Bulgaria]]) against the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]] (Britain, [[France]], [[Russia]], [[Serbia]], and several other countries). The war fell into a long stalemate with very high casualties on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] in France. Both sides rejected offers by Wilson and the House to mediate an end to the conflict.<ref>Clements (1992), pp. 123–124</ref> From 1914 until early 1917, Wilson's primary foreign policy objectives were to keep the United States out of the war in Europe and to broker a peace agreement.<ref>Heckscher (1991), p. 339.</ref> He insisted that all U.S. government actions be neutral, stating that Americans "must be impartial in thought as well as in 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."<ref>Link (1960), p. 66.</ref> As a neutral power, the U.S. insisted on its right to trade with both sides. However the powerful British Royal Navy imposed a [[Blockade of Germany (1914–1919)|blockade of Germany]]. To appease Washington, London agreed to continue purchasing certain major American commodities such as cotton at pre-war prices, and in the event an American merchant vessel was caught with contraband, the Royal Navy was under orders to buy the entire cargo and release the vessel.<ref>Lake, 1960.</ref> Wilson passively accepted this situation.<ref>Clements (1992), pp. 119–123</ref>

In response to the British blockade, Germany launched a [[U-boat Campaign (World War I)|submarine campaign]] against merchant vessels in the seas surrounding the British Isles.<ref>Clements (1992), pp. 124–125</ref> In early 1915, the Germans sank three American ships; Wilson took the view, based on some reasonable evidence, that these incidents were accidental, and a settlement of claims could be postponed until the end of the war.<ref>Heckscher (1991), p. 362.</ref> In May 1915, a German submarine torpedoed the British ocean liner [[RMS Lusitania|RMS ''Lusitania'']], killing 1,198 passengers, including 128 American citizens.<ref>Berg (2013), p. 362</ref> Wilson publicly responded by saying, "there is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight. There is such a thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince others by force that it is right".<ref>Brands (2003), pp. 60–61</ref> Wilson demanded that the German government "take immediate steps to prevent the recurrence" of incidents like the sinking of the ''Lusitania''. In response, Bryan, who believed that Wilson had placed the defense of American trade rights above neutrality, resigned from the Cabinet.<ref>Clements (1992), pp. 125–127</ref> In March 1916, the [[SS Sussex|SS ''Sussex'']], an unarmed ferry under the French flag, was torpedoed in the English Channel and four Americans were counted among the dead. Wilson extracted from Germany a pledge to constrain submarine warfare to the rules of cruiser warfare, which represented a major diplomatic concession.<ref>Heckscher (1991), pp. 384–387</ref>

Interventionists, led by Theodore Roosevelt, wanted war with Germany and attacked Wilson's refusal to build up the army in anticipation of war.<ref>Berg (2013), pp. 378, 395</ref> After the sinking of the ''Lusitania'' and the resignation of Bryan, Wilson publicly committed himself to what became known as the "[[Preparedness Movement|preparedness movement]]", and began to build up the army and the navy.<ref>Clements (1992), pp. 128–129</ref> In June 1916, Congress passed the [[National Defense Act of 1916]], which established the [[Reserve Officers' Training Corps]] and expanded the [[United States National Guard|National Guard]].<ref>Berg (2013), p. 394</ref> Later in the year, Congress passed the [[Naval Act of 1916]], which provided for a major expansion of the navy.<ref>Link (1954), p. 179.</ref>