<P> Jewish American sympathies likewise broke along ethnic lines, with recently arrived Yiddish speaking Jews inclined to Zionism, and the established German - American Jewish community largely opposed to it . In 1914--1916, there were few Jewish forces in favor of American entry into the war . Many regarded Britain as hostile to Jewish interests . New York City, with its well - organized element numbering 1.5 million Jews, was the center of antiwar activism . </P> <P> The different Jewish communities worked together during the war years to provide relief to Jewish communities in Eastern Europe . </P> <P> Of greatest concern to Jews was the tsarist regime in Russia because it was notorious for tolerating pogroms and following anti-Semitic policies . As historian Joseph Rappaport reported through his study of Yiddish press during the war, "The pro-Germanism of America's immigrant Jews was an inevitable consequence of their Russophobia". The fall of the tsarist regime in March 1917 removed a major obstacle for many Jews who refused to support tsarism . The draft went smoothly in New York City, and left - wing opposition to the war largely collapsed when Zionists saw the possibility of using the war to demand a state of Israel . </P> <P> The most effective domestic opponents of the war were Irish - American Catholics . They had little interest in the continent, but were neutral about helping the United Kingdom because it had recently enacted the Government of Ireland Act 1914, allowing Irish Home Rule . However, the Act was suspended until the war ended . John Redmond and the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) declared that Irish Volunteers should support America's pro-Allied war efforts first; his political opponents argued that it was not the time to support Britain in its attempt to "strengthen and expand her empire". The attacks on the IPP and pro-Allied press showed a firm belief that a German victory would hasten the achievement of Irish independence . Yet rather than proposing intervention on behalf of the Germans, Irish American leaders and organizations focused on demanding American neutrality . But the increased contact between militant Irish nationalists and German agents in the United States only fueled concerns of where the primary loyalties of Irish Americans lay . Nevertheless, close to 1,000 Irish - born Americans died fighting with the U.S. armed forces in WWI . </P>

What role did propaganda play in the decision by the u.s. to enter world war i