<P> In 1917 Wilson won the support of most of the moralists by proclaiming "a war to make the world safe for democracy ." If they truly believed in their ideals, he explained, now was the time to fight . The question then became whether Americans would fight for what they deeply believed in, and the answer turned out to be a resounding "Yes". </P> <P> Antiwar activists at the time and in the 1930s, alleged that beneath the veneer of moralism and idealism there must have been ulterior motives . Some suggested a conspiracy on the part of New York City bankers holding $3 billion of war loans to the Allies, or steel and chemical firms selling munitions to the Allies . The interpretation was popular among left - wing Progressives (led by Senator Robert La Follette of Wisconsin) and among the "agrarian" wing of the Democratic party--including the chairman of the tax - writing Ways and Means Committee of the House . He strenuously opposed war, and when it came he rewrote the tax laws to make sure the rich paid the most . (In the 1930s neutrality laws were passed to prevent financial entanglements from dragging the nation into a war .) In 1915, Bryan thought that Wilson's pro-British sentiments had distorted his policies, so he became the first Secretary of State ever to resign in protest . </P> <P> However, historian Harold C. Syrett argues that business supported neutrality . Other historians state that the pro-war element was animated not by profit but by disgust with what Germany actually did, especially in Belgium, and the threat it represented to American ideals . Belgium kept the public's sympathy as the Germans executed civilians, and English nurse Edith Cavell . American engineer Herbert Hoover led a private relief effort that won wide support . Compounding the Belgium atrocities were new weapons that Americans found repugnant, like poison gas and the aerial bombardment of innocent civilians as Zeppelins dropped bombs on London . Even anti-war spokesmen did not claim that Germany was innocent, and pro-German scripts were poorly received . </P> <P> Randolph Bourne criticized the moralist philosophy claiming it was a justification by American intellectual and power elites, like President Wilson, for going to war unnecessarily . He argues that the push for war started with the Preparedness movement, fueled by big business . While big business would not push much further than Preparedness, benefitting the most from neutrality, the movement would eventually evolve into a war - cry, led by war - hawk intellectuals under the guise of moralism . Bourne believes elites knew full well what going to war would entail and the price in American lives it would cost . If American elites could portray the United States' role in the war as noble, they could convince the generally isolationist American public war would be acceptable . </P>

Which side did the united states eventually join in world war 1