--- description: This is the President's message to Congress asking for a declaration of war, just days before the U.S. entered World War I on April 6, 1917. title: World War I Anniversary—Read Wilson's Request to Declare War image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39d6a508a8de61b8/6988c0a7dcd4a14e18075135/wilson.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [conflict](/tag/conflict/) ## conflict Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Read President Wilson's 1917 Address on the U.S. Entering World War I by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Jan 24, 2024 12:05 PM CUTPublished: Apr 6, 2017 1:30 PM CUT  Woodrow Wilson addresses Congress on April 2, 1917. Woodrow Wilson addresses Congress on April 2, 1917.Mondadori Portfolio / Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Jan 24, 2024 12:05 PM CUTPublished: Apr 6, 2017 1:30 PM CUT When the [Great War](http://time.com/3810940/1914-1918-the-war-years-in-photographs/ "undefined") began in [1914](http://time.com/3069914/world-war-i-history/ "undefined"), the U.S.—much to the relief of many citizens—was insulated from the complicated morass of alliances that brought Europe to the trenches. Americans could watch from afar, safe in their neutrality, while benefiting from providing supplies for the Allies. But, even though President Woodrow Wilson had been reelected in 1916 on the strength of his having maintained that peace, there came a point at which he could no longer support the isolation of the United States from the conflict of World War I. After the sinking of the [Lusitania](http://time.com/3840371/lusitania-100-years/ "undefined"), the interception of the [Zimmermann Telegram](http://time.com/4673502/zimmermann-telegram-100/ "undefined") and the return of unrestricted submarine warfare, the time had come. On April 2, 1917, Wilson went before Congress to [request a declaration of war](https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/?dod-date=402 "undefined"). By April 6, exactly a century ago Thursday, both houses had approved the [resolution](https://www.loc.gov/law/help/digitized-books/world-war-i-declarations/ww1-gazettes/US-joint-res-declaring-war-against-Germany-2-OCR-SPLIT.pdf "undefined") and war on Germany was officially [declared](http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=598 "undefined"). (War on Austria-Hungary was declared later.) The world would never be the same. Here’s how Wilson [made the case ](https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=61&page=transcript "undefined")for war: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4718404/wwi-wilson-request-to-congress/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4718404/wwi-wilson-request-to-congress/"},"headline":"Read President Wilson's 1917 Address on the U.S. Entering World War I","datePublished":"2017-04-06T13:30:58.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-24T12:05:22.000Z","description":"War was declared on April 6, 1917","url":"https://time.com/4718404/wwi-wilson-request-to-congress/","keywords":["conflict"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39d6a508a8de61b8/6988c0a7dcd4a14e18075135/wilson.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39d6a508a8de61b8/6988c0a7dcd4a14e18075135/wilson.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Thomas Woodrow Wilson Announcing America'S Entry Into The War","caption":"Thomas Woodrow Wilson Announcing America'S Entry Into The War","creditText":"Mondadori Portfolio / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/conflict/","name":"conflict"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4718404/wwi-wilson-request-to-congress/","name":"Read President Wilson's 1917 Address on the U.S. Entering World War I"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"What to Know About Why the U.S. Entered World War I in 1 Minute","description":"It was precisely 100 years ago this week that the U.S. made a decision that would alter the course of history for the nation and the world.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/mttXx07O/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-04-05T03:25:27.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mttXx07O.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4718404/wwi-wilson-request-to-congress/","duration":"PT1M3S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4718404/wwi-wilson-request-to-congress/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```