Even if the Entente won without the help of the US (which they basically did, the US did very little in WW I), perhaps the powers in charge in the US at the time thought they would be so bankrupt by the cost of winning they wouldn't get paid back fast enough.
That in combination with the weird upper class obsession with the manliness of war at the time would be enough to push things twords joining? Like, dumb cultural things like that can cause major events if material factors don't stop them.
more i think about this today the more im leaning toward cloaked imperial project. the Wilson administration, fitting as it was headed by a virulent white supremacist, wanted to get into the imperial game, and saw an opportunity in ww1. how else do you explain the US' outsized participation in peace talks and advocacy for the League of Nations---a LON whose first task was not-coincidentally going to be taking over the administration of territories belonging to germany and the ottoman empire. the naval treaty negotiated a few years later hamstrung the royal navy without firing a shot.
That would track with the cultural forces I'm referring to as well. This "do the manly war thing" was based on how doing imperialism makes you cool. Even if you aren't doing war against native people and instead other imperial powers, if you are doing war for imperial goals, that fits in perfectly with the culture.
Even if the Entente won without the help of the US (which they basically did, the US did very little in WW I), perhaps the powers in charge in the US at the time thought they would be so bankrupt by the cost of winning they wouldn't get paid back fast enough.
That in combination with the weird upper class obsession with the manliness of war at the time would be enough to push things twords joining? Like, dumb cultural things like that can cause major events if material factors don't stop them.
more i think about this today the more im leaning toward cloaked imperial project. the Wilson administration, fitting as it was headed by a virulent white supremacist, wanted to get into the imperial game, and saw an opportunity in ww1. how else do you explain the US' outsized participation in peace talks and advocacy for the League of Nations---a LON whose first task was not-coincidentally going to be taking over the administration of territories belonging to germany and the ottoman empire. the naval treaty negotiated a few years later hamstrung the royal navy without firing a shot.
That would track with the cultural forces I'm referring to as well. This "do the manly war thing" was based on how doing imperialism makes you cool. Even if you aren't doing war against native people and instead other imperial powers, if you are doing war for imperial goals, that fits in perfectly with the culture.