e United
States which could not be ignored. The Kaiser had told our ambassador
at Berlin, Mr. Gerard, that "America had better beware after this war"
for he "would stand no nonsense from her." Admiral Von Tirpitz, the
German Secretary of the Navy, also told Mr. Gerard that Germany needed
the coast of Belgium as a place from which to start her "future war on
England and America."

American statesmen were seriously concerned at threats of this kind,
for they knew that the government in power at Berlin could absolutely
command its people, and by forbidding certain kinds of news and
substituting other things in the German newspapers could make the
German people think anything which the war lords wished them to think.
Thus there was great danger that, having won the war from the Entente
or having stood them off successfully until the fight was declared a
draw, Germany would next attack the United States with the idea of
collecting from this comparatively defenseless and very rich country
the huge indemnity which she had planned to assess upon France and
Russia. With this money and with the breaking down of the Monroe
Doctrine, Germany could set up a great empire in South America which
would make her almost as powerful as she would have been had her first
plans for crushing France and Russia been successful.

You will recall, from your study of United States history, that
President Monroe had warned European governments to keep their hands
off South America, for the United States would act as big brother to
any of the little republics there who might be attacked by a European
foe. Germany in recent years has resented this very vigorously. There
were nearly half a million Germans in the southern part of Brazil.
Uruguay and the Argentine Republic also had large German settlements.
If the Monroe Doctrine were out of the way, Germany hoped that she
would be able to get a footing in these countries in which she had
colonists and gradually to gain control of the entire country. In the
fall of 1917 there was uncovered a plot among the German residents of
certain states in the southern part of Brazil to make this territory a
part of the German Colonial Empire. This discovery, along with the
sinking of Brazilian ships by submarines, drove Brazil into war with
Germany.

To sum up: The United States entered the war: first, because German
submarines were killing her peaceful citizens and stopping her lawful
trade; second, because pai