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According to Ferguson (1998, p328) America had lent approximately $35 million to the Central Powers up until America declared war on Germany. This may appear to be a considerable amount, however, when compared to the amount of $10 million per day being spent by the Allies on American war goods (LaFeber, 1994, p293), it becomes clear why some authors such as Zinn (1980, p353) believe that a British victory was in the best interest of the American economy. The official reason given for America�s entry into World War One was the recommencing of unrestricted submarine warfare, yet it has been argued that this was just a way of finding legal reasons to implement policies which were in fact based on power and economic needs (Zinn, 1980, p352). Ferguson (1998, pp327-329) reiterates this belief when he writes of Wilson stating that the Allies would be �financially in our hands� and further to this Wilson describes how he intends to place financial pressure on Britain and France after World War One to �force them to our way of thinking�.
Ryan (2000, p81) also makes the point that World War One was extremely prosperous for America. Not only (as mentioned previously) did exports and financial loans increase, but due to the removed location of America from the physical conflict, there was no risk to American territory. However in March 1917 the American public was made aware of a perceived threat to their territory with the publication of the �Zimmerman Telegram� (Schaller et al, 1998, p98).