Helen was abducted by the Trojan prince that's what started it
The two reasons:
- Britain intercepted the Zimmerman Telegram
- Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare
Context/detail:
Public outrage in the US against the Germans swept the nation following the sinking of the British ocean liner, <em>Lusitania</em> -- but that happened before 1917. When a German U-boat (submarine) sank the Lusitania in May, 1915, over 1,000 persons were killed, including more than 100 Americans. The passenger liner was targeted by the Germans because they suspected weapons were being shipped to Britain in the cargo hold of the ship.
Germany managed to stave off American entry into the war at the time by pledging to stop submarine attacks. But a couple years later they resumed such attacks, and there was also an intercepted telegram (the "Zimmerman Telegram") that showed Germany was trying to secure Mexico as an ally against the United States.
In 1917, the US declared war on Germany in response.
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. The event was the first major act of defiance to British rule over the colonists. It showed Great Britain that Americans wouldn’t take taxation and tyranny sitting down, and rallied American patriots across the 13 colonies to fight for independence.