The face of the world changed one century ago, today; and with it, so did Bellingham

On this date 100 years ago, the United States House of Representatives endorsed a declaration of war against Germany by a vote of 373-50. The vote came two days after the U.S. Senate passed the same declaration 82-6 and formally thrust America into World War I.

Once “The Great War” erupted in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson recommended neutrality for the United States – a position the majority of Americans favored. But tension with Germany soon arose over the country’s attempted quarantine of Great Britain – one of the United States’ biggest trading partners. Several U.S. ships traveling to the British Isles were damaged or sunk by German mines and later by German ships after Germany announced unrestricted warfare on all ships that entered a zone around Britain in February 1915.

Like all communities around the country, Bellingham responded to the declaration of war and the start of a new era in U.S. and world history.

This story was originally published April 6, 2017 at 10:54 AM with the headline "The face of the world changed one century ago, today; and with it, so did Bellingham."