When World War I begun in 1914, president Woodrow Wilson pledged neutrally for the United States, which was the will of the vast majority of the population at the time. However, Britain was America's closest trading power, and tension between Germany and the United States arose over England's modern attempted quarantine. The sinking of the Lusitania by the Germans, a cruise/transport ship full of supplies, headed to Britain from New York was the final straw (which, incidentally, was searched later and was found to have the guns and supplies that the Germans claimed) The destruction of the Lusitania incited the American people while the American government was encouraged to join the war because of the massive debt that Britain and France had amassed, that they wouldn't be able to repay without the reparations for the war.