Merchants of Death. The American Economy: A Historical Encyclopedia

Term used to refer to American politicians and businesses
that some claimed profited from arms sales during World
War I.
When World War I broke out in Europe in 1914, the
American public and President Woodrow Wilson insisted
that the United States refrain from becoming a participant.
After German U-boats sank several passenger ships carrying
American civilians, including the
Lusitania, and did not offer
assistance to survivors, the United States moved closer to
war. Arms and munitions left American ports bound for
Great Britain. The United States profited from arms manufacturing during the first three years of the war until a
telegram to Mexican officials from Arthur Zimmermann,

the German foreign minister, revealed that Germany was
plotting with Mexico to attack the United States—a strategy
that would open a second front for the United States if it
were to enter the conflict.
After World War I, the U.S. Senate held hearings chaired
by Republican Senator Gerald P. Nye of North Dakota to examine American motives during the war. The Nye Committee argued that American businesses had postponed U.S. participation in the war until the Allies could no longer pay for
additional supplies, and the U.S. government had then declared war so the same businesses could continue to profit
from the loss of life and destruction in Europe. The committee’s findings led to the passage of the Neutrality Acts of 1935
and 1936 just as Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and the
Japanese empire began implementing expansionist plots to
conquer their neighbors.
—Cynthia Clark Northrup
References
Cole, Wayne S. Senator Gerald P. Nye and American Foreign
Relations.
Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1980.

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