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In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson called the Sixty-fifth Congress into a special session in order to declare war on Germany.  But America’s entry into the war provided a new weapon for the Prohibitionists.  Patriotism weakened the anti-prohibitionist campaign carried out by the saloon, liquor, and brewery vested interests.

The war drastically altered the picture and advanced the dry cause. After Britain and France went to war with Germany in 1914, some people, accurately gauging the anti-German feelings of their fellow Americans. They were aware that the increasingly anti-German mood which was amounting to hysteria would be a benefit to the dry cause.  Not only were brewers and bootleggers active during World War I, but even the soldiers fancied a drink from their flasks every so often.  Even the greatest and most respected of men, including Generals, Lieutenants, and others were involved in heavy drinking.

At the end of war, many Americans still disliked the idea of Prohibition.  However, the great patriotism in the United States during World War I was a great help to the Temperance activists’ cause for Prohibition.