In the year 1916, one of the reasons many Americans who supported our
going to war in Europe cited was that if we didn't go to war, we
wouldn't be allowed to trade with the Allies (England, Russia, Italy,
Belgium, and France) because the Germans threatened to blow any ships
out of the water that went near Western Europe. My question is not
about why we went to war! I just want to find out how much money the
United States got from trading with England, Russia, Italy, Belgium,
and France the year before we went to war-- 1915. Please note that I
am asking about World War I (NOT World War II) and the year 1915. I
think a single link could answer my question. All I want to do with
this is get the statistic so that I may compare it to the amount of
money the U.S. ended up spending on the war effort ($32 billion)-- I
am not asking why we went to war or anything like that. Thanks!

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 07 Mar 2005 12:02 PST

Are you sure you want figures for 1915? I'm asking because that is not
the year before the USA joined the Allied powers in World War I.
Actually, the USA entered the Great War on 6 April 1917.

Scriptor

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Clarification of Question by jbcook-ga on 07 Mar 2005 13:35 PST

Thanl you... someone told me that the U.S. entered WWI in 1916, but
apparently she was wrong. I am looking for data for 1916, the fiscal
year before we went into the war.

I thought I'd be able to find this, but alas... no luck for me.

I'm pretty sure this site will have the info if you're willing to pay
the low low price of just $75 per month or $300 per year to access it:
http://www.usatradeonline.gov/

I believe you can find the answer to your question at
http://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/1916-09.pdf it is a
rather large pdf file, over 6megs. It includes among many other
countries trading information between the US and the countries you
mentioned.

scroll on the pdf file down to No. 393 Comercial and Financial
Statistics of the Principal Countries of the World.

Belgium: (last year data collected prior to 1916 was 1913) total
imports $974,623,000 of that amount $81,156,000 was imported from the
US. Total exports $ 717,152,000 of that amount $ 20,532,000 was
exported to the US.

England:
         England appears in two entries; United Kingdom and British Colonies

  United Kingdom : (last year of data collected prior to 1916 was
1915) Total imports $ 3,663,658,000 of that 1,095,385,000 was imported
from the US. Total exports $ 1,872,963,000 of that $ 127,882,000 was
exported to the US.

  British Colonies : (last year of data collected prior to 1916 was
1914-15) Total imports $ 562,577,000 of that $ 37,279,000 was imported
from the US. Total exports $ 582,031,000 of that $ 58,522,000 was
exported to the US.
 
France : (last year of data collected prior to 1916 was 1915) total
imports $ 1,558,377,000 of that amount $ 488,661,000 was imported from
the US. Total exports 588,304,000 of that amount $ 73,408,000 was
exported to the US.

Italy : (last year of data collected prior to 1916 was 1915) Total
imports 642,972,000 of that $ 239,047,000 was imported from the US.
Total exports was $ 427,767,000 of that $ 49,540,000 was exported to
the US.

Russia : (last year of data collected prior to 1916 was 1914) Total
imports $ 575,466,000 of that $ 41,284,000 was imported from the US.
Total exports $ 492,386,000 of that $ 4,518,000 was exported to the
US.


note: the same document shows no trade with the German Empire, but it
gives trade figures for the German Colonies and the German Customs
Union.

you can find statistical info from 1878 to the present at
http://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/index.htm



Pitty Google is not accepting more researchers, I would enjoy doing this. 

Hope it helps.