Caption: "In a symbolic display of Allied solidarity, American soldiers, sailors and marines share sandwiches with a French officer at a Red Cross Station in Bordeaux." At the outbreak of the war, the United States pursued a policy of non-intervention, avoiding conflict while trying to broker a peace. After the sinking of seven U.S. merchant ships by submarines, Wilson called for war on Germany, which the Congress declared on April 6, 1917. The United States was never formally a member of the Allies but became a self-styled "Associated Power". The United States had a small army, but, after the passage of the Selective Service Act, it drafted 2.8 million men, and, by summer 1918, was sending 10,000 fresh soldiers to France every day.