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Hello, y'all.

2

It's me.

3

It's me.

4

It's Dr.

5

G.

6

Welcome back to Star Spangled Studies.

7

In our last episode, we navigated

through the contradictory,

8

but also interesting period.

9

The progressive era.

10

Today, we stand at the precipice

of a new century in a new era and a

11

conflict that would irrevocably reshape

America and its place in the world.

12

World War I.

13

Or as it was known as

the time, the Great War.

14

So let's go.

15

The United States stumbled into

16

and emerged irrevocably altered.

17

As our textbook notes quote, the war

heralded to the World, the United

18

States potential as a global military

power, and domestically it advanced.

19

But then beat back American progressivism

by unleashing vicious waves of repression.

20

This cataclysmic war didn't just reshape

European borders and topple enemies.

21

It seared itself into the American

psyche testing its ideals in

22

exposing its deepest contradictions.

23

To understand the impact we first must

listen to the voices of those who faced.

24

Its brutal reality.

25

The poet Alan Seger, an American

who joined the French Foreign Legion

26

before the US entered the war,

captured the grim anticipation of many

27

young men with his haunting words.

28

Quote, I have a rendezvous with

death at some disputed barricade.

29

And I, to my pledged word, am true.

30

I shall not fail that rendezvous

Seeger would not fail that rendezvous.

31

He was killed in 1916.

32

His words serve as a somber prelude

to a conflict that would claim

33

millions worldwide, including

115,000 American soldiers in little

34

more than one year of fighting.

35

But the road to war and why America

entered such a war was paved by the

36

legacies of the recent past that we've

taken a look at in our previous episodes.

37

The path to war was neither

straight nor universally desired.

38

It began in a nation deeply

engrossed in its own progressive era,

39

debates a period of intense social.

40

In political reform.

41

The America of the early 20th century

was a nation in profound transition,

42

and nowhere was this more evident than

43

about last episode, the four-way contest.

44

That was a testament of course to

the fractured political landscape and

45

the diverse often competing visions

for how to address the challenges

46

wrought by industrialization and

urbanization to really direct

47

how progressivism would flow.

48

The incumbent William Howard Taf

represented the more conservative

49

Republicanism former President

Theodore Roosevelt feeling Taft had

50

swayed from progressive principles.

51

Thundered back with his Bull Moose

Progressive Party and the platform

52

that he called New Nationalism.

53

Roosevelt argued for a powerful

federal government to act as the

54

steward of public welfare, regulating

big businesses and ensuring social

55

justice as he declared in 1910.

56

Quote, the new nationalism

puts the national need before

57

sectional or personal advantage.

58

End quote.

59

Challenging.

60

Both Republicans was a Democratic governor

of New Jersey, a man named Woodrow

61

Wilson with his new freedom agenda.

62

Wilson was also a progressive,

initially differed from Roosevelt,

63

emphasizing the need to break up

monopolies, to restore competition

64

rather than merely regulating them.

65

He argued that quote,

life has become complex.

66

It is harder to keep everything adjusted.

67

And that the government intervention

in business and in other

68

places was necessary freedom.

69

Today, Wilson Proclaimed is something

more than being, let alone the program

70

of a government of freedom must in these

days be positive, not merely a negative.

71

I.

72

Representing the Socialist Party,

Eugene Debs garnered nearly a million

73

votes in this election, underscoring

the growing appeal of more radical

74

solutions to the economic inequality

found in progressive America.

75

Wilson ultimately triumphed due to

the deep split in the Republican vote.

76

His early administration was largely

consumed by domestic reforms.

77

We talked about this last time, the

Underwood tariff, the Federal Reserve

78

Act, restructuring the nation's banking

system, the Clay to Nancy Trust act to

79

strengthen measures against monopolies.

80

And this domestic focus reflected

America's primary concerns with

81

its own eternal challenges.

82

A direction of which, where we

should put progressive ideas.

83

Yet even in these early days,

the contradictions inherent

84

in the progressive era.

85

And in Wilson himself were apparent

his eloquent calls for democracy and

86

justice, which would later define his

wartime rhetoric, coexisted uneasily

87

with his administration's decision

to segregate federal government

88

departments in Washington dc, which

was a significant setback for black

89

civil rights, and a stark reminder of

reconstruction's unfinished business.

90

Furthermore.

91

Wilson's assertive and at times

imperialistic interventions in Latin

92

America, such as the occupation

93

the purchase of the Virgin Islands

demonstrated a willingness to, once

94

again, project American power abroad.

95

This foreshadowed his later global

leadership, but it also reflected the

96

existing imperialist tendencies seen under

presidents that were deemed progressive

97

like McKinley at the start of the century,

but also Teddy Roosevelt and Taft.

98

The ideals of the progressive era

were thus a complex mix of domestic

99

reform, moral idealism, and an

emerging, often contradictory vision

100

of America's role in the world.

101

When war erupted in Europe in

102

assassination of Archduke Franz

Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary.

103

President Wilson swiftly

declared American neutrality.

104

He urged the nation to be quote, neutral,

in fact, as well as in name, impartial

105

in thought, as well as in action.

106

End quote.

107

This stance resonated deeply with an

American public, historically wary of

108

entangling themselves in European wars.

109

A sentiment tracing back to George

Washington's farewell address,

110

which cautioned against foreign

alliances, attachments and intrigues.

111

End quote.

112

However, maintaining new true neutrality

in an increasingly interconnected

113

world, especially one where American

economic interests were now so deeply

114

intertwined with the belligerent

countries, proved an immense challenge.

115

As our textbook notes quote, it was

unclear what neutrality meant in a

116

world of close economic connections.

117

The United States by 1914 was

the world's leading industrial

118

economy producing roughly one

third of global manufactured goods.

119

Ties to Great Britain and France were

particularly strong, and these nations

120

quickly became the primary recipients

of American loans and supplies.

121

In October of 1914, Wilson approved

commercial credit loans to the combatants.

122

A decision that as our textbook

states quote, made it increasingly

123

difficult for the nation to claim

impartiality as war swept through Europe.

124

End quote.

125

The economic data is stark.

126

US exports to Europe

skyrocketed from 1.479

127

billion in 1913 to 4.06

128

billion in 1917.

129

Munition shipments.

130

Two, the allies surged from approximately

131

in 1917, and American bankers extended

over $2 billion in loans to the allied

132

powers before the US even entered the war.

133

The.

134

This wartime trade pulled the American

economy out of a recession that had

135

begun in 1914, creating powerful economic

incentives that leaned heavily towards

136

an allied victory and subtly eroded

the foundations of strict neutrality.

137

I didn't mention it yet, but the Allied

powers were France and Great Britain.

138

The first major shock to public opinion

about the war came a few years before

139

we entered on May 7th, 1915, with the

sinking of the British passenger liner,

140

the RMS Lusitania by a German U-boat.

141

Over 1100 lives were lost,

including 128 Americans.

142

As the American Yop notes of that,

this attack quote, coupled with other

143

German attacks on American and British

shipping, it raised the ire of the

144

public and stoked the desire for war.

145

End quote.

146

While initial reactions were varied with

some newspapers like the New York Times

147

headlining quote, divergent views on

the sinking of the Lusitania, the event

148

undeniably hardened anti-German sentiment.

149

Former President Theodore Roosevelt called

for swift retaliation, though President

150

Wilson urged caution still hoping to

keep America out of this global conflict.

151

Germany defendants its actions claiming

that the Lusitania carried munitions,

152

but the sink became a potent symbol of

German brutality in allied propaganda.

153

Spoiler, the Lusitania

was carrying munitions.

154

The final straw came in early 1917

Germany, frustrated by the effective germ

155

or British naval blockade and gambling on

a quick victory, announced the resumption

156

of unrestricted submarine warfare on

157

neutral or otherwise in the war zone.

158

This was a direct challenge

to American maritime rights.

159

Safety.

160

Then in February, the British government

presented President Wilson with an

161

intercepted German communication, what

would be known as the Zimmerman Telegram.

162

This astonishing message from German

foreign minister Arthur Zimmerman,

163

to the German minister in Mexico.

164

Proposed a military alliance

against the United States.

165

Should America enter the war?

166

Germany promised Mexico generous financial

support and an understanding on our part

167

that Mexico is to recon the territory

lost in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

168

End quote.

169

Our textbook states that the revelation

of the Zimmerman Telegram to the public

170

quote helped usher the United States

into war, quote, widely published

171

in the American Press on March 1st.

172

Its contents, quote, inflamed

American public against Germany.

173

End quote, the direct threat to

American territory, combined with the

174

ongoing UBO attacks, made Wilson's

policy of neutrality untenable.

175

He actually ran in 1916 for his second

term on keeping the United States.

176

Neutral.

177

The path to war then was not

paved by a single event, but

178

by a confluence of factors.

179

The powerful undertow of economic

interests, the moral outrage sparked by

180

German actions like the otam sinking.

181

And finally, the direct threat

to national security posed

182

by the Zimmerman's Telegram.

183

Wilson's own progressive idealism,

which envisioned a moral role for

184

America on the world stage likely

also contributed to his ultimate

185

and grave decision to enter the war.

186

The die was cast on April 2nd, 1917.

187

Woodrow Wilson stood before a special

session of Congress to ask for a

188

declaration of war, a declaration that

would send over 2 million American

189

Doughboys as they were called into

the crucible of the Western front.

190

He framed America's entry into the Great

War, not as a quest for power or revenge,

191

but as a crusade for global ideals.

192

Maybe even some progressive quote,

the present German submarine

193

warfare against commerce he declared

is a warfare against mankind.

194

It is a war against all nations.

195

He emphasized that American ships and

lives have been lost, but so too had those

196

of other neutral and friendly nations

stated, there has been no discrimination.

197

The challenge is to all mankind.

198

I.

199

Wilson was careful to

define American motives.

200

Quote, our motive will not be revenge

or the victorious assertion of the

201

physical might of the nation, but only

the vindication of right of human, right,

202

of which we are only a single champion.

203

This set the tone of moral righteousness

that would characterize much of

204

America's wartime propaganda.

205

He advised Congress to formally accept

the status of belligerent, which has thus

206

been thrust upon us to exert all its power

and employ all its resources to bring the

207

government of the German Empire to terms.

208

And end the war.

209

The most enduring phrase from this speech,

one that would echo throughout the 20th

210

century was Wilson's declaration, the

world must be made safe for democracy.

211

He continued.

212

Its peace must be planted upon the

tested foundation of political liberty.

213

We have no selfish ends to serve.

214

We desire no conquest, no dominion.

215

We seek no indemnities for ourselves.

216

No material compensation for the

sacrifices we shall freely make.

217

End quote.

218

He concluded with a somber

acknowledgement of the path ahead.

219

It is a fearful thing to lead this

great peaceful power into war, but

220

the right is more precious than

peace, and we shall fight for the

221

things which we have always carried.

222

Nearest our hearts democracy.

223

End quote.

224

To field an army capable of fighting

this modern, industrialized war.

225

Congress, despite some initial fears of

popular resistance, quickly passed the

226

Selective Service Act in May of 1917.

227

This act requiring men age 21 to

31 to register for the draft was

228

as our textbook notes quote, a

reasonably equitable and locally

229

administered system, quote unquote.

230

That avoided the unpopular bonuses

and substitutes of the Civil War era.

231

It was a significant assertion of federal

power characteristic of the progressive

232

era itself, and essential for rapidly

building the American Expeditionary

233

Forces or the A EF General John j

Pershing was chosen to lead the A EF.

234

He adamantly insisted that American

troops fight under US command rather

235

than being integrated piecemeal

into British and French units.

236

A decision aimed at boosting American

morale, protecting national interests,

237

and ensuring that the US had a distinct

role in any future peace negotiations.

238

The journey for the American Doughboy

was transformative and often terrifying.

239

The average soldier re received about

six months of training in the United

240

States, followed by two months in France,

and then an introductory month in a

241

relatively quiet sector of the front.

242

The.

243

They were taught basic drill, how to

handle new weapons and the importance

244

of teamwork, all while building

physical fitness, French and British

245

veterans, seasoned by years of brutal

trench warfare, provided much of

246

the practical instruction on the

realities of this new type of combat.

247

I.

248

The grimness of this reality is

palpable in the writings of soldiers.

249

Soldiers, like we heard of earlier, Alan

Seger before his death, he described

250

the life of the common soldier, quote.

251

His role is simply to dig himself

a hole in the ground and to keep

252

hidden in it as tightly as possible.

253

Exposed to all the dangers of war,

but with none of the enthusiasm or

254

splendid Ilan, he is condemned to sit

like an animal in its burrow and hear

255

the shells whistle over his head.

256

End quote.

257

This was a far cry from quote,

the popular notion of the evening

258

campfire, the songs, and good cheer.

259

That war brings letters from the front.

260

Paint a vivid picture.

261

PFC James v Coffin wrote in July,

262

uptown, just behind the lines quote.

263

While not in the trenches, I had

an opportunity to learn how Fritz's

264

shells, fritz, being a short name

for Germans, how the shells sound,

265

especially his high explosives.

266

Everybody in this town must wear

his gas mask, our best friend on

267

the alert position at all times.

268

We even sleep with it on as

we had several night alarms.

269

Another anonymous soldier recounting

a harrowing artillery barrage

270

for one hour and 15 minutes.

271

Shells as high as nine inches fell

near and around us, and for that

272

length of time, I held the rosary in

my hands and said prayers constantly.

273

While the United States possessed immense

industrial potential, its standing Army in

274

1917 was relatively small and unprepared,

to say the least for the scale and

275

the nature of modern European warfare.

276

The AFS initial reliance on allied

training, and in some cases,

277

allied equipment underscores this.

278

The rapid mobilization under

the Selective Service Act was a

279

testament to the progressive era's,

faith and centralized government

280

action to meet a national crisis.

281

America's entry was a bold wager

on its capacity to quickly convert

282

its industrial and human resources.

283

Into a formidable fighting military force.

284

The American soldiers that made

285

were presented with a landscape

of unimaginable horror, and it was

286

defined by years of a bloody stalemate.

287

New technologies had transformed

warfare into an industrialized

288

process of attrition.

289

Machine guns mowed down attacking

infantry, poison gas, choked the trenches,

290

tanks lumbered across shell cratered

Earth and airplanes, which were still a

291

novelty engaged in deadly dog fights and

reconnaissance missions into this inferno.

292

The American Expeditionary Forces arrived.

293

The A EF saw first significant

294

providing reinforcements and

relieving exhausted allied unions.

295

Their presence, though initially

small, had an immediate impact on

296

allied morale in German calculations.

297

As our textbook notes quote.

298

The rapid addition of American naval

escorts to the British surface fleet

299

and the establishment of a convoy system

countered much of the effect of the

300

German submarines leading to a decline in

shipping losses just as American troops

301

began arriving in large numbers, I.

302

Several key battles highlighted

the AFS growing contribution.

303

At the second Battle of the Marin in

304

played a crucial role in helping the

allies halt the last major German

305

offensive of the war and launch a counter

attack that pushed the enemy back.

306

This battle is widely seen as a

significant turning point in the war.

307

September, 1918 saw the

Battle of Saint Michel.

308

The first major offensive plan,

then executed primarily by American

309

forces under General Pershing.

310

Over half a million US troops

participated, and in just four days,

311

they forced a German withdrawal

from a heavily fortified place.

312

This victory quote boosted ally

morale and proved that American

313

forces could cooperate and operate

effectively on their own end quote.

314

The largest and most grueling engagement

for the A EF was the Moose Argon Offensive

315

launched in late September 19 and

lasting until the armistice in November.

316

This massive offensive included

over a million American soldiers

317

fighting through difficult terrain

against determined German resistance.

318

The objective was to break through

the German defensive lines and

319

sever their critical supply routes.

320

Casualties were horrific.

321

This campaign remains the largest and

deadliest battles in US military history.

322

With over 26,000 American soldiers killed

in action and more than 120,000 total

323

casualties, yet the offensive succeeded.

324

As our textbook describes on August

325

Expedia Expeditionary Force joined

British and French armies in a series

326

of successful counter offensives.

327

That pushed the disintegrating

German lines back across France.

328

German General, Eric Ludendorff himself

referred to this period as the black day

329

of the German army, acknowledging that it

had exhausted Germany's faltering military

330

effort and made defeat inevitable.

331

The arrival of American forces,

millions of fresh troops backed by

332

America's industrial might provided

the crucial manpower and resources that

333

tipped the balance against the German

military strained by years of war

334

and the constricting allied blockade

while the US entered the war late.

335

Its contributions on the Western

336

hastening the allied victory.

337

And securing President Wilson, a powerful

voice at the Ensuing Peace Conference,

338

America emerged from the Great War,

not just as an economic giant, but as a

339

formidable military power on the world

stage, A voice they sought to use.

340

For peace

341

while American soldiers fought and

died over there, as they would say.

342

The home firm underwent its own

profound transformation, a massive

343

mobilization of industry resources and

public opinion, all orchestrated with a

344

progressive era of faith in centralized

government control and efficiency.

345

Now, the American War effort

required an unprecedented.

346

Mobilization of the national

economy not seen before.

347

Drawing on progressive era ideals of

efficiency and government intervention,

348

new federal agencies were created

to direct resources and production.

349

Though not extensively detailed in

your textbook, the war industry's board

350

eventually headed by the financier,

Bernard Baruch wielded significant power.

351

It could quote, determine priorities.

352

Requisition supplies, conserve

resources, commandeer plants, and make

353

purchases for the United States and

the allies, the WIB pressed industries

354

to standardize the production of

munitions and other essential goods.

355

Often through business government

cooperation that included

356

exemption from antitrust laws.

357

This represented a dramatic expansion

of federal economic control setting

358

precedents for future national crises.

359

Similarly, the food

administration under the li.

360

Leadership of Herbert Hoover aimed to

ensure adequate food supplies for American

361

troops and the starving allied nations.

362

It famously encouraged voluntary

conservation campaigns through things

363

like Meatless Mondays, weightless

Wednesdays, and the Gospel of the

364

Clean plate collectively known.

365

As Hoover rising, these efforts

reliant on public cooperation in

366

the name of patriotism fundamentally

altered the relationship between the

367

government and the national economy.

368

Mobilizing mines was deemed as

crucial as mobilizing materials.

369

President Wilson established the

committee on public information, the CPI

370

headed by the progressive journalist.

371

George Creole.

372

The CPIs mission as described in

our textbook was quote, to inspire

373

patriotism and generate support for

military adventures, Creole and the CP.

374

I launched a vast propaganda

campaign utilizing the film industry

375

in Hollywood, which was exploding

and commissioning vibrant posters,

376

publishing pamphlets, and deploying

an army of about 75,000 volunteer

377

speakers known as Four Minute Men.

378

These volunteers delivered short

pro-war speeches at movie theaters and

379

social gatherings across the country.

380

Iconic Ima Images like

James Montgomery Flags.

381

Uncle Sam Wants you.

382

You've seen that poster.

383

It became a powerful

symbol of this effort.

384

While the CPI succeeded in unifying

much of the public behind the war,

385

its methods often quote disregarded

facts and cause deep anti-German

386

sentiment throughout the country.

387

In it illustrated the ethically

fraught nature of wartime propaganda.

388

I.

389

Financing the war also required

a massive public effort.

390

The government launched a series of what

would be called Liberty Bonds, employing

391

similar techniques of patriotic appeal

and propaganda and social pressure posters

392

featuring the Statue of Liberty, implored

citizens quote you by a liberty bond.

393

Lest I perish purchasing bonds, which

helped to fund the war effort was

394

framed as a civic duty and buyers

often wore, but proclaiming their

395

contribution as a badge of honor.

396

These campaigns were remarkably

successful, raising an estimated $17

397

billion for the war effort, and as a

byproduct, introducing many middle class.

398

Americans to the concept

of investing in securities.

399

The war also significantly transforms

social structures with millions

400

of men joining the military.

401

Women stepped into jobs

previously inaccessible to them.

402

Working in factories or working on

farms or in various service roles.

403

Over 20,000 women served in the US Army

Nurse Corps, often near the front lines,

404

while others joined the Navy as yeoman Fs,

performing clerical work, driving trucks,

405

even working as mechanics and translators.

406

Lutein Van Wirt, a Native American woman

volunteered as a nurse in Washington DC

407

during the Influenza Pandemic, a testament

to the diverse contributions of women.

408

These vital wartime contributions

provided undeniable momentum for

409

the women's suffrage movement.

410

As we saw in the last episode that

411

Wilson initially hesitant of their

actions, eventually acknowledged that

412

women's participation and sacrifice.

413

Justified a constitutional change, and

it helped to lead to that ratification of

414

the 19th Amendment in 1920 that granted

women the right to vote simultaneously.

415

Another social, uh, structure

that was challenged came from

416

what we call the Great Migration.

417

I.

418

Of African Americans from the rural

south to northern industrial cities.

419

And this accelerated, this migration

dramatically drawn by the labor shortages,

420

created by war production and military

enlistment and seeking to escape the

421

oppressive and violent Jim Crow South.

422

Millions of black Southerners

left the south and they reshaped

423

the demographic and the labor

landscape of northern urban America.

424

Places like Detroit, Cleveland,

New York, Philadelphia.

425

All saw a lot more

black people move there.

426

This mass movement, however, also

fueled racial tensions that would

427

soon explode in these northern areas.

428

The wartime mobilization,

therefore was a double-edged sword.

429

It showcased the progressive

areas capacity for large scale,

430

centralized organization, and

fostered a sense of national unity,

431

yet this very drive for unity and a.

432

Efficiency led to unprecedented

government control over the economy

433

and public discourse, and laid the

groundwork for the suppression of

434

symbol liberties for those that the war

office deemed disloyal or un-American.

435

The intense patriotic fervor cultivated

on the home front had a dark side.

436

A profound intolerance for dissent and

a vicious wave of anti-German sentiment.

437

As our textbook notes quote, as

war passions flared challenges to

438

the onrushing patriotic sentiment

that America was making the world

439

safe for democracy were considered.

440

Disloyal.

441

President Wilson himself declared that

disloyalty must be crushed out and

442

that such individuals had sacrificed

their right to civil liberties.

443

This atmosphere of fear and

suspicion led to widespread

444

persecution of German-Americans.

445

German language instruction

was banned in school.

446

German music was removed

from concert programs.

447

Books by German authors were

burned and common food items

448

with German names were rebranded.

449

Sauerkraut, for instance,

became Liberty Cabbage.

450

More alarmingly.

451

German Americans face public assault,

tarring and feathering, and in some

452

cases lynching as in the tragic case

453

To codify this suppression, Congress

454

and the Sedition Act in May of 1918.

455

These laws as described in our

textbook, quote, stripped dissenters

456

and protestors of their rights

to publicly resist the war.

457

The Sedition Act, which was

an amendment to the Espionage

458

Act, was particularly sweeping.

459

It criminalized willfully making false

reports to interfere with the military

460

inciting, disloyalty, or mutiny or

uttering printing or publishing, quote.

461

Any disloyal, profane, scurrilous,

or abusive language about the form

462

of government of the United States or

the Constitution of the United States

463

or the military, or nor forces of

the United States, or the flag or the

464

uniform of the Army or Navy end quote.

465

The postmaster General was also empowered

to block the mailing of materials

466

deemed in violation of this act.

467

The enforcement of these

acts was aggressive.

468

Over 2000 individuals were

prosecuted under these acts.

469

Among the most prominent was Eugene

v Debs, the multi-time socialist

470

party candidate for President Eugene.

471

Debs was sentenced to 10 years in

prison for an anti-war speech delivered

472

in Canton, Ohio in June, 1918.

473

In that speech, he had declared,

quote, the working class who make

474

the sacrifices, who shed the blood.

475

Have never yet had a

voice in declaring war.

476

End quote.

477

Debs was a staunch opponent of what

he saw as a capitalist war, and

478

famously stated in another speech

quote, I am opposed to every war, but

479

one I am for that war with heart and

soul, and that is the worldwide war.

480

Of a social revolution.

481

The Supreme Court upheld these wartime

restrictions on free spree and and

482

expression in Shank versus United States.

483

1919.

484

The court affirmed the conviction of

Charles Shank for distributing leaflets,

485

urging resistance to the draft.

486

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

487

Writing for a unanimous court.

488

Introduce the quote, clear and present

danger test arguing that quote.

489

The question in every case is whether the

words used are used in such a circumstance

490

and are of such a nature as to create

a clear and present danger that they

491

will bring about the substant evils,

that Congress has a right to prevent.

492

He went on to say that quote, when

a nation is at war, many things that

493

might be said in time of peace are

such a hindrance to its effort that

494

their utterance will not be endured

so long as men fight, and that no

495

court could regard them as protected

by any constitutional right end.

496

Other notable prosecutions included

anarchists Emma Goldman and Alexander

497

Berkman, socialist editor Victor Berger

and film producer Robert Goldstein, whose

498

movie The Spirit of 76 was seized for.

499

Its allegedly anti British

and thus anti ally.

500

Sentiment.

501

These acts face contemporary criticism

from pacifists and civil libertarians.

502

Jane Adams, who was a leading progressive

reformer and a pacifist staunchly opposed

503

us entry into the war believing that

international disputes could be resolved.

504

Nonviolently, I.

505

Her principled stand led her

to being vilified by the press

506

and losing much of her public

acclaim from the previous decades.

507

The intellectual Randolph Burn offered one

of the most trenching critiques of wartime

508

conformity when he famously wrote quote,

war is the health of the state End quote.

509

Born argued that war was inevitable.

510

What leads to the suppression

of dissent and the ment of state

511

power serving undemocratic ends?

512

In the years following the war,

there was a growing recognition of

513

the injustices perpetuated under the

Espionage Act and the Sedition Acts.

514

Even some who had served in Wilson's

administration acknowledged that quote,

515

the general atmosphere of intolerance had

led to serious constitutional violations.

516

End quote.

517

Eventually, all those convicted under

these acts During World War I were

518

released from prison and granted amnesty.

519

The progressive eras drive for national

unity and efficiency in wartime therefore

520

came at a significant cost to individual

liberties, particularly for those holding

521

dissenting political views or belonging

to immigrant groups viewed with suspicion.

522

This period starkly

reveals the fragility of.

523

Free speech in times of national crisis

524

for African Americans World War

I presented a profound paradox.

525

They were called upon to fight for

democracy abroad while being denied the

526

most basic tenets of democracy at home.

527

Yet as our textbook states, quote,

prevailing racial attitudes among white

528

Americans mandated the assignment of white

and black soldiers in different units.

529

The US military was like much

of society rigidly segregated.

530

The war department largely barred black

troops from combat and relegated black

531

soldiers to segregated service units

where they worked as general laborers.

532

End quote.

533

They were excluded from the

Marines, served only in menial

534

roles within the Navy and were not

permitted in army aviation units.

535

Even officer training was segregated

with camps like Fort Des Moines in Iowa

536

established four black officer candidates.

537

Despite this pervasive

discrimination, many African American

538

leaders, including WEB Du Bois.

539

Initially supported the war effort.

540

They saw military service as a path

to prove their patriotism and as a

541

demand for full citizenship rights.

542

If you are willing to die for this

country, you should be granted

543

the rights within to live in it.

544

The hope was that if black men fought

and died alongside white soldiers,

545

white Americans would finally

recognize their value and equality.

546

However, the reality for most

of the approximately 380,000

547

African Americans who served was

one of continued discrimination.

548

The army often restricted the privileges

of black soldiers, even when they

549

were in Europe, to ensure that their

experiences abroad did not lead them

550

to quote, question their place in

American society upon their return.

551

Columbus Morris, a black soldier

in a labor battalion later recalled

552

that units were mixed, quote.

553

You only mingled with your own race.

554

A notable exception was the experience

of units like the 369th Infantry

555

uh, regiment, famously known as

the Harlem Hell Fighters assigned

556

to fight under French command.

557

These black soldiers saw extensive

combat and earned a reputation

558

for extraordinary bravery.

559

The French military, which was

already accustomed to using colonial

560

troops from Africa and Asia.

561

For the French Army often treated black

American soldiers with a degree of

562

respect and camaraderie that they had

not seen in their times living in the us.

563

Robert Sweeney, a black soldier,

reflected on his time in France, quote,

564

that was the only time that I was a

full fledged American citizen because

565

they treated the black soldiers just

like they treated the white soldiers.

566

No difference whatsoever.

567

The 369th quote, never lost a man

through capture, lost a trench or

568

a foot of ground to the enemy, end

quote, and the entire regiment.

569

Along with 171 individuals received the

French Quad de Gere for their value.

570

The War Cross, the regimental ban led

by James Reese Europe is also credited

571

with introducing Jazz to France.

572

The positive reception by

the French was however viewed

573

with alarm by white American

officials in Europe and back home.

574

The US Army went so far as

to issue a directive titled.

575

The secret information concerning Black

American troops, which they gave to

576

French military officials, urging them

not to quote spoil black soldiers by

577

treating them as equals for fear that they

would expect tr similar treatment upon

578

their return home to the United States.

579

I.

580

The transformative experience of

serving in France, coupled with the

581

continued denial of basic rights

at home, fueled a new militancy

582

among returning black veterans.

583

WB Du Bois captured this spirit in a

584

crisis that he titled Returning Soldiers.

585

This is what he wrote, and you

can find the longer version

586

in your textbook reader.

587

Quote, we are returning from War for

the America that represents and gloats

588

in lynching, disenfranchisement, cast

brutality, and devilish insult for this,

589

in this hateful upturning and mixing

of things, we were forced by vindictive

590

fate to fight also, but we return today.

591

We sing, this country is ours.

592

Despite all its better souls have done

and dreamed is yet a shameful land.

593

It lynches.

594

It disenfranchises its own.

595

It encourages ignorance.

596

It steals from us.

597

It insults us.

598

This is the country to which we

soldiers of democracy return.

599

This is the Fatherland for which we

fought, but it is our Fatherland.

600

It was right for us to fight.

601

The faults of our country are our

faults under similar conditions?

602

We would fight again, but by the God of

heaven, we are cowards and jackasses.

603

If now that the war is over, we do

not marshal every ounce of our brain

604

and Braun to fight a sterner longer,

more unbending battle against the

605

forces of hell in our own land.

606

We return.

607

We return from fighting,

we return fighting.

608

End quote.

609

The war therefore acted as a

class consciousness awakening

610

for African Americans.

611

The taste of greater equality in

France contrasted sharply with

612

the bitter realities of American

racism and this galvanized a

613

generation of black Americans.

614

This newfound determination to

fight for the rights on American

615

soil would soon manifest.

616

In the face of brutal post-war violence,

617

the armistice of November 11th, 1918.

618

The 11th hour of the 11th

day of the 11th month.

619

Ended the fighting in Europe, but

for America, it actually ushered in a

620

period of profound domestic turmoil.

621

The peace was anything but peaceful as

the nation grappled with the war scars,

622

deep-seated racial animosities came to the

surface and a terrifying new global health

623

crisis pushed the country onto the brink.

624

The year 1919 witnessed an unprecedented

wave of racial violence across the

625

United States in a period so bloody.

626

It became known as the Red Summer.

627

Our textbook states that this

violence originated from the wartime

628

racial tensions brought back home.

629

The Great Migration had brought, as I had

mentioned, millions of African Americans

630

from the rural south to northern and

Midwestern industrial centers seeking

631

economic opportunities opened by the war,

as well as a chance to escape the violence

632

and humiliation of the Jim Crow South.

633

This demographic shift coupled with

the return of millions of soldiers,

634

both black and white from the war

itself, created a volatile environment.

635

White workers, including returning

veterans, often resented black

636

newcomers, seeing them as competition

for scarce jobs and housing.

637

Black laborers had also been used as

strike BA breakers, further inflaming

638

the tensions with the white unions.

639

Adding to this volatile mix was the

heightened assertiveness of black veterans

640

having fought for democracy abroad and

having often experienced more equitable

641

treatment of themselves as human beings

in France, they were unwillingly to come

642

back home and passively accept the racial

subjugation that awaited them back in

643

their home places, including the south.

644

As WEB Du Bois had proclaimed, they

were returning fighting white society,

645

however, largely expected that the

return to the pre-war racial hierarchy

646

would happen when the war was over.

647

This clash of expectations fueled

by the unresolved legacy of

648

reconstruction and the quote,

persistence of unpunished lynchings

649

created a tinderbox set for a flame.

650

Lynchings of African Americans had

actually increased during the war

651

years, not decreased, rising from 64

652

coupled with a resurgence of the Ku

Klux Klan, revitalized by WD Griffith's

653

1915 film, the Birth of a Nation,

and there was a surge of membership,

654

something we'll talk about next episode.

655

From April to November, 1919, anti-black

riots erupted in at least 26 cities across

656

the United States, including Charleston,

Omaha, Knoxville, and Washington.

657

D.

658

C resulting in thousands of

injuries, hundreds of deaths and

659

widespread property destruction.

660

The Chicago Race Riot from July 27th to

661

the most severe of the red summer.

662

It was ignited by the drowning of Eugene

Williams, a black teenager, who had

663

drifted on a raft across an informal

segregation line at a Lake Michigan

664

Beach when White Beach goers stoned him.

665

He drowned and the police refused then to

arrest the white man identified by black

666

witnesses as responsible for killing him.

667

Outrage and confrontations escalated

into a week of widespread mob

668

violence, um, of murder and arson.

669

The riot left 38 people dead.

670

23 black and 15 white, as

well as 537 injured and around

671

a thousand black families.

672

Homeless journalist Carl Sandberg

reporting in the Chicago Daily News

673

identified deep-seated issues of housing

shortages, political manipulation in

674

labor, competition as underlying causes.

675

In Washington dc riots broke out on July

19th after rumors spread of an alleged

676

assault on a white woman by a black man.

677

Hundreds of white soldiers and sailors

and marines formed what David Kruger

678

termed, quote, A mob in uniform

attacking African Americans and

679

their neighborhoods indiscriminately.

680

The Washington Post further inflamed the

situation with sensationalized reporting.

681

Crucially, black Washingtonians organized

and armed themselves for self-defense when

682

official protection failed to materialize.

683

This active black resistance was a

defining feature of the red summer.

684

Our textbook notes that quote

recently, empowered Black Americans

685

actively defended their families and

homes from hostile white rioters.

686

Often with militant force, this

behavior galvanized many black

687

communities, but it also shocked

white Americans who alternatively

688

interpreted black resistance.

689

As a desire for total revolution

or as a new positive step in the

690

path towards black civil rights.

691

James Weldon Johnson

observing the aftermath.

692

He asked this question, can't they

understand that the more Negroes

693

they outrage, the more determined the

whole race becomes to secure the full

694

rights and privileges of free men?

695

End quote.

696

The red summer was a brutal manifestation

of America's unfulfilled promise

697

of democracy, a violent reckoning

that shattered any illusions.

698

That wartime sacrifice alone

would dismantle racial injustice.

699

It forever altered American society.

700

I.

701

Leaving deep scars and also

stealing the resolve for the

702

long civil rights struggle ahead

703

as the guns fell silent on the

western front and racial strife

704

tore through American cities.

705

Another more insidious enemy

was taking a devastating toll,

706

the Influenza Pandemic of 1918.

707

As our textbook grimly notes quote,

during the war, more soldiers

708

died from influenza than combat.

709

I.

710

This global catastrophe misnamed

the Spanish influenza because Spain

711

was neutral in the war and didn't

have a press that was censored,

712

and so it was the first country

really to report on it extensively.

713

This influenza strain ultimately

claimed an estimated 50 million lives

714

worldwide with nearly 700,000 of those

deaths occurring in the United States.

715

The virus first appeared in the

716

identified in Haskell County, Kansas.

717

Near Camp Funston, one of the

nation's largest army training camps.

718

The crowded conditions of military

camps and the constant movement of

719

troops shuffled between bases, sent

home on leave deployed overseas,

720

created ideal conditions for

viruses to spread like wildfire.

721

By September, 1918, a mutated far

deadlier second wave of the influenza

722

struck disproportionately affecting young

adults between the ages of 18 and 35.

723

The societal impact was profound.

724

I.

725

Van Wirt, the Native American woman

volunteering as a nurse I mentioned

726

earlier, described the grim reality.

727

In a letter to a classmate, she recounted

working 12 hour shifts, caring for dying

728

soldiers and witnesses, bodies being

carried out every two or three hours.

729

She noted that in DC all schools,

churches, theaters, and dancing halls

730

were closed on account of this epidemic.

731

Public health measures then called

non-pharmaceutical interventions such as

732

banning, public gathering, closing schools

and theaters and mandating mask wearing

733

were implemented in many cities, though

often with varying degrees of success and

734

a difficult public that would not comply.

735

Philadelphia, for example, notoriously

allowed a massive Liberty loan Pro parade

736

to proceed in late September, 1918.

737

Within 72 hours of the parade, every

hospital bed in the city was filled with

738

flu patients, and the city suffered one of

the highest mortality rates in the nation.

739

In contrast, cities like St.

740

Louis, which implemented measures

more quickly and mandated masks more

741

effectively, saw much lower death tolls.

742

Fear and panic became widespread.

743

A Red Cross report from the time

described, quote, A fear and panic of

744

the influenza akin to the terror of the

Middle Ages regarding the black pig,

745

the renowned physician, Victor Vaughn

Somberly worried quote, if the epidemic

746

continues its mathematical rate of

acceleration, civilization could easily

747

disappear from the face of the earth

within a matter of a few more weeks.

748

Compounding the crisis was

the wartime atmosphere.

749

The Wilson Administration

concerned about maintaining morale.

750

Used the espionage and sedition

act to suppress accurate medical

751

reporting on the pandemic severity.

752

Fearing it would undermine the war effort.

753

I.

754

Newspapers that attempted to sound

the alarm were sometimes silence.

755

The pandemic struck at the height of

the moose are gone offensive, severely

756

compromising the combat capabilities

of both American and German armies.

757

Maybe it was the disease that won that.

758

We'll never know.

759

It continued to ravage communities long

after the armistice finally fading in

760

early 1920, but leaving an indelible mark

of trauma and loss on a world already

761

reeling from the devastation of war.

762

No cure for influenza then was ever found.

763

The influenza pandemic serves

as a terrifying second front,

764

the invisible enemy of war that

exposed societal vulnerabilities.

765

And compounded the immense

suffering of the Great War.

766

Overall, it should have been a lesson

767

World War.

768

I was, without question, a watershed

moment for the United States.

769

The nation announced and emerged itself

on the world stage as a formidable

770

economic power, but now a military

power, its industrial capacity,

771

proven its soldiers having displayed.

772

And played a decisive role

in the allied victory.

773

Yet the war's crucible also forged a

more complex and contradictory America.

774

The progressive impulse which had

driven domestic reform was channeled

775

into an unprecedented mobilization of

national resources and public will, but

776

also into the suppression of dissent.

777

And the erosion of civil liberties, the

lofty ideals of making the world safe

778

for democracy so eloquently articulated

by President Woodrow Wilson, clashed

779

starkly with the persistent realities of

racial discrimination at home, a reality

780

that black soldiers confronted with new

resolve and bitterness upon their return.

781

The disillusionment and social up

evils of World War I era set the stage

782

for the cultural dynamism and the

conflicts that we're gonna see when

783

we study the next time in our next

episode on the Roaring twenties, I.

784

Thanks for joining me on this

episode of Star Spangled Studies.

785

I'll see y'all in the past.