She also talks about how the u. S. Viewed itself as a defender of democracy and gets criticism how it treated its own the centers and. Lets just over now. Good morning everyone. This morning, we are going to be talking about, or rather we will be talking a conversation with last about neutrality. This conversation last over the sources several lectures, will wrap up older countries neutrality, but this morning were really gonna focus on what neutrality looked like, and meant for the americans. Especially in the first half of the war. So, the thing that i want you to understand the most, and this is really vital because, its a very different understanding of neutrality that we have today. Neutrality, at the beginning of the war, did not mean an activity. It did not mean pass it to passivity. And most certainly did not mean impartiality. So if it doesnt mean those things, then what on earth does neutrality mean . A definition of neutrality differs with each country. Some, like belgium will say that they never gave up their neutrality. They were invaded and . But they always remained officially neutral. So they were aggrieved against as a neutral country. Others, like switzerland, will say we are neutral and to prove it, dylan im gonna hold your wallet, and kia im gonna hold your wallet. And thats how im neutral. In the case of the United States, neutrality will for the most part, mean that they will do business with whoever. And the very willingness to do business with both germans, or rather the central powers and the allies, is proof of their neutrality. So a lot of people are surprised to learn that at the beginning of the war, the u. S. Traded with and maintained diplomatic relations with all of the belligerent nations. Now, some of those relationships were strange to be sure. One of my favorite examples, it is the one of both the first and last Ottoman Empire ambassador appointed to the United States. Alfred dublin ski. A polish turk. And, he is appointed to d. C. And he is given one instruction on his departure from constand a noble. You know, from our work earlier this semester, that constant mobile is itself a hotly consistent contested zone. So they tell him, go to the states and all you have to do is be charming. All you have to do is have fabulous parties, be a fabulous guest and by all means, avoid any social or political tensions. The bill in ski, he was never very good at heeding simple instructions, of course gets to d. C. Right about the time that news of crisis is happening in the Ottoman Empire. Armenians, and other christians are being attacked. And so the American Press is really pointing out that this is a problem. Well dublins key and certainly the ottomans felt that wasnt very neutral. That was pretty judging. And so, so irritates wood will joe wilson that Woodrow Wilson has his privileges as an ambassador revoked. How timely . With the current news. Right . You dont behave, you lose your office. But on his way out, dublin ski knew exactly how to annoy americans. What are the African American class said, dublin skip on americas cancers spot. And that was, how dare you americans who claim to be neutral, judge we ottomans how we treat our minorities given how you treat your own minorities. Native americans, African Americans. So until you stop segregation, you have no business telling us about being violent. Or, how to control our minorities. In order to ensure having lost this ambassadorship, that he left Woodrow Wilson on the brink of a complete conniption, dublin ski was photographed in d. C. Praying and singing with African Americans. And talking about how their plight and their suffering really help them understand who americans truly were. Despite their browbeating all over the world as purported neutrals who are also morally superior. So what we see in the case of the United States, is that the question of race was already part of this diplomatic tug of war. The germans will do the same right itll return. So, in the United States, what we get from the very beginning of the war are a lot of the same kinds of concerns that have been weighing heavily on here if ian empires that weve been talking about. So what were some of those concerns . That there would be, that their own countries were full of dissidents who could set to the place ablaze. By pointing out the fissures in american society. So hands to our first picture here. What are we looking at . Women. Women protesting in front of the white house demanding the right to vote pointing out how american democracy is not perfect and again, there for, who are they more so as a neutral state to go around the world telling other people what is right and whats wrong . Yes what. Or other dissident groups that we have in the country . Just like in europe. We have workers who are galvanizing around the right to a safe working space affair and living wage. Safe reasonable working hours, this is still a time when we work six and a half days a week. And on the halfday that were off, or bosses supervising us at church and in our various halls, our ethnic calls. So workers are problem, women are problem. Can anyone hazard a guess other groups it might be a problem . Specific minorities. Specifically, what kinds of minorities . African americans are problem, and how are they a problem . Well, for one thing, they continue to say we want our civil rights. We want the right to vote, we are in fact americans. We pay taxes. We own land we want the right to go to school wherever we actually qualify. African american women are also wanting very much to have the vote. The most pressing problem for African Americans are certainly lynching and other forms of racial violence and so African Americans will say, we want this to end. Indeed, it must and immediately. Because every incidents of racialized violence and there were many, and they took on different shapes every one of those incidents places us too precariously close to how the kaiser and other europeans treat their colonial population. So, these various groups, we have prohibitionists pointing out how immigrants are have populations. There are simply too many of them, we have to have rules, we have to have borders, we have to have walls we have to have medical screenings. To keep these undesirables from pouring in from europe, to continue coming, and bringing with them their drinking habits, and their weird relations. Catholics. Italians, irish. Conveniently forgetting that plenty of germans and french and british are also catholics. But this idea that the cauldron that is the United States is having its own kind of bubbling up of problems, native americans who are demanding citizenship, they do not have it at this time. These are worrisome enough that americans should focus on themselves in order to control that population lest what happened over there also ends up happening over here. We and will democracy be enough to prevent what happened over there from happening over here. One of the things that youre taught high school it is just plain wrong, is the idea that americans are isolationist. They are not. The period between the 1890s through the 1920s, that window is one in which americans actually spread out from the United States in pretty spectacular ways. Some talked about an american imperialism being born in imperial vision in full manifestation. From the 1890s, the u. S. Has reached into hawaii, reached into cuba, reached into puerto rico. And most significantly, reached into the philippines. So all the way into asia. It isnt that americans are isolationist. They very much want to get into your house. They just dont want you to come into theirs. And that is not then isolationism. We want to change other people, we just dont want them to have any say as to who we get to be. And so, in that period, in those early years of the war we, talked about this a few weeks ago americans have their attention completely trained on the americas and so whats happening . We talked about whats happening on the canadian border. Canadian are getting ready to talk celebrate this intensity of the war of 1812. Thats where the activity is happening on borders. Well maintenance go toe to toe with quebecois . Who is going to pipe up the bans the loudest to show that they are the place that matters more . That they thrived then, in 1812 through 1814, and again in 1914. And again americans attention is completely trained on the Mexican Border and why there . Because since at least 1910, truly earlier but since at least 1910 mexico had been undergoing several revolutions. And those revolutions had only intensified in nature and grown closer to the american border. And the source of the tension in many instances were americans who mexicans felt were too much of a presence in mexico and owed too much of the land, controls too much of the capital and controlled and owned too much of the industry, industrial footprint in mexico, and so