Well wrap up other countries neutralities. But were going to 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 its a very different understanding of neutrality than we have today. Neutrality at the beginning of the war did not mean inactivity. It did not mean passtivity and it most certainly did not mean impartiality. If it doesnt mean those things, then what does it mean . The definition differs with each country. Some, like belgium, will say they never gave up their neutrality. So they were aggrieved against as a neutral country. Others like switzerland will say, were neutral and to prove it, dylan, im going to hold your wallet, and im going to 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 the central powers and the allies is proof of their neutrality. 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. Some of those relationships were strained to be sure. One of my favorite examples is the one of both the first and last Ottoman Empire ambassador appointed to the United States, a polishturk. And hes appointed to d. C. And hes given one instruction on his departure. And 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. Of course he 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. The American Press is pointing out that this is a problem. Well, to belinski and the other ottomans, they felt that wasnt neutral. And he irritates Woodrow Wilson, that Woodrow Wilson has his privileges as an ambassador revoked. How timely with our current news. You dont behave, you lose your office. On his way out, belinski, he said how dare you, americans, who claim to be neutral, judge we, ottomans for how we treat r people. Until you stop segregation, you have to business telling us about being violent or how to control our minorities. In order to ensure having lost his ambassadorship that he left Woodrow Wilson on the brink of a comple comple complete he was praying and singing with africanamericans and talking about their plight and suffering helped him under who americans truly were despite their browbeating all over the world as purported neutrals who were also morally superior. So what we see in the case of the United States is that the question of race will already be part of this diplomatic tugofwar, the germans will do the same. It will 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 had been weighing heavily on european empires that weve been talking about, right . What were some of those concerns . That there would be that their own countries were full of dissents who could set the place ablaze by pointing out the fissures in American Society. Hence our first picture here. What have 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, therefore, who are they, more so as a neutral state, to go around the world telling other people whats right and whats wrong . What are other dissent groups that we have in the country . Just like in europe, we have workers who are galvanizing around their right to a safe working space, a fair living wage, safe reasonable working hours. This is a time where we work 6 1 2 days a week. And on the half day were off, our boss is supervising us at church. Workers are a problem. Women are a problem. Can anyone hazard a guess at other groups who might be a problem . Jenny . Minorities. Specifically what kind of minorities . Blacks. Africanamericans are a problem. 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 qualify. Africanamerican women are also wanteding very much to have the vote. The most pressing problem for africanamericans was certainly lynching and other forms of racial violence. Africanamericans will say, we want this to end. Indeed, it must end immediately. Because every incidence of racialized violent, every one of those incidences places us too close to how the kaiser and other europeans treat their colonial populations. So these various groups, we have prohibitionists, pointing out how immigrants are problem populations, there are too many of them. We have to have rules, borders, walls, medical screenings to keep these undesirables from pouring into europe, to continue coming and bringing with them their drinking habits and their weird religions, right . Catholics, italians, irish. Conveniently forgetting that plenty of germans and french and british are also catholics. But this idea that the cal dron 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, right . 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. And will democracy be enough to prevent what happened over there from also happening over here . One of the things that youre often taught in high school that is just plain wrong is the idea that americans are isolationists. They are not. The period between at least the 1890s and certainly still 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. And certainly an imperial vision, if not yet, its 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. All the way into asia. It isnt that americans are isolationists. 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 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 . Canadians are getting ready to celebrate the war of 1812 and 1814. Thats where the activity is happening, on the borders. Will mainers go toe to toe . Who is going to pipe up the band the loudest to show that theyre the place that matters more, that they thrived . Then in 1812 and through 1814 and again in 1914. And again, americans attention is 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, owned too much of the land, controlled too much of the capital, and controlled and owned too much of the industry, industrial footprint, in mexico. Its a very complicated set of revolutions. Its not just one. Nonetheless that internal set of conflicts in mexico is working its way closest to the american border. Hence, once again, being very concerned about american safety, american protectionism, with respect to what comes through that southern border. What we know is that people also came through that southern border. And so the idea that a Central American migration pattern is really contemporary misses what was happening 100plus years ago. That the border was quite porous. Its like a valve, opened and closed depending on American Labor needs. And so people are very surprised to find out that at around this time, a quarter of the workforce in chicago Meatpacking Industries are mexicans. If you went skiing in colorado at this time, the ski patrol were mexicans and mexicanamericans. Weve continued this myth that somehow its a population thats a new wave when in fact theres been a pretty constant stream, one that americans have welcomed and vilified, depending on political and economic expediency. But that border was of tremendous concern in 1914. The concern there is also framed around that eugenics language that we talked about. So immigrants bring disease. And disease is as much political and in your mind ideas like communism and autocracy and socialism and catholicism. But they also bring maladies, right . And so part of the way that we make ourselves feel safer is to screen for these maladies. To tell ourselves that they are more inherent to one set of people and not another. That is the way that were spending our energy in 1914. Why is that southern border and the caribbean so important . I just want to take a slight step back here and talk about, again, those problem constituencies. And here, women in public spaces felt that this was such an egregious act to put on your hat, put on your full support girdle, and leave the house to protest because it would be an embarrassment to you and your family and possibly land you in jail. This was not the time to mince words. You notice the words on the banner, kaiser wilson. Wilson who spent much of his career curating the notion that he functioned from a higher moral stance than his own country could meet. My favorite quote about wilsons 14 points comes from the french Prime Minister at the end of the war. He says after wilson gets up and he goes through all 14 of his points and his vision for world peace after the war. He says, even god only had ten. This is the picture of africanamericans marching down fifth avenue in new york and their banner reads, the first blood for america, for american independence was spilled by crispus adams. Reminding the nations that africanamericans have been part of defending this country at every turn. How can we continue to have laws that limit their citizenship rights, laws that limit where they can go, laws that limit where they can go to school, et cetera. Its fundamentally not independence. So for much of the world, europeans in particular, this political cartoon captures it, right . Here is uncle sam selling stuff and europe has a long Shopping List and basically theyre asking how is my credit . How much can i borrow for you in order to keep fighting . If you were to ask a german, a british person what are the americans doing in 1914, they would say fattening their pockets. And do not ever forget that the fattening of those pockets comes at the cost of european lives. That american greed and their willingness in particular to sell to anyone could ultimately result in the collapse of european empires, more so than europeans killing themselves. So to come back to the question that tom asked many, many weeks ago, how is it that the germans are always penned the bad guys, we can see as early as 1914, were starting to vilify the roles of even some neutrals. In this case, the u. S. , that sells indiscriminately. In this political cartoon, we see that theres an image of food, apples in that barrel, and its important to remember that 1914 was a real boom time for the american economy. Like most countries, when the war first began, theres a retraction. People are concerned. They spend a little bit less. You dont have easy access to all of the sources you would normally want to purchase, right . The Stock Exchange was closed in new york just had it had closed in paris and berlin. But once by december people start coming out of their caves again, the americans realize that this war is an amazing boom for their economy. If nothing else, while the europeans are fighting for each other, they cant produce things. And the country that produced the best and most of things, germany, is especially unable to do so because its fighting on two, soon to be three fronts. We talked about the example of harmonicas in christmas of 1914. The holidays are coming and we need things. Those things are chocolate, toys for children, clothing, remember, most of the the armies had not prepared for winter. And so the americans are the ones who can sell all of their cotton, sell all of their wheat, sell their corn and sell one of the first ways we see americans making money has to do with horses and mules. There is a robust trade in american horses, cattle and mules, from the upper northwest through the midwest. So, kansas, for example, its economy goes through the roof because it has huge stockyards where all of these trains bringing in horses could then be sorted, screened for illness and put on fastmoving trains up to chicago and across to philadelphia, new york and boston. Why are we moving so many horses . They need them at the front. Who needs them at the front . The british in particular. Youll recall that i told you that the average lifespan of a horse is about two weeks and thats a lucky horse. At the front. So theyre dying almost more quickly than we can get them over there. And the germans will say, they will have a robust Propaganda Campaign saying you are responsible for killing my son. Because the horse that youre sending over and that youre making scores of money on, right, that horse is being used to pull artillery, to move cavalry, even though cavalry wasnt really doing much. To for food. Right . So horses are vital. Theyre vital in terms of how the armies imagine themselves but also vital for all of the Different Things they can do in the war zone. And the people who are shipping the most number of horses and at the same time saying that theyre neutral are the americans. And because americans have a healthy transportation system, railways, ports, deep ports, people are also sending the horses up from argentina and brazil and uruguay. Theyre coming down from canada. We are selling to germany on occasion. But those horses have to make it past the british were selling to germans, absolutely. When the germans float that sub that i told you about, that makes its ways to philly, that sub goes back completely full of american products. And germans will see that trip, the successful nature of that trip, as a continued partnerships with american commerce. Why would the germans think the u. S. Potentially a good partner . Well, for one thing, there were a lot of germans here. We talked about that, right . About 25 of the population by some estimates higher still, were either first generation or Second Generation germanamericans. The largest population of germans outside of berlin is in new york. Most cities on the east coast will have some version of a germantown, right . So germany at the very least, would say, well my cousin is not going to let them go nuts and go after us so quickly, right . We have a chance. We just have to convince them that were besides the irish dont care about the british. The irish will join us. French canadians hate the british. We could get that started up there too. We have a good chance of winning a media war, if you will. Right . Public sentiment. And for a time, that seemed to work. It worked in part because the germans were winning. But the moment the war starts it becomes a little more dangerous being germany in america. We see in iowa, for example, an attempt to pass an englishonly when making english the the United States has no official language. English is not the official language of the United States. And in some parts of the United States, like pennsylvania, they could just as well have made german the official language so much as its spoken. Some parts of eastern ohio, very czech. So all of a sudden being seen speaking in germany, singing german songs, those become suspect behaviors. Remember, the suspicions that we have for people who are not like us, who may be genetically defective, racially defective, colonially defective, that muscle can easily be rerouted to a new cause. So what we see in 1914, certainly in 1915, it becomes downright dangerous being german, being suspected of german, doing, consuming, celebrating things, however broadly german. And my favorite example of this is actually this set of images. So we get reports in the United States and moscow of people going out on the street with their baseball bats, pounding to death little daschaund dogs because they are germans. So that little tiny thing becomes an emblem of all that is wrong with germans. Even their animals are murderous. In your way of proving your positionalty on that patriotism, club it. It doesnt its no longer sauerkraut. Youre having freedom cabbage. Americans love rebranding food in times of war. Its not french fries, its liberty fries, right . So american having a stein thats what theyre called, right . There are public steincrashing gatherings where you show youre making real your distance from your an ancestors by publicly crashing that. If youre german, those mean a lot. They stay within the family for generations. They represent your military background, and as with all things with this war, children always have a row. Note the little boy pointing a gun at a little dog and note the shadow behind them. Its patriotism that goes all the way back. This german was found to be suspect because he was allegedly speaking german in public, i believe it was in illinois, and he had responded entirely too slowly to the call to enlist. And worst of all, had raised the derelict question of why are we doing this again . And his peers lost their minds, beat him up, tarred and feathered him, and then lynched him. Lynching is not a practice uniquely reserved for africanamericans. It is a practice that is also being seen against latinos in the u. S. , union workers, people who are gay or suspected of being gay, nonconforming in whatever way, is suspect behavior. Now that we see that germans are being swept up and dealt with in a manner that we normally by this Point Reserve for africanamericans tells us a lot about the level of vitriol in sy different from us. And raising any kind of question about the war. Whats happening again . Whos fighting again . Wheres the fighting happening . Why are we getting involved . All of those things would brand you a suspect citizen, and likely won who needs careful policing. So, heres the fabulous other picture of how we use children to have we both give them a role in the war, but we also use them to shame adults into action. So, to hell with the kaiser, when youre free, when else can you curse, if its for the nation . Her little sign says, america forever. So, just going to step back a little bit here. This is really important because as part of the discussion about american isolationism, or one of the ways americans communicated not wanting to get involved in other peoples fights, was to say, we are the crusaders. We are the protectors of others. Were not fighters, were lovers, right . Were so strong, we dont have to prove it, said wilson, a few years later. And this idea that americans were going around the world being the protectors of usually people of color was certainly amplified with the spanishamerican war in 1898. But the u. S. Never really bothered to ask the people they were allegedly protecting. They would have had a very different answer or response to the idea that we see romanticized here. So, it is this, you know, mixed race virginal girl being protected by suspectly brown spaniards, right . But what we have to remember is that during the war, especially its first three years, the americans are using the dra distraction of war the broaden their imperial footprint. So, between 1913 and 1917, the u. S. Acquires a bevy of countries here in the caribbean. And if it doesnt take control outright, it certainly has a defacto control thanks to its military. So, like great britain, like germany, the American Navy becomes the way that americans flex their muscles. Although the American Navy is not big its a distant third. I think it might be 7th actually. None the less, americans think of themselves as having a navy that makes people afraid, that ought to make people afraid. And at least in the caribbean, it does. So, the United States will purchase the danish islands. And with a 25 million check put an end to denmark as an empire. So, oh, you could buy out an empire. So, the Virgin Islands that some of you may have enjoyed thus far or will at some point in your lives, used to be part of denmark. And the u. S. Purchase it. And art makes the case for that expansion, not a pure imperialist act. They say, the danes, another neutral country, arent going to be very good at keeping the germans at bay in europe. And if they fold, were going to have a german state just off the coast of florida. Thats not okay. Where they can park their warships. And from that base, lunge towards the panama canal in the bottom lefthand corner its not quite on this map, but it would be just below nicaragua, right . So, youll recall i mentioned a coup couple of weeks ago that the germans had moved two warships into north eric many. One was marked where. Near . Not the east coast. So, one ship is parked, moored off the coast of puerto rico, dominican republic, haiti. And the other ship is off the coast of california. And in each instance then, theres a german warship on either side of the panama canal, the canal that the americans have spent a ton of money, a ton of time and a ton of scientific effort to make theirs. The french had been trying. They couldnt pull it off. The americans arrive, and theyre like, were going to finish this. And in 1914, youll recall just as the war is starting, the americans had been preparing to celebrate the grand opening of the panama canal and could not the darn fighting was taking away from the American Engineering marvel that is the panama canal. But the americans then said, in opening this canal and shortening trade routes, mostly to asia, weve also made ourselves and by ourselves, we mean the caribbean so much more enticing for the germans. Its a question of time until they dcome over and pounce. One thing we know their subs can make it and their warships can make it. And theyre going to come into the caribbean, and theyre going to say theyre here to stop a local conflict on one of the island. Theyre going to say theyre here because one of these islands, especially haiti, which is not an island but part of an island. Haiti owed them all this money. They have no choice. They had to defend their financial interests. The u. S. Said not no way, not no how. Manifest destiny extend os the caribbean. The caribbean is our lake, said the United States. And thankfully, we have a navy and marines who can, much more quickly than europeans, all of a sudden set foot in this region and in particular take control of islands with deep ports. Deep ports matter because our large warships need deep ports to come into. Now, theres one other i mean, there are multiple empires in the caribbean, european empires present in the caribbean. But the biggest one would be great britain, right . Youve got jamaica, youve got any number of the smaller islands on your right. Youve got an important foothold at the northern part of south america, again, on your right. And trinidad andty are important on the petro states. The americans are all of a sudden going around claiming for themselves the biggest island in the caribbean and saying, were just going to hold it while you guys keep fighting over it. Dont worry about it. Were just going to build some buildings. Were just going to build some military buildings. Were just going to change some forts, dont worry about it. Theyre saying as our minime on this side of the atlantic, because canada is britain, get down there. Defend our property. Show some muscle. Float a boat or two out there. So, the canadians send a military footprint in bermuda, in jamaica. They say to also be there as a defensive line so that the u. S. Doesnt use world war i as a distraction to scoop up the entire caribbean. And one of the arguments that the canadians will make for being in the region is that theyll say we as a modern state also need our own deep south. The way that we prove that were a modern state, and therefore should have a little more autonomy in the british empire, is to have our own people of color that we can control, that we can civilize. And so jamaica will do that work. We get to show our ability to control ourselves by showing how we can control others ideally when those others are of color and considered defective in all the other ways that weve been talking about this semester. So, the caribbean becomes this alternative space for a tug of war, not only between the United States and the people who inhabit the caribbean, but very much the United States and the empires fighting on the other side that we will either at some point be friends or foes with, and that were still selling in either instance to. So, its a much more complicated set of events happening here and where the United States is focusing. So, it then makes even more sense for the germans to have sent their warships into the caribbean because they can say, well, if everyones fighting over islands, we should get ours as well. Were here to make sure the americans dont take the whole thing. So, what we get in those first couple of years of war is a very important reminder that the United States is part, officially and unofficially, of this colonial race around the world, the stuff of our lectures for the next two weeks, right . So, the u. S. , their military has the guys with field experience before world war i break out are ones who had been sent to the philippines to patrol the troublesome people there, ones who had been sent to the caribbean and ones who had been sent in American Cities to crush unionists, to crush protesting africanamericans, to crush protesting women and any other fill in the blank problem constituency. So, they have colonial experience, not unlike the french and the british soldiers that weve talked about. Their officer core that got their experience controlling colonial peoples in africa, in asia, et cetera. So, one of the things thats always surprising to students is that the head of the american army, general pershing with, for some years, live in the philippines as theyre trying to crush the Independence Movement there. And he, during his time in the philippines, will dedicate himself to becoming an expert on islam because the moro people who fought the most against the americans or the americans would have said were the most difficult to pacify, language that we use to refer to colonial expansion in other parts of the world. They were muslims. And if americans were going to be good colonial controllers, then they needed to understand islam. So, huh, one of the people going into world war i, who is a Global Expert on islam, is from neutral United States. Most of the officers going into battle in world war i by 1917 on the american side will have fought in the philippines, will certainly have fought in mexico, will have, you know, spent some time in the caribbean. And those in the caribbean are the most frustrated because they feel like theyre missing out on something much more exciting elsewhere. Theyre just doing this with the local folk, right . So, they will understand what its like to stand between warring factions. So, the defense of all of this activity in the United States, this concern about a domestic set of tensions and an international set of tensions will look like this. In the case of the United States, we will immediately start to vil identiify our neig. That has not disappeared. It really hasnt. If youre in my neighborhood if im in the Grocery Store and im talking to my kid in another language, we invariably get looks. And im quite certain that the facts that those languages are french or german mean that the looks are a little less im certain, in fact not quite certain. I am absolutely certain if i were speaking to her ar abic, the looks would be different. They would certainly be longer. This idea, this sort of flinching that we still have at a reminder of how much people are from elsewhere has not gone away. Its intensified precisely in the moment were talking about. And in some ways, the war legitimizes that reflex. Well, you have to because that neighbor of yours who speaks english with no accent also speaks german with no accent. So, how can you know, right . So, we have an erasure of german culture. This is when people start ang sizing or in the case of this part of the country, scandinavianizing, if thats a real world, people are like were scandinavian. There were not enough scandinavian immigrants who were also all male and never had female children to account for all of the scandinavians here now. What happens is that a lot of people become swedish and become norwegian because it is no longer safe to be german. So, hansen becomes or hans becomes hansen, right . So, we distance ourselves from german culture. We hide those german songs that we sing in the home or at school. Many schools have, again, a Public Performance of getting rid of degermification of their lives in their schools. Children are asked to do this is probably one of my favorite pictures the peach pit campaign. Children all around america are given yet again a way they can do their part. That is they are to go around collecting peach pits by the barrels. And it says, reduce the peach pits. Grind them into a charcoal powder, which could then be used in gas masks to filter the poison. So, children and women, who before had been a problem in the so that was going to do the job. But again, give children a job of collecting something and theyll throw themselves into the job. So, this, for me is a great image of how american not americans, everyone else saw the americans as having two faced, having two sides. On the one hand theyre all for peace on earth but they would sell pedal and ammunition, et cetera. So, back to the things that we do domestically. We also have a peculiar inversion or rebirth of the klan because of the war. Now, the klan is not the worst of the white supremacist organizations operating at this time. They are, for one thing, a lot of them. The klan is kind of like hollywood. You have if you were to look at Time Magazine in 1921, klansmen were not so ashamed they would hide their faces. They would walk around very publicly with their, whatever, flaps thrown back. The war tells us in this worry about other people hiding amongst us, the klan gets rebranded or sanitized as the defenders, the domestic crusaders, right . Theyre looking out for all of those problem populations that weve talked about. So, the klan starts this campaign called 100 americanism. Theyre the ones who will always be 100 american. Theyre the one who is will find those who arent. And in so doing, in adopting this new kind of campaign, they play some critical distance between themselves and the kinds of violence that had been getting a lot of bad publicity for the United States, that had in some instances got some americans thinking, is this really who we want to be . Because stories about people who kill other citizens on mass tend to come from autocratic places like russia and the Ottoman Empire. And domestically, part of how we kept an eye on our population and kept things stable so that we could stay neutral was to increase dramatically the amount of policing that we do of normal american citizens. Its just that its okay now because were looking for spies. Were looking for ways that germans will infiltrate American Society, poison our wells, ruin our crops, dump bull weevil onto our cotton, anything to undermine us, pay our neighbors to the south to go to war with us. One of the things that we see is an uptick in the policing of, again, those populations we talked about initially. So, this is especially true for africanamericans. Theyll say the germans are swarming urban spaces where africanamericans live and whus perring in their ears that they should riot against segregation. Now, theyve never had a problem with segregation, and theres no reason they would protest, except that foreigners got ideas in their minds. That arthur dzumhurman that you anxieties know about from the tell graham had as early as 1914 getting into the minds of africanamericans, the minds of latino americans. So, we explain away the continued demand for fairer civil rights by women, by pick a constituency and youve got it. We explain it away as the work of our enemies. I forget which historian said, in effect, if you had a cold, they said it was the work of a german, right . If youre if there was a problem, a flood in your farm, a german must have done it. The german becomes the boogey man for all things bad at this period. Thats even before we get the story of the lusitania, even before we get any number of the explosion of black tong in new jersey. New jersey, new york, theyre so close to each aota point it might have been new york but it was felt in new jersey. So, two sides of the same coin. So, this is a period then of high paranoia. And where do we see that already . In europe just before june of 1914 and the decision to shoot the archduke. So, conditions are not, in fact, that different in the United States. But some of the things that keep us from being swept up are not necessarily, i want you to remember, a deep commitment to isolation because were going out all over the place, right . But in part, that Atlantic Ocean is a cushion that we bank on, making sure that we keep the caribbean lake free of those european presences is another way that we then put up those borders, put up those barriers. And we lean on that navy to keep those other ships out of the way. So, this is why were going to have an intensification of immigration laws, right . This is why. Its not enough to say we adopt wa dont want catholics to come. We have to look at catholics really closely, inspect them thoroughly to ensure theyre not also concealing other ways of bei being defesktives. So, people are always surprised at the amount of time that border inspectors will, once we get the new laws, how much theyll spend, measuring the distance between your eyes, the size of your ears, the curvature of a mans penis, the length of their legs, their limbs, et cetera, because were always looking out for something that could ultimately take us out from the inside. Now, internationally and well end there what did it look like for the United States . Well, the u. S. Spends the first part of the war and Woodrow Wilson in particular trying to sell the notion that the americans are peacemakers, right . Theyre brokers. So, on occasion when thore germs are saying maybe we should end this fight before it gets worse, they reach out to the pope and reach out to Woodrow Wilson to broker a peace. This, i remind you, as they continue to sell on both sides. The u. S. Will be the nation that patrols or polices spaces overseas, especially where americans or american interests exist. So, that will be mexico. That will be the caribbean. That will continue to be the philippines. If you remember well, you should come on the 29th of october. Remembering that in 1914 when world war i is raging in europe, the u. S. Is also at war in two locations, mexico and where would the second place be . The philippines. Theyll never say they wont call it a war. Theyll call them expeditions, right . Missions. But they are none the less, at war. Theyll call for more borders. Theyll call for more ways of keeping people out where we had had few of those ways before. And in so doing, they will spend a lot of time countering accusations that the United States is, in fact, not all that different and certainly not better than europeans, if only if one needs only to look at native americans and africanamericans and the kinds of violence atrocities that were having reported back from mexico. So, some, those opposed to americans joining the war, will say, im not that concerned about making belgium safe, but im very much invested in making georgia safe, making new mexico safe, making the shop floor safe in chicago. Ill go to war for that. But i dont actually im not sure how whats happening to belgium of all place, one of the worst countries at the time. Why that is a reason i should stop making my money, stop expanding into the caribbean, stop raising cotton. So, we need a compelling reason to stop the tremendous economic boom that we are experiencing, especially in those first 18 months of the war. And im sorry to tell you, im sorry to give the lie to what your High School Teachers told you, but the lusitania was not reason enough, right . And by this point, i think it was ron who brought up that the battle of tannenburg alone had roughly how many . 250,000. On the other side, but in a week. Rou roughly a week. 10 days. So, when we have that number there,that number on the western front, about to have that kind of number in the middle east, couple of thousand almost 2,000 people dying at sea would barely have made the news had it happened to anyone else but the americans. But the british understood that by 1915, logic didnt work. Morals didnt work. Appeals at saving your ancestors, the british, didnt work. So, maybe having the americans bleed a little bit might work. Eric larson has a book about the lusitania. Its all right. Its a best seller. You know, im glad i read it. But as a historian, he has slightly different ways of doing things than we might. But one of the things that he alleges in his book is that churchill had claimed that we what we needed to get the americans off the sidelines was a proper calamity. And he argues that the british knew that the germans had not only i mean, everybody knew the germans had warned the americans not to get on that ship. The americans did so anyway. But Churchill Larson claims that churchill knew exactly where the sub was and said nothing because it was a small cost to pay to lose 2,000 lives to get the americans finally involved. And still it did not. So, on that fine note, i shall end. On thursday, well talk about what neutrality was like befoin other european countries. So, you might want to come in with, a, knowing what the countries are, and having the names listed on the notes preemptively because well have to move through that quickly and that will be on the midterm. Any questions before we go about the lecture, not mechanics before the class because now we have time to move around with the mic if you want. Its so weird. Youre so quiet. Im not used to it being that way, but thank you for making that easier. Yes, were coming down. How was it so easy for the u. S. To do business with both the germans and with the british and french . Wouldnt they have blockaded goods going to germany . Initially, no, but certainly by 1915. There isnt a blockade initially. Language for the blockade would not have worked for the army either. Do you see what i mean . Kind of. The british needed goods just as much. They cant say, neutral argentina, you cant sell to the germans. We need a good reason fiat to sell to the germans, which is argentina, theyre shooting down your ships too. Youre losing money too because the ship they just sunk, all the horses they just sold to the americans, youre going to see that money. So, a lot of products float on neutral ships like dutch, norwegian, and swedish ships. And the germans will say, its not fertilizer. Its just bird poop. I need it for my garden. But in actuality, we know that it can be used for any number of things. Good question. Back over here. My question is, were we just buying time to pick sides with the knew trail i dont think so. Or was it a matter of we saw benefit to us to say neutral . And then why did we eventually pick sides . Excellent question. I think that theres never just one answer, right . Theres a substantial population in the United States who are pacifists who do not want to be at a war. It doesnt matter if its with canada or if its with germany. That voice, while demonized as unamerican and unpatriotic at this time, right, in nonetheless, powerful. And that voice is diverse because it works for germanamericans to be part of that pacifist voice even if theyre not deeply wedded to pacifism itself. Were affair it is by brother who lives over there, my cousin who lives over there. I think americans had their hands full with their own lives, and the main arguments for going to war, a violation of imperial lines, did not apply to americans. Do you see what i mean . But at the same time, americans are trying to promote this moral stance about war, and people in europe say, i call bull you may have to bleep out. But thats what with they do. They say youre not any better than us. Lets ask a filipino what they think. Lets ask a mexican. Lets ask an africanamerican. Lets ask a woman. And so you can decide that youre selling to both sides, but call it what it is. Its good for your economy. Its not because you have a moral stance about making sure that the central powers can fight as fairly in battle as the british. If that were truly the case, there would not be such a huge disparity between who you sell and what you sell to each side. So, well talk about what ultimately tips the americans into battle in a few like next month. But i can say that it comes back to the economy. Theres a question over here and over here. And then if we have time, peter, we probably might i might have time for just one more question because we do have to get out of the room. Can you talk a little bit about the american volunteers before the u. S. Actually gets officially involved in the war . Yes, great question. So, a lot of americans served in the war in other countries before the u. S. Goes into war formally in 1917. And some were americans who had already been living in europe for some time. Many came from Ivy League Schools and felt either they were, you know, franco philes or germano philes and fighting for that honor and ideals weve been talking about. But plenty, plenty, plenty more simply walked over the Canadian Border, signed up they were tall enough and had enough teeth and signed up because that 1 a day wage was a correction to unemployment, especially in the great lakes area. Many africanamericans in fact, 30 to 40 of the black soldiers in canada were africanamericans who were like im not afraid of the kaiser or the western front, but i am very much afraid of the lynching pos si that just came through my town, so im out. And i was going to move to canada anyway. And im going to prove to you canada, how much im a fantastic new citizen by fighting in your army from the very beginning. So, once the u. S. Joins the war in 1917, it tries to get those other people to m coback and fight on the american side. Some say, no thank you, right . But yes, americans did fight in all of the other belligerent camps including for germany and for austriahungary because they were there or they were from there. Okay. Thank you very much, folks. Have a good rest of the day. Ill see you thursday. Weeknights this month, were featuring American History tv programs as a preview of whats available every weekend on cspan3. Tonight, mark burns explores public opinion, the rise of radio and the debate over entering world war ii. He outlines the arguments and uses radio clips to demonstrate the role they played in shaping american views and foreign policy. Watch tonight beginning at 8 00 eastern. Enjoy American History tv this week and every weekend on cspan3. American history tv on cspan3, exploring the people and events that tell the american story every weekend. Coming up this Labor Day Weekend, saturday at 6 00 p. M. Eastern on the civil war historians discuss how we remember the civil war and whether to remove or contextualize confederate monuments. Then sunday at 6 00 p. M. Eastern on american artifacts well preview artifacts from native americans from the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian collection. At 8 00 p. M. On the presidency a look at president ial retreats including abraham lincolns summer cottage, herb ert hoovers fishing camp, and stories of marthas vineyard. And monday night, mark the 75th anniversary of the bombings of nagasaki and hi roma. Look back at the events that led to the events. Exploring the american story. Watch American History tv, this Labor Day Weekend on cspan3. On lectures in history, Georgetown University professor michael kahzin teaches a class on 1920s culture and society. He discusses the exploits of al capone, who went to prison on charges. He talks about the Motion Picture industry and the new production codes that sought to tamp don wn on sexuality in trials. State funded school. Now, in my last lecture and in our debate on monday, which i think went pretty well, you might have been left with a question in your minds. What was the legacy of world war i for American Society . Now, the politics of the United States definitely veer