Conversations] [applause] from the colby military writers symposium Michael Beckerman describes the change in american sentiment during the two years of the sinking of the loose in the in 1915 and the u. S. Joining world war i. Lets get started with the next presentation, folks. I teach military history here and i am very happy today to introduce my friend Michael Neilberg who is professor of history and the inaugural chair and war studies at the u. S. Army war college. Before that, he taught at the air force academy and then at university of southern mississippi. He writes widely on both world wars. He is recipient of numerous prizes and honors for his work such as the tomleson prize for the best english language booshgs in world war i, a book on the second battle of the mar, and the choice outstanding academic title award for fighting great war or american history. He has edited a number of important collections like arms of the man, reference works like the atlas of world war i and the great war reader. Dance of the furies, europe and the outbreak of world war i, the end of world war ii and the remaking of europe and the blood of freeman, the liberation of paris 1944 are his books. And making citizen soldiers, rotc and American Military service. In his free time, he is a self described service to a dog and three cats and a fan of all pittsburgh sports teams and Bruce Springste psteepringsteen. The book he is working on now traces our nations correspondence from ambivalence to belligerence showing how it became a moment of National Determination for us. Lets welcome dr. Michael neilberg. Thank you, reina and everybody. Thank you everyone for our effort. What i want to do is talk about the preequal to what jennifer talked about an hour earlier. I want totalk about how the United States got involved in the awwar and what the United States did to set the situation genitjennifer talked about. Jennifer and i were trained by the same dissertation advisor and look at things from the ground up. That is not saying politicians are necessarily representative of what american is doing. And this is especially the situation with wilson who only won because the Republican Party split and won the next election by a decision so raiser thin wilson went to bed that night thinking he had lost. What i want to do is talk about the prewar period. I dont know what any of you learned. But i learned nothing of consequence about this time period in high school, in college, or graduate school. I was taught it sinks and we go into the war two years later. Obviously there is something more going on. What i want to do is show what that something more is. I want to do one prelude in response to jennifers talk which is to say that once the war begins i think there is a very different dynamic going in the United States. Some of the things jennifer talked about were war time patterns that are not patterns from this period i am showing you. I want to take you on the journey of Walter Hines Paige who was a supporter of Woodrow Wilson and used his newspapers in North Carolina and others to support him in 1912. Paige had a front row seat for what was going on in europe. When world war i broke out, paige wrote wilson a letter saying now i thank god for the atlentantic ocean. Thank god we are out of it. Just over a year later, in october of 1915 he wrote this if germany wins, the Monroe Doctrine will be shot through. We shall have a great army and navy and walter paige meant that negatively. He meant the United States will have to spend a lot of money on something the americans have never spent money on. He said we will have to decide if we want to build one battleship or one university a month. Spending money on Something Like this was something americans never had to do but the war might force us to do it and that would be a bad thing. Suppose if england wins, we should have an academic dispute with her. It is a matter of life or death for english civilization. So i want to take you on the journey of we are out of it to it is life or death. I could have picked the American Ambassador to france and germany who said similar things but in the summer of 1916 he came to washington demanding to meet with wilson. Wilson ducked him so paige went to his summer home on the coast of new jersey and literally waited on the president s front porch because he felt wilson had to acknowledge something he was trying to ignore. I want to take you on that journey. What is happening in america from 19141917 because Walter Hines Paige is an ahead of this. What makes us go from thank god we are out of it to life or death. The story of the First World War in the United States if we know anything about it we know a lot of half truths. A lot of the work i did on the first and Second World War is getting a look at what the myths were and one is the American People were not paying attention to the war in european. I would like to expode that right away. This is from what was then the pittsburgh gazette. It is an advertisement for the work of richard davis. He was a good friend of roosevelt and covered the spanish war. Very famous guy. As soon as the war broke out, he was in mexico when the broke out. He got on the first ship to new york and then the first ship to europe in order to get to europe and start covering the war. Americans were paying attention to this war from the very beginning. They knew this was the single most important event that was likely to happen in their life time. They knew it was already affecting them directly. When the war broke out, the United States had no way to control the transfer of gold. The american currency is based in gold. European countries began selling stocks in new york city, taking the cash, converting it to gold and taking it out och the United States. If that continued, the United States would have run out of gold. The United States government ordered new york, philadelphia and Stock Exchange close. Imagine that happening today. The war is affecting the americans from the very beginning. One thing Richard Harding davis told his readers is the news you get from Great Britain is bias, propaganda and wrong. However the basic point the british is trying to make is correct. Germany is committing terrible atrocities in new york. You dont want to believe what we american reporters have seen with our own eyes. Woodrow wilson may have given a speech in august of 1914 in which he asked the American People to remain neutral and in fact and indeed. It doesnt make very much Historical Research to realize the American People were proallied from the start. They saw austria as the aggressor. Wilson also defined american nutrality in an interesting way. He could have said it means no trade with either side which is what some socialists in the United States wanted him to do. He could have said it means you have to trade x amount of dollars with the other side. He said it allowed american corporations and the American People to behave in any way they wanted. What that means is americas heart and pocketbook were going in the same direction. Let me introduce you to another american. This is mary robert rineheart one of the most famous writers in the United States in 1914. She wrote mysteries. I read a couple books of hers, including the circular staircase which was a best seller. They are actually not very good but must have been them. She was at a gala when the editor of the saturday evening post had an offer to send her as the first female reporter into the trenches of europe and into the royal houses of austria and german an and france and the president s house. She could go to all the government houses and into the trenches themselves. Her husband stood up and forbid her from going as the story goes and mary ryanheart stood up and said quote i dont intend to let the biggest thing go by without being a part of it. I am going. Her husband demanded a 10,000 Life Insurance settlement from the post which they made for and mary went with the sum of 1,000 per dispatch. That is about 20,000 per article in todays money. An enormous money. She stayed until 1915. Her journey had the view of a lot of americans from october 1914 to march 1915 in four ways. One, her first piece she wrote before leaving said she wanted to go to europe to condemn all sides for the stupidity of allowing a war to begin over something so little. By the time she began the tour of the western front, she became convinced the allies had to win the war. It really was a war of autocratic germany fighting against democratic britain and france. They had an interest in seeing the allies win. Second, she argued Great Britain would try to draw the United States into this war. They would try through propaganda to pull the United States into the war. She argued the United States shoo should not get into the war unless the american interests were threaten. Under no circumstances should the United States go to war to rescue britain. Third, she believed that the United States should start to think about getting ready for this war. That the United States could not pretend that the war would not affect america or the United States would not get involved and she wrote a beautiful letter i will show you later about this process. And fourth, by the time she came back from the United States just before the sinking, she had determined that this war was a war of high principles and high ideals. It was a war of democracy against atocracy. They found only six editorals of americans wanted to go to war. The ship forced american to answer the question what do you want to do about the war . What should americas proper response to the war be . Some of you know, William Jennings brian who was wilsons secretary of state thought the appropriate thing was to ban americans from traveling overseas. William Jennings Brian resigned after wilson refused to go that far. She became an advocate of preparedness. It is time for the United States to get military ready, if not necessarily to fight a war but to make it Strong Enough that the europeans will infringe. The wonderful annanalogy. It is Strong Enough and powerful enough to depend itself but not enough to threaten anybody else. I am a city kid. I dont know if that is true of po pork e pines. This a cartoon from the new york tribune. This is what the germans had on their belt buckle, god is with us. The argument is the Armenian Genocide could have never been gone without the german help. They blamed german for the campaign of submarine warfare and blamed the germans for a series of events that happened in the United States in 1915 and 1916 including the attempted assassination of jp morgan, a bomb put in the Vice President s office in the Capitol Building by that same person, two diplomats were pushed out, and the last chancellor of germany, and the detonation in new jersey which was then the worst act of terrorism in United States history only surpassed by the act of september 11th. There are claims they were trying to buy newspapers. There were allegations to prove there is no new idea there is allegations the germans were trying to rig the elections and they were behind pancho villas raid in 1916. There is a wonderful cops and robbers story about falling a sleep on the elevated train line, woke up and realized he was at the wrong stop and jummed out of the elevated card and the American Secret Service agent trailing him grabbed his brute case and is running down the detroit with his gun trying to flag down a taxi and the papers show the German Government voufb involvement to disrupt the american industry. The u. S. Government for reasons i would be happy to talk about in question and answer didnt do much because of the partnership between republicans and democrats and two different wings of the Republican Party and the fact it was a president ial election here and nobody wanted to talk about a war that didnt have any answers. So what happened is this movement called prepared ness which was mostly led by private citizens. Not too far from here was the most famous showcased answer of this where young men voluntarily paid money and gave up their summer to go to a faux military Training Camp supported by people like roosevelt and leonard wood to train those men into becoming officers. Nobody thought these camps would train young men to be officers. The point was to shame Woodrow Wilson into doing something at the federal level. This movement therefore became a private movement. American citizens on their own accord are saying if the American Government wont get us ready for war we will do it ourselves. A third industrial named paul evans led a movement and was head of the one of the great railroads that raised enough money so if men wanted to go get military training they had a fund they would pay their salaries while they did it. He led charity movements in philadelphia to repair and replace buildings destroyed in belgium and help out french and polish charities. There was an organization to get scientists organizationed. The famous Mayo Community forld prepared. Columbia university sent out a memo to over member of the faculty explaining the gstaff situation and asking every professor at columbia to identity where on that system their services could best help the country in an emergency. In 1960 every member of the faculty agreed to put their name on the list. This is an add from at t in the fall of 1915 that says we are prepared. In the little semi circle that is paul revere 1775. The Bigger Picture is the United States army staff officer and behind him is a map that says the Bell Telephone system. And the text reads in part in preparedness to inform citizens of National Need the United States stands alone. It can command the entire Bell Telephone system which covers our country with its network of wires. The corporations will be the new paul revers. For reasons i would be lapy to discuss in q and a in 1916 this Preparedness Movement at the government level only produced half measures. A slightly larger navy, an rotc program created and a lot of parades. The debate remained. How to be neutral and safe from what american americans began to describe as the fire in yourneryour neighbors house. There were people who pled germanys case. This is a really interesting man born in germany, came to the United States and became a professor at harvard. One of the most famous and well known professors in the United States in this time period. He was an early advocate and developer of criminal psychology. That is trying to get at the psychological causes of crime. Very famous, interesting and influenced all kind of things and learned he was an indirect influence on the creation of wonder woman as well. He was an enormous supporter of the new media of cinema. He had written many articles before world war i urging the German Government to put on less military poster and show more of germanys scientific and education facets and especially their superiority in cinema. He began writing open letters to president wilson and a quick book called america and the war in which he argued the war began because germany was trying to take away russia was trying to take away some of germanys weal wealth. In the Boston Library there is correspondence telling him you need to shut up. You have the right to say what you will say but you need to under how much harm this is causing harvard and the u. Nobody agrees with this. We dont agree with you. You need to stop doing this. He kept. Letters from all kinds of people in the boston public library. Second was munsterberg recognition that germans born in germany living in the United States like himself defended germany but german americans sided with the United States understood germany was doing something outside the bounds of civilization and this includes men like eisenhower and others who are german americans. Defenders of germany by early 1915 were getting harder and harder to find. The third thing that is interesting to me is that after the thinking of the lucitania he stopped. Whether that is because he became ashamed of germanys action or he didnt want to fight a fight that was unpopular is left unclear. In 1916, he had a brain annyrism and died. The two messages of this is the distinction of germans born in the United States and the popularity of defending germany. These things reappear in 1920 tht Pulitzer Prize book one of ours which is about a community in nebraska and one of the main themes of this is the familys hatred of what is going on in germany butnevertheless the love of their german neighbors and the tension between those two things. Okay. This is another famous german american. German american, the son of a german who had fought in the American Civil War and the cardinal in chicago at the time. He had a very interesting approach to the war and the United States and germany. Like many migrants he was catholic and that meant opposition to the class that took over germany and then that government had engaged in something called the anticatholic campaign in germany. His view was that the germans were fine. The problem however was the German Government. And as jennifer showed on the slide, president wilson picks up the theme of that saying we are fighting the war for the liberty of everybody including the german. This is what he meantime. The good german people can rise up too up to become the force they what to be. Describing the conflict between the United States and germany as a conflict many a mans mother and wife. You were raised by your mother but you now live with your life and the question he ended ever sermon with if your mother and wife have a dispute who do you side with and his answer was the wife because that is woo you live with. He made this statement should the u. S. And germany go to war, the u. S. Community will support and later he said it seems late in the day to ask the german american to prove his patriotism. He did that half a century ago referencing the germans that fought in the civil war. The argument of american germans and they would like to see the United States remain neutral and dont want to see the United States act as the arm of the government. The german American Community will dwi war and i dont have time to talk about it today but the same thing is broadly similar. In 1914, the country was in a recession. It shut off the market and led to decline in the United States. However, it didnt take too long for people to come to the realization that the war was simply going to begin to turn that around. David of the mining empire was in europe when the war broke out and he showed up in london with 15 cents in his pocket and met with hoover and hoover said i met up with douger who had 15 dollars in his pocket but a smile on his face and a smile because he knew his familys mining business was about to make a huge amount of money. The way this war became to change the understanding of the outside world. This is a cartoon from 1815, the future winner of the first Pulitzer Prize prize for editorial cartooning. You can see the docks of new york city are literally magnets with uncle sams arms open wide to greet all that money coming from london, paris, berlin across the Atlantic Ocean over to the u. S. Wilson got a letter from the few wall street people still speaking to him telephoning the president like it or not this war was going to make the United States and the new york city the money power of the world. This was finally achieving the dream americans had always wanted. The Financial Capital of the world would shift to the United States. I do this with my wife and kids. But my wife loves going to the beautiful gardens in philadelphia and jersey area and almost all of them are build around 1919, 1920, 19201 and my question to my wife is where do you think all this money came from . This is where it came from. Everybody in the United States was making money. It was the case of the great industrial like dupont and others making enormous fortune. And it is true america per capita income rose to over 1800 a year in just two years. The book, one of ours, talks about the rising wheat prices and how much money nebraska farmers are making. In 1915, bold works signed 127 million delta provide weapons and shells for the russian. An Ammunition Company in philadelphia signed deals to sell the french and National Guard 200 million worth of armor. Jobs and salary raises came after years of hard time. It is true the American People are starting to buy products in the United States they traditionally brought in europe. 1915 was the single biggest year in America History for bible sells in the United States because before 1915 americans bought their family bible from europe. Now the european printers are no longer printing bibles but what the American Army needs. Same thing true for american eye glass sales men. Pencils, believe it or not. These are all being bought in the United States now. You can read american industrialists talking about that. We are undering we are going to buy from ourselves and whatever we can grow, whatever food we can put together, the europeans will buy what whatever premium we can buy it. As americans, we have the right to trade with whomever we want. The question is how to get goods from the United States to Great Britain and before 1914 the americans had a limited ability. 80 of the trade preworld war i went on british ships. That changes as americans step up in the breach but it sim possible to conduct overseas trade without the british. That is not a problem for most of americans because that is where we want to see the trade go. The one exception is cotton in the American South which every army uses to pack artillery shells. The americans wanted that sold and not classified as a weapon. It is very interesting. These debates have periods where the british army is telling the board of trade to put cotton on the contrabrand list and the ambassador saying let them have the cotton. Again, you can see the figures right here about the american trade balance from august of 1914 where the United States had a negative to december where the United States had 131 Million Dollar trade surplus. That is incredibly fast. What this does were the United States is introduce a real problem. If we are the great country we think we are. If we are fighting for the highhigh higher morals, do we have the right to profit from the war . What does it say about us as a people if all we are doing is making money . So americans started taking a symbolic portion of the money and give it to the allied cause. Enormous amounts of money began to flow from the United States to the countries like belgium, france, serbia. Philadelphia raised a hundred million for belgium by itself. The city of philadelphia raised 200,000 for relief in poland. Cities were donating hospitals, ambulances, nurses from 46 states went to serve in france. There is a canadian named john vance who estimated 80,000 americans crossed the border from the United States to canada and volunteered in the british army. These are members who were wealthy americans who formed a volunteer Aviation Squad inside the french army that was an enormous Public Relation value to the United States and france. Here they are with their two mascots. Roosevelt wrote articles about them. Vandirbelt gave them all the money they wanted. Famous guys in their age. This is had monument built to them in western paris. I want to wrap up saying why the u. S. Got into this war. The real reason is i think by 1916 the American People realized by staying neutral they made themselves less safe not more. This is the cover image of life magazine in february 1916. It is a map of the United States, if the United States continued to act in this neutral isolationist fashion. The fear is the United States will end up like chichina. You can see on this map most of the United States is now labelled as new precy or new ponci an and mexico is the province meaning the province of france. My favorite part and i will show it in calgary is canada is labelled as barbarian. I dont think this is a reference to the canadians. Even though it is nhl playoff season and we will see woo the penguins pray to. But i think this is the fear of Great Britain and france look like they are loosing the war what the british and french might do is trade possessions in other parts of the world in order tog get a better deal. Will the Peace Agreement give to all of canada . The French Island in the caribbean could go to the german. In 1914, the United States opened the panama canal. Danish virgin islands, made them the u. S. Virgin islands to keep them out of german hands. In 1916, William Jennings bryan seriously proposed buying canada from Great Britain to keep it out of german hands. What is important, about a year later when the Zimmerman Telegram is released it will confirm all of these fears. It will confirm people like life magazine who were doing this were not paranoid. The germans really did want to do this. This is really important because in my view, jennifer alluded to it a little bit, the American People are willing to go to war in 1917 to stop this. November 11th 1918 germany declares am ma cities, lay their weapons down, we think we accomplished it. We celebrate veterans day on november 11th, use toed be armistice day. Americans are demanding return of their sons from overseas, their job is done. Second phase, wilson wants to do, losing the peace, the American People were not clear that is the controversial part. Let me end on this. This is Mary Roberts Reinhardt again in march of 1917. She wrote this piece in february much 191, two months before president wilson asked for declaration of war. In my opinion, wilson is two months behind the American People at least. This is what she wrote. We have virtually at war, by the time this is published, perhaps the declaration will be made. By the time this was published, new york state mobilized it is National Guard and new jersey mobilized it nation guard and. Massachusetts mobilized its National Guard. They werent waiting for Woodrow Wilson. She said, america is is the last stand of humanities on earth. Realization of a dream and fulfillment of an ideal. Since 1914, britain and france had been fighting for that ideal but not the United States. Then she wrote, under the domination of the prussians, imperial germany now threatened those values not only in europe but america itself. It had broken loose something terrible, something that must be killed or the world dies. In my view, what she is saying is, by february 1917 when she sat down to write that, americas policy of neutrality had made this country more at danger, more at risk, rather than more safe. It was now time to step up and take positive action to make sure that the that the country didnt end and the world didnt die. I think what happens is, by november 1918 when the germans put down their weapons, people like Mary Roberts Reinhardt think the job is done. They dont want to follow Woodrow Wilson into the high ideals that jennifer mentionedded the last time. That seems to me is why the American People got into the war. It is of course why the American People had such debate, such controversy and such disagreement what the war meant then and what it still means today. With that let me stop. Thank you for your attention. I will be happy to answer questions as long as rena wants to let me. [applause] [inaudible] any questions . Yes, sir . Reflects on all the periods, in the last week, things have changed. People have reflected on previously we were getting isolationist posture, and then within one week the question of american ideals and the question of what we stand for perhaps has come back into the equation. So i wondered, what your thought about that . Based on what certainly dont want to talk about current policy, what is going on. Im an historian. My answer is 50 years i will be happy to talk to you about it. Seems to me the First World War, why the First World War to me doesnt feel old. It is the same question. What are the things this country ought to stand for . Is there conflict between our values and our interests . What is the best way to defend those values and interests . Is it by waiting being isolationist or being active member of the international community. Those questions seems to me are as relevant today, they are really started 100 years ago. To me at least the First World War doesnt feel old, it doesnt feel like something that belongs to a distant past. And i sort of wish that this centennial were generating those questions across the country. Theyre doing it at symposium and other specialized events. This doesnt feel that long ago. It is the same set of debates. How do you want to deal with this issue what are you fighting for . Is it promotion of universal values thought or narrow interests what Theodore Roosevelt and others thought. I dont want to talk about current policy, i want to see where it plays out. Seems to me absolutely a reflection of this. Yes, sir . Was the lusitania a major factor when the germans sunk it . What i think the lusitania did, it wrought to the front, to the American People, a, the war was not going to be short, and b, you werent going to be able to sit it out. You would have to make a decision. There are a number of Different Things come out. Some like William Jennings bryan, say europe is a lost cause. Shut ourselves off, quit doing business with them, quit traveling, just stop. There are folks like Theodore Roosevelt, say no, the answer is build the biggest, baddest, army knave you can they will stop doing this to us. They will take us seriously. There is degraduation in between. Nobody argues for going to war, but the question becomes what should we do . Do we want to keep our heads in the sand which is what bryan wanted or do something about it . What i alluded to earlier, talking about defense policy and building an army, what kind of army do you want to build . That is where the American People can not agree. What should the army look like . What should you build it for . Should it be based on National Guards or National Army . What should it look like . On that why nobody could agree. They duck it in 1916 and dont make the decision that they should have. So during these years, did the American People reconcile the fact that britain, the allies, also had half the world colonized, serfdom, this great crystal vision of freedom and so on, didnt really jive with that . Was that on the radar screen at all . There are some americans, Theodore Roosevelt is one, cone yall system step on the way to that. Colonial imperial argument theyre making and british made too, by being connected to the europeans youre giving them a better chance at civilizational growth. That argument obviously hasnt worn well over time. The other argument that is often made this, is key for the irishAmerican Community, if the United States wins world war i, then what wilson can do, go back to the british and say, hey, national selfdetermination means you have to give the irish a voice in their own affairs. You have to let the irish become independent. Irishamericans by 191, are making this argument. That the United States can not fight a war for british interests a american victory, distinct american victory in the war can happen for ireland. What they dont know Woodrow Wilson determined ireland isnt a nation. It is adequately represented through london. This is the argument that they make. So irishamericans who at beginning of the war 1914, neutral or progerman, by the time get to spring of 1917, very much imperial argument, bet ways to break up the british empire, for the british to win the war and wilson to say no, well do it this way. It is complicated. There is a wonderful book at harvard, wrote the book called the wilsonian moment he talks about people in korea, india, egypt believing that wilson will end imperialism. Wilson had no intention of ending imperialism. National selfdetermination meant Central Eastern european only. His book is about that dissolution. Yes, sir . What was the American Opinion on the end of the war . And after the armistice. How do they view what happens with that . There is no agreement. There are folk, Theodore Roosevelt is one of the big voices what we should do, go in, germany is the aggressor, theyre the bad guy. Punish them. Lets go back home. Then the idea of wilson what were going to do, jennifer showed well literally remake the entire world. The key is very modern, very presentist, the eggerment ever Woodrow Wilson the best thing the United States can do create International Organizations like league of nations and play a leading role in them. Then there is the argument, when americans use the phrase isolationist in 1919, they dont mean innothing the world, what they mean well be operating unfettered by any International Agreement at all. Were america. We dont sign agreement on equal terms with ecuador. We dont. Were america. The world will be better off if we operate independently. That is the debate going on. As you probably know, wilson in the paris peace conference pushed this international universal vision and when it got to the u. S. Senate, the u. S. Senate rejected it. That is a debate that is very fresh. Obama administration wanted to be involved in those International Organizations and Trump Administration at a lot of has said it doesnt want to do it that way. Again that is 1919 debate. So there is no one american position. That is what makes it so complicated and so fun. Yes, sir . Last question really raises a really interesting question in my mind which is, in the postwar period how prepared was americas diplomatic service, negotiating ability, to prepare the peace with the british who were masters of back room diplomacy and so forth with the french . They were not prepared. One of my favorite quotations, the president of the Prime Minister of france saw the 14 points, his famous was reaction was, god himself only gave us tin. So there is this idea that the americans are coming in with high ideals. The mistake i think wilson made, he didnt realize, as fully as he probably should have, that americas power in the postworld war was going be economic. Wilson for all kinds of complicated reasons including his own religious background did not believe economics was the moral way to do international diplomacy. November 12th, 1918 americans are arguing hey, get our troops home. What that means the American Army will not be wilsons instrument of power. Without the army, without any real diplomatic finesse on his part, without, with unwillingness to use one weapon he actually had it is easy to see why the europeans said well Pay Lip Service to this guy but were not going to follow his vision at all. Very famously said i will put france in the leagues of nations but want it as permanent antigerman alliance. It will not look the way wilson wants it to look. I dont think they were wellprepared. Wilson fully believed the power of his rhetoric and power of his ideas could fuel warweary europe and could put pressure on their own politicians to get the thing to go you through. The european system doesnt work that way. David george, another great quotations was criticized not doing well in the paris peace conference. I didnt think i did too badly. I was seated between napoleon and jesus christ. [inaudible] american interests, even some political yes. Was this information wellknown to the public . Yes. How come people reacted like that . How come they werent more prowar . They were really angry. So the question comes down, again its a modernday question, right if you can prove those germans blowing up railroads and doing all the sabotage, if you can prove beyond the shadow of a doubt theyre in the pay of German Government it is an act of war. If you cant, then they are what we would call today lone wolf attackers. The question becomes, we know there was a german that tried to blow up the Wellington Canal in canada or railroad bridge between maine and canada. We cant prove he is connected to the German Government. If we cant, we cant go to war. Even when the evidence convinced awful lot of people wilson was saying look, not a cause of war. I dont want to go to war over this. This is not defense but it is a explanation. Some of the antigerman sentiment happens once the war begins is based on this. We know german agents are here. Not to defend all the crazy antigerman stuff americans did, but to say it doesnt come out of nowhere. The question comes down to, can you prove the actions of those germans doing those things, the guy that shot jpmorgan and blew up the Telephone Exchange in the Vice President s build something one of those guys. They cant prove the German Government was behind it but it was obvious this guy was mentally unstable. This is act of domestic terrorism, that is what we would call it but you cant trace it back to the German Government. The simple answer to your question a lot of people, including Theodore Roosevelt were really mad, they didnt know if they had enough justification to go to war. Thanks for the question. We need to stop the formal part of this. There may be opportunity to ask questions of the authors. Thank you for [inaudible] thank you. [applause]
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