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A Global Power, 1914-1919
Overview
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President Woodrow Wilson believed that the progressive ideal of order could be imposed on foreign policy. Like his peers, Wilson believed that because the United States was an industrialized democracy superior to all other nations that other nations should follow the Americans’ lead. This attitude was particularly obvious when he considered nations and regions that were not as industrialized as the United States. President Wilson also believed that the United States had a special superiority to the other imperial powers. Imperialism and revolution threatened the environment in which free trade and global peace could prevail and threats had to be eliminated. How the United States reacted to events in Europe and Mexico illustrate Wilson’s belief that the U. S. could stay out of war and impose an American definition of order. Perhaps because it seemed more likely, peace activists became more vocal and active in their opposition to the war. Theodore Roosevelt, on the other hand, clamored for action. Preparedness leagues called attention to the pathetic state of American armed forces. The nation mobilized for war. Three million men were needed for military service and they needed food, uniforms, ammunition, and equipment. The requirements of a nation at war placed heavy burdens on the American people and the economy. How Americans would react, no one could predict. American servicemen arrived in France certain they could change the war and the peace. The optimism, so characteristic of the American forces, was soon diminished. Back home the armistice was celebrated with parades and prayers. In Germany, revolutionaries took power and in eastern Europe revolutions broke out. From Flanders to the Sea of Japan, not a single government remained intact. In the United States, Americans experienced the first outbreak of a “Red Scare,” a conviction that communist-inspired revolution was imminent in the United States.
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