The Emergence of America as a World Power

1. The Emergence of America as a World Power American imperialism: political and economic expansion War in Europe and American neutrality The First World War at Home and abroad Treaty of Versailles Society and economy in the postwar years.

2. Introduction • In the years following the Civil War, the United States remained decidedly isolationist with regard to foreign affairs. A few scattered trade treaties aside, the US was mainly preoccupied with healing the deep wounds of the Civil War and Reconstruction, settling the West and industrializing and urbanizing. Inward-looking Americans were remarkably blasé about the US role on the world stage. • In the closing decade of the nineteenth-century, however, a new current of thought emerged to challenge the traditional isolationism of US policies. Imperialism had been revived with a vengeance among the Old Powers of Europe, as Africa and the Pacific realms were carved up by virtually every European power. The closing of the American frontier, coupled with the increasingly global scale of American economic enterprise sparked a new debate about overseas empires and the place of the US among world powers.

3. Among proponents of American imperialism, some argued that the US would be left behind, economically, in the global scramble for markets and resources. Others, informed by a variant of Social Darwinism, saw it as a right of the “fit” to rule the weaker, along with a moral and social imperative to “civilize” savage peoples when opportunity presents. Sometimes called “White Man’s Burden” (from a Rudyard Kipling poem), it was a robust idea among most leading European powers, and a convenient justification for imperialism. • Opponents of a blatantly imperialistic stance for US policy countered the economic arguments with the fact that invading and permanently occupying a foreign land cost much more than was gained in the long term. Others focused on the clear hypocrisy of exploiting other peoples from a nation so historically rooted in self-determination and anti-colonialism.

4. American imperialism: political and economic expansion • One of the earliest and ugliest episodes of an emerging American imperialism came in 1893, with the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. Hawaii had attracted the interest of Americans as early as the 1820s. Yankee whalers and shippers were followed by missionaries in the 1830s, and rapid economic development in the post Civil War years. The naval base at Pearl Harbor added tremendously to the strategic importance of Hawaii in the rapidly evolving Pacific sphere. With the assistance of a pro-imperial foreign minister to Hawaii, and with the aid of US troops, the coup was led by a small but economically influential group of sugar planters and capitalists. A provisional government ruled Hawaii for several years, until its official annexation in 1898. • Other examples through this period corroborate an emerging bellicosity in US foreign interests. The US nearly came to blows with Germany in 1889, Italy in 1891, Chile in 1892, followed by a public row with Canada in 1893- the willingness of the US to threaten action for relatively minor international incidents presaged a startling new jingoism in American foreign policy.

5. In 1895-6, the US reasserted its authority as master of the Americas, invoking the Monroe Doctrine when a border dispute between Venezuela and British Guiana nearly led to open conflict. The Americans pushed the British to back off the issue with forceful diplomatic intervention, and this event is often credited with kicking off what historians have called the “Great Rapprochement” between Great Britain and the United States. After nearly 150 years of general antagonism between the Lion and Eagle, both nations moved forward to the 20th century as integral partners. • Threats of war were finally made good in 1898, when the US engaged the Spanish in a short-lived “splendid little war,” that dispossessed the anemic Spanish empire from its territories in the Caribbean (Cuba and Puerto Rico), and the Pacific (Philippines and Guam). • The conflict began when Cuban “insurrectos” began revolting to throw off the Spanish colonial yoke. Americans certainly held no special sentiment for the Spanish, but economic interests and Cuba’s strategic/geographic importance in the sea lanes of the Caribbean made the outcome of the Cuban revolts one of keen national interest . • Tales of Spanish brutality were trumpeted in the lurid “Yellow Press” and the public clamor for intervention finally became overwhelming following an explosion aboard a US battleship docked in Havana harbor, the USSMaine. Though later proven an accident, the explosion was blamed on the Spanish and used a pretense to take them to war. The aging Spanish fleets were no match for the modernized steel-hulled gunships of the US Navy, and the US took the opportunity to divest Spain of some its colonies.

6. American imperialism: political and economic expansion • At war’s end, Cuba had been liberated (but not annexed), while Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines were formally brought into the American fold. But serious questions remained about how the US should proceed, leading to vigorous debate about the merits and pitfalls of America’s newfound empire. • The war’s quick successes sparked intense patriotism and nationalism among many, and the jubilation of the public-at-large was palpable. Some, however, questioned imperialism as an affront to American values of self-determination and “consent of the governed”, and following the war, an Anti-Imperialist League was formed to politically challenge the new direction of American foreign policy. Imperialism became a central issue in the election of 1900. Although the die had been cast in favor of American imperialism, the anti-imperialists helped to dampen the more hawkish elements of American society moving forward. • American imperialism gained a forceful advocate when Teddy Roosevelt ascended to the presidency in 1901. The wily Rough Rider seemed to embody the newly emboldened American vision as a world power, and he wasted no time in putting this idea to work.

7. Roosevelt became known for what historians call “Big Stick” diplomacy- from his famous quip that he preferred to “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” As a former Under-Secretary of the Navy, Roosevelt ‘s favored “big stick” was the modern battleship. Consistent with this mentality of strengthening American sea power, Roosevelt was especially keen to secure the Panamanian route for a long-anticipated trans-American canal. In 1902, the US helped to sponsor a revolt and coup in the isthmus, then a part of Colombia. So “liberated”, Panama was able to grant the US right of way for the canal, which would be completed in 1914. As construction of the canal proceeded, Roosevelt sent the new and modernized US Navy’s “Great White Fleet” on a year-long global victory lap, signaling the full arrival of American might on the high seas. • Roosevelt further confirmed the role of US as world power when he successfully led the negotiations to conclude the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-5, for which he was later awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. This recognition was somewhat ironic considering Roosevelt’s widely recognized hawkishness. For example, he forcefully reasserted American hegemony in the western hemisphere with what he called “preventative intervention” The idea was to militarily or economically preempt European intrigue in the Americas. This new brashness of the US in the Caribbean sphere is known as the Roosevelt Corollary (to the Monroe Doctrine). • The Taft administration took a less blatantly militaristic approach to affairs in the Caribbean and elsewhere, preferring to concentrate on economic imperialism. Historians call this policy “Dollar Diplomacy.”

8. War in Europe and American neutrality • The Great War began in Europe upon the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, crown prince of the Austria-Hungary empire, by a Serbian nationalist. The long-term causes of WWI, however, lie in decades of heated militarism, arms races, and a nebulous, outdated alliance system among the great powers of Europe. • When Serbia’s Slavic ally Russia mobilized against Austria-Hungary, the web of alliances kicked in and soon involved all of Europe. Austria-Hungary and Germany (Central Powers) responded to the mobilizing Russians, and counting on France to come to Russia’s aid, preempted the response by invading neutral Belgium, thus mortally offending the British who entered on the side of France and Russia- (afterward, the “Allied Powers”) • From the outset of the war, the US looked to steer a course of neutrality. Wilson deplored the imperialism and Big-stickism of previous decades, and the public-at-large overwhelmingly supported neutrality. There was a clear bias in the majority toward Britain and the Allies, but it would take over two years for the US to finally intervene. Wilson held stubbornly to strict neutrality through the presidential campaign of 1916, on a slogan of “He Kept Us Out of War.”

9. War in Europe and American neutrality • The issue that finally forced Wilson’s hand was the declared German policy of “unrestricted submarine warfare”- a promise to try and break the British blockade of Atlantic and North Sea shipping with submarine attacks on any vessel in aid of the British navy, including merchant ships. Over sharp US protests the Germans began testing the waters , so to speak, with isolated submarine attacks. American neutrality was shaken to the core when the Germans sank a British liner, the Lusitania, killing 128 Americans. • Wilson staved off the war cry temporarily when he augured an agreement from the Germans to stop firing on unarmed merchant ships. But the agreement fell apart when the Germans resumed submarine attacks. Following the revelation that Germany had made diplomatic overtures toward Mexico for a alliance against the US (Zimmerman Note), and a series of u-boat attacks on American merchant ships, the US juggernaut moved into action, declaring war in April of 1917.

10. The First World War at home and abroad • Wilson used the opportunity of war to promote his idealistic worldview to “make the world safe for democracy.” Ever the high-minded progressive, Wilson set a new moralistic tone to the Allied war aims by introducing his “Fourteen Points”- which addressed, among others, many of the issues that Wilson thought had been responsible for starting the war- secret military alliances, freedom of the seas, free trade, colonialism, and self determination. • Wilson’s points, however, depended on the successful mobilization of US troops and conversion to a war economy. Notable in these mobilization efforts were new government entities. The Committee on Public Information, headed by George Creel. Typical of a High Progressive mindset, Creel approached the work of the propaganda agency with comprehensive efficiency, carefully controlling the public perception to achieve maximum enthusiasm for the US war effort. • Other notable new government agencies included the War Industries Board, designed to coordinate industrial production for the war economy, and the National War Labor Board, designed to arbitrate labor disputes that might hinder the war effort. Future president Herbert Hoover headed the efforts of the Food Administration, encouraging Americans to endure “meatless Tuesdays” and “wheat-less Wednesdays,” and to grow “Victory Gardens” to supplement the domestic food supply so that more food aid could reach the war-torn Allies in Europe. All of the above were voluntary in nature, but a tsunami of patriotic fervor, whipped up in no small part by the propagandistic efforts of Creel, helped to inspire a remarkable degree of compliance.

11. The First World War at home and abroad • Meanwhile the military situation in Europe was growing grim. The US was leery of sending a massive ground force to Europe, but by mid-1917, the Allies were running out of money and troops. Making matters worse, Russia had bowed out of the war in early 1918, allowing Germany to focus all of its might on the Western front, where battle-hardened and weary French and British troops were clinging tenuously to hold the Germans back. • For the first time since the Civil War, the US government was forced to instate a draft. The ranks of American “Doughboys” soon swelled to 4 million. They were supposed to complete a full training regimen, but expediency forced some units to ship out with training as short as a few weeks. • It was nearly a year after declaring war that the US finally got boots on the ground in Europe, just in time to halt the reinvigorated German offensive in the west. The military contributions of the US were important but not overwhelming. The mere prospect of endlessly fresh US troops was enough to force the Germans to capitulate. Finally, at 11:00 on November 11, an armistice was reached that concluded the War to end all Wars.

12. Treaty of Versailles • As the war closed, Wilson enjoyed the pinnacle of his international prestige. He was seen by many as the savior of Europe and the world, and he used this extraordinarily high esteem to guide his “Fourteen Points” into the treaty process at Versailles. Wilson envisioned a peace that would obviate future wars. But his high-minded idealism ultimately ran into the politics of vengeance, as other European leaders, especially France, sought to punish the Germans, who they squarely blamed for causing the war. Over the objections of Wilson, the French and other Europeans successfully introduced a “guilt clause” that forced Germany to pay exorbitant reparations to the Allies- a fact often cited as the seed for the profound German resentment that found eventual voice in Hitler and the Nazis. • The centerpiece of Wilson’s plan was the creation of a “League of Nations”, which would act to solve international strife diplomatically. Wilson saw the League as an opportunity for principled Americans to take the lead in shaping a kinder, gentler New World Order. But almost immediately isolationist Republicans in the Senate began to assail the League as a potential affront to American sovereignty, and a refutation of George Washington’s famous advice to “avoid entangling alliances.” Wilson stubbornly refused to budge on any concessions suggested by the isolationists, and this most highly prized objective failed. Wilson’s vision for America’s place in the world outpaced the still provincial mindset of most Americans. • Without the leadership and resources of the US, the League of Nations was doomed to fail, and indeed as proven through the lead-up to WWII in the 1930s, proved impotent to head off war.

13. Society and economy in the post war years • As discussed, during WWI there was a remarkable cohesion and coordination of American support for the war effort. In the aftermath of WWI, however, the mood of the American public quickly turned into one of general exasperation , along with palpable regret by many for having bothered to sacrifice American lives and treasure in the first place. Wilson’s argument to “make the world safe for democracy” carried far less heft after the threat had abated at war’s end. For many, this “buyer’s remorse” translated into a strongly renewed isolationism, most evident in the Senate rejection of the League of Nations treaty and the resounding defeat of the Democrats in the election of 1920. • The final year of the Wilson administration was also beset by some of the most severe labor unrest in many years. Angered by the recalcitrance of state and federal governments to recognize the right of labor to organize, 1919 witnessed the greatest labor strikes in US history, paralyzing entire industries and even entire cities, as in the case of the “General Strike” in Seattle. • The turmoil in the labor sector was attributed in part to the influence of radical socialists and anarchists. The resulting “Red Scare” produced new state and federal entities to combat the specter of Communism and radicalism, most famously the agency that later became the FBI. Headed by Attorney General Mitchell Palmer, the “Palmer Raids” targeted radical groups with charges of criminal syndicalism, jailing thousands and deporting over 500. • The industrial sector of the economy received a significant jolt from war time industries, stumbled into a mild recession in the immediate post war years, but recovered quickly and embarked on the unprecedented expansion that drove the “roaring” 1920s. • American agriculture also boomed during the war years, but as European agricultural production resumed following the war, American farmers were faced with downward pressure on prices. These warning signs in the agricultural sector were eventually obscured by the incredibly robust growth through most of the rest of the American economy.