IMPERIALISM AND WORLD WAR I 2

6 The nationalist riots in Egypt in 1882, which led to British occupation,

are an example of this. Local colonial officials, whose isolation allowed

Imperialism and World War I them considerable autonomy, could also take the initiative. There
appears to have been considerable anxiety among such officials about
unsettled frontiers: a fear that instability in neighbouring territories
might spread into British possessions. This could lead to intervention
The nineteenth-century British Empire to protect British interests. However, where the presence of the British
themselves was destabilising the frontier, this was a never-ending
Victory in the Napoleonic wars left Britain with the leading empire process. A great deal of expansion into India can be interpreted in this
in the world. Within a century, this was to be enhanced both by subse- way. Also, as in the so-called ‘Scramble for Africa’, Britain might re-
quent expansion and by the collapse of the only empire of a compara- spond to the actions of imperial rivals. British absorption of Uganda
ble size: the Spanish Empire in Latin America. In the second half of and Kenya was a response to German intervention in Tanganyika.
the century, the British fought wars across the globe as never before. Britain had no intention of allowing Germany to dominate the region.
Britain’s role was part of the wider story of European imperialism, but
was greater than that of any other state, because of the country’s lim-
ited involvement in power politics on the continent of Europe (which Empire and dominion
left Britain free to devote its resources to the empire), its unequalled
naval and commercial strength, and the already extensive character of The empire grew throughout the nineteenth century. It also
the empire. As a consequence, empire was more central to British his- evolved politically, at least in some territories. After a rebellion in
tory than to that of France or Germany. By the end of the century, Canada in 1837, Lord Durham, sent to investigate the affair, recom-
Britain ruled a quarter of the world’s population and a fifth of the land mended the introduction of representative self-government. This was
surface. the origin of dominion status, under which domestic affairs were left
What is less clear is why this expansion occurred. There never was to local elected governments, while foreign relations remained the
a plan for imperial expansion. Nor was there universal support for concern of Britain. In the 1850s this was extended to the Australian
empire. colonies and to New Zealand, and in 1872 to the Cape Colony. This
Supporters of free trade, such as the politician Cobden, were process was to lead to the development of separate colonies in Canada
highly critical. American independence seemed to show that the end of and Australia into distinct states whose people developed a fierce sense
British colonial rule did not necessarily harm British trade: Cobden of nationalism. It was, however, no move to prepare colonies for inde-
therefore called for the abolition of the costly burden of empire. Such pendence or foreshadow the break-up of the empire. Rather it was
opinions had little impact in the government, but even the government seen as strengthening the empire by removing responsibility for local
had little desire to take on the expensive responsibilities of new con- problems out of London’s hands. It was also a method of reducing the
quests. As long as the British were able to trade freely, and British costs of governing the empire to the British taxpayer. Dominion status
traders and property protected, there seemed little need actually to was also restricted to ‘settlement colonies’, especially the so-called
conquer more territory. ‘white dominions’, which were dominated by Europeans. Colonies
Yet imperial expansion took place, for many reasons. Financial in- dominated by other races were not deemed ready for such govern-
terests in the City, whose investments around the globe might be ment. Though notions of trusteeship were sometimes aired (the argu-
threatened by local events, could exert influence over the government, ment that Britain’s imperial mission was to prepare ‘lesser races’ for
arguing that their own interests and the national interests coincided.
3 TEXTOS HISTÓRICOS Y CULT. ANGLONORTEAMERICANOS NORTH AND SOUTH 4

dominion status), little was done to achieve this in the nineteenth cen- many a part of British identity. The Golden and Diamond jubilees of
tury. Racism remained institutionalised throughout the empire. Queen Victoria, in 1887 and 1897 respectively, were popular celebra-
It was firmly and widely believed that Britain had a civilising mis- tions. In 1896, the earl of Meath launched Empire Day on 24 May,
sion. It was a matter of considerable pride to the British that their Queen Victoria’s birthday.
empire was the first to abolish slavery, in 1833. This was seen as proof
of Britain’s moral superiority. That the compensation paid saved the
owners of sugar plantations from ruination from foreign competition, The new imperialism
and that, for the slaves, one form of bondage was replaced by another
based on poverty, poor education and racial prejudice, passed unno- Empire provided the stimulus for a new concept of exemplary mas-
ticed. culinity, focusing on soldier heroes; men such as Charles Gordon, hero
Missionaries undertook their own ‘civilising’ task. Men such as of Khartoum, were presented as national icons in a fusion of military
David Livingstone became national heroes. While many did work hard prowess, Protestant and moral manhood. Imperial clashes were re-
to protect their congregations from white exploitation, their influence enacted in open-air spectacles in Britain: the tableau and pageant be-
was not always beneficial. The ‘Indian Mutiny’ (1857-8) was a rebel- came art forms. The ideology of empire was taken to new heights
lion by part of the British Indian Army against foreign domination of towards the end of the century as other European nations sought to
India, cultural as well as economic and political. Insulted religious emulate British success. Uneasy that Britain’s domination of world
sensibilities were a major factor. trade was eroding and influenced by ideas of social Darwinism, which
The negative aspects of empire–Africans dispossessed of their suggested that the survival of the fittest was as valid for nations as for
lands, Indian craftsmen ruined by British textile imports they were species, men like Lord Milner began to bring forward theories that
forbidden to exclude by tariffs, widespread and often brutal exploita- became known as the ‘new imperialism’. They suggested that Britain
tion–generally received very little attention in Britain. The empire urgently needed to prepare for the challenges of the future. These
was popular, particularly among the upper and middle classes, for would come from European powers who would attempt to wrest the
whom it provided prestigious military and administrative careers. empire from Britain, and from emerging nationalist sentiment among
There appear also to have been concerted efforts by imperialists to colonised peoples, who would try to free themselves from British rule.
instil enthusiasm for empire among Britain’s working class. This was Britain, it was held, needed to prepare by becoming a more militarised,
reflected in the jingoistic strains of popular culture, such as the images disciplined nation. Demands for universal conscription were put for-
depicted in advertisements for mass-produced goods, or the often ward. So were arguments for social reform, simply to create healthier
militarist ballads of the music-hall. Songs such as George Lashwood’s soldiers.
The Death or Glory Boys and The Gallant Twenty-First, in the 1880s, There was little widespread enthusiasm for such ideas, but they
reflect this. How effective these efforts were is difficult to judge. Much were not without influence. Lord Milner was himself to play a leading
of the working class appears to have remained apathetic about impe- role in the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War, when Britain decided to
rialism. Nonetheless, episodes such as the relief of Mafeking during end the independence of the Afrikaner (Dutch) republics of southern
the Anglo-Boer War were widely celebrated. Many Liberal politicians, Africa, the Orange Free State and Transvaal. The government seems
including William Gladstone, the Prime Minister, were critical of to have assumed that no fighting would be necessary, since few moves
jingoism and of imperial expansion for its own sake. But the Conserva- were taken to strengthen British forces in the region. The Afrikaners
tive Party tried with some success to identify itself with the empire, inflicted a series of humiliating defeats, and Britain had to spend 250
and it won an election under Disraeli in 1874. The empire became for million pounds and deploy 450,000 troops to defeat 100,000 farmers.
A ruthless policy was followed to suppress a determined guerrilla war,
5 TEXTOS HISTÓRICOS Y CULT. ANGLONORTEAMERICANOS NORTH AND SOUTH 6

forcing Afrikaner civilians into concentration camps in which 20,000 and the feeble Chinese Empire. Some Americans feared that their
died. This aroused revulsion at home and international condemnation. nation would soon be left out.
It was also a blow for British self-confidence. Rather than following A philosophic justification for expansionism was found in Darwin-
the tenets of the ‘new imperialism’, Britain began to seek European ism. Only the fittest nations or ‘races,’ like biological species, could
allies. survive. For strong nations to dominate weak ones was, therefore, in
It is easy to present the empire as doomed to failure. British rule, in accordance with the laws of nature. Josiah Strong, in his book Our
fact, encouraged the emergence of a British-educated middle class Country (1885), urged American expansion overseas, basing his argu-
among colonised peoples, who were to form a new, anti-British politi- ment on the assumed superiority of the Anglo-Saxon peoples. Captain
cal elite. Though Britain did not compare badly with others as an im- Alfred Thayer Mahan’s The Influence of Sea Power upon History (1890)
perial power, there were certainly enough injustices in the empire to argued for increased naval power to make the United States a world
arouse nationalist hostility. Towards the end of the century, opposi- force.
tion to imperial rule appeared, although it was limited in scope. In
1885, the Indian National Congress was formed; in 1897, the Egyptian
National Party. In the next century, Britain was going to have to find a Hemispheric hegemony
way to accommodate their demands, or be defeated by them
In 1889 the first International Conference of American States met
in Washington. Secretary of State James G. Blaine could not secure a
New Manifest Destiny customs union, but the conference established the International Bu-
reau of American Republics (later the Pan-American Union).
After the Civil War, the United States expanded geographically In 1895 the United States supported Venezuela in a dispute with
hardly at all, until 1890s, when the new Manifest Destiny involved Great Britain over the boundary between Venezuela and British
acquiring possessions separate from the continental United States: Guiana. Congress proposed arbitration. Secretary of State Richard
distant island territories, many thickly populated, most of which were Olney accused the British of violating the Monroe Doctrine. He
unlikely to attract massive settlement from America, few of which were expanded the Doctrine by stating that ‘the United States is practically
expected to become states of the Union. sovereign on this continent,’ and ‘its fiat is law.’ British Prime Minis-
The supposed ‘closing of the frontier’ produced fears that natural ter Lord Salisbury responded that the Monroe Doctrine did not apply;
resources would soon dwindle and that alternative sources must be but later, to avoid war, he agreed to arbitration.
found abroad. The depression that began in 1893 encouraged some
businessmen to look for new markets abroad. The bitter social protests
of the time–the Populist movement, the free-silver crusade, the bloo- Hawaii and Samoa
dy labor disputes–led some politicians to urge a more aggressive for-
eign policy as an outlet for frustrations that would otherwise destabil- The Reciprocity Treaty of 1875 (ratified by the Senate in 1887
ize domestic life. Foreign trade was becoming increasingly important when it was amended to give the United States a naval base at Pearl
to the American economy in the late nineteenth century. Acquiring Harbor) allowed Hawaiian sugar into the United States duty free.
colonies might expand overseas markets further. When the McKinley Tariff (1890) put sugar from all nations on the
The major imperialist powers of Europe were partitioning most of free list and gave a bounty of two cents a pound for native-grown sug-
Africa among themselves and turning covetous eyes on the Far East ar, American sugar growers in Hawaii faced ruin. They started a revolt
in 1893 against Queen Liliuokalani to bring about the annexation of
7 TEXTOS HISTÓRICOS Y CULT. ANGLONORTEAMERICANOS NORTH AND SOUTH 8

Hawaii to the United States. The United States minister to Hawaii rialists such as Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Assistant Secretary of the
John L. Stevens sent the Marines ashore, recognized the revolutionary Navy Theodore Roosevelt, and Captain Mahan demanded war with
government, and signed a treaty of annexation. But when Grover Spain as a means of territorial conquest.
Cleveland came into office, he withdrew the treaty. Debate over the In February 1898 Hearst’s Journal published a letter written by the
annexation of Hawaii continued until 1898, when the Republicans Spanish minister in Washington, Dupuy de Lôme, and stolen from
returned to power and approved the agreement. the mails, that depicted President McKinley as a spineless politician.
The Samoan islands had also long served as a way station for Many Americans, including some Republicans, were saying the same
American ships in the Pacific trade. In 1878, a treaty provided for an thing (Theodore Roosevelt described McKinley as having ‘no more
American naval station at Pago Pago. In 1889 the United States, backbone than a chocolate eclair’), but coming from a foreigner, it
Great Britain and Germany created a tripartite protectorate over Sa- created intense popular anger. Dupuy de Lôme resigned, but the letter
moa. In a 1899 treaty, Great Britain gave up her claims there in return brought the war closer.
for rights elsewhere, Germany received two islands, and the United A week later the American battleship Maine blew up in Havana
States gained the rest, including Tutuila with the harbor of Pago Pago. harbor with a loss of 260 officers and sailors. The American public
blamed the explosion on the Spanish. (Later evidence suggested that
the disaster was actually the result of an accidental explosion inside one
War with Spain of the engine rooms.)
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt ordered Commodore
Continued Spanish oppression in Cuba led to a revolution there in George Dewey, Commander of the Asiatic Squadron, to attack the
1895. (The island’s problems were in part a result of the Wilson- Spanish Philippines in case of a war with Spain over Cuba.
Gorman Tariff of 1894, whose high duties on sugar had prostrated In March 1898, President McKinley proposed that Spain grant an
Cuba’s important sugar economy by cutting off exports to the United armistice and remove the concentration camps and insisted on Cuban
States, the island’s principal market.) The United States sympathized independence. Spain agreed on the first two points but not on inde-
with the rebels, particularly after Spanish General Valeriano Weyler pendence. In April Congress recognized the independence of Cuba
(known in the American press as ‘Butcher’ Weyler) early in 1896 be- and authorized the president to use the armed forces to force the
gan to establish concentration camps to prevent rebel attacks on sugar Spanish out. The Teller Amendment disclaimed any intention on the
plantations. The horrible conditions reported in these camps aroused part of the United States to annex Cuba. On April 24 Spain declared
humanitarian sentiment in the United States. war; the United States declared war the following day.
In New York City, William Randolph Hearst’s Journal and Joseph On May 1 Dewey’s Asiatic Squadron, in the Battle of Manila Bay
Pulitzer’s World competed with each other in reporting atrocity stories destroyed the Spanish fleet. The Americans would capture Manila
of Spanish brutality in Cuba. Such reporting became known as ‘yellow itself on August 13.
journalism’ after the two papers carried on a fight in 1895 for rights In spite of an American blockade, the Spanish fleet under Admiral
to a comic strip called ‘The Yellow Kid.’ Pascual Cervera sailed from Spain and slipped into Santiago de Cuba.
In 1897 a new liberal ministry in Spain made concessions to Amer- General William R. Shafter led an American force including the
ican sentiment about Cuba by recalling General Weyler and modify- Rough Riders (a volunteer cavalry regiment under Colonel Leonard
ing the concentration camp system. American business interests (aside Wood and Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt) to Santiago. In
from those with Cuban sugar investments) opposed war with Spain the Land Battle of Santiago, Shafter seized the high ground outside
from fear that it would destroy the new-found prosperity of 1897. Santiago in the battles of El Caney and San Juan Hill. In the Naval
Humanitarians, however, called for intervention in Cuba, and impe-
9 TEXTOS HISTÓRICOS Y CULT. ANGLONORTEAMERICANOS NORTH AND SOUTH 10

Battle of Santiago, Admiral Cervera tried to escape from Santiago The anti-imperialists argued that imperialism was against Ameri-
but Admiral William T. Sampson’s blockading fleet destroyed the can traditions and inconsistent with democratic government. Some
entire Spanish fleet. feared ‘polluting’ the American population by introducing ‘inferior’
Secretary of State John Hay called the Spanish-American conflict Asian races into it. Industrial workers feared being undercut by a flood
‘a splendid little war.’ Declared in April, it was over in August. Some of cheap laborers from the new colonies. Sugar growers and others
5,200 Americans perished of disease, although only 460 were battle feared unwelcome competition from the new territories.
casualties. The regular army numbered only 28,000 troops and offic- When anti-imperialists warned of the danger of acquiring heavily
ers, so, as in the Civil War, the United States relied on National populated territories whose people might have to become citizens, the
Guard units, organized by local communities and commanded by local imperialists mentioned a precedent for annexing land without absorb-
leaders without military experience. ing people: the policies toward Indians–treating them as dependents
A significant proportion of the American invasion force consisted rather than as citizens.
of black soldiers. As they traveled through the South toward the train- Though opposed to imperialism, William Jennings Bryan per-
ing camps, they suffered rigid racial segregation. In Cuba they saw suaded Democrats to vote for the treaty as a means of ending the war,
black Cuban soldiers fighting alongside whites as equals, which gave leaving the question of Philippine independence up to the electorate in
them a stronger sense of the injustice of their own position. 1900, when he expected to be the Democratic presidential candidate
The war with Spain had revealed deficiencies in the American mili- again. The Senate ratified the treaty on February 6, 1899.
tary system. After the war, McKinley appointed Elihu Root, a New But Bryan miscalculated. The election of 1900 proved that the na-
York corporate lawyer, as secretary of war to reform the armed forces. tion had decided in favor of imperialism. McKinley won again, thanks
Between 1900 and 1903, the regular army was increased from 25,000 to the growing national prosperity and the personality of the vice pres-
to 100,000. The National Guard passed to federal command, ensuring idential candidate, Theodore Roosevelt, the hero of San Juan hill.
that never again would the nation fight a war with volunteer regiments
over which the federal government had only limited control. A system
of officer training schools was introduced. And from 1903, a general Filipino Insurrection
staff (now known as the Joint Chiefs of Staff) was to act as military
advisers to the secretary of war. Emilio Aguinaldo, who had led the revolt against Spanish rule in
the Philippines, now fought the Americans for independence. The
conflict lasted from 1898 to 1902. It involved 200,000 American troops
Imperialists and anti-imperialists and resulted in 4,300 American deaths, nearly ten times the number
who had died in combat in the Spanish-American War. At least 50,000
By the treaty of Paris (December 1898) Spain ceded the United Filipinos died. By early 1900, General Arthur MacArthur was writing:
States the Philippines (for $20 million), Puerto Rico, and the island of ‘I have been reluctantly compelled to believe that the Filipino masses
Guam, while giving up all title to Cuba. are loyal to Aguinaldo and the government which he heads.’ The
In the debate over ratification, the imperialists argued that the Americans responded to the guerrilla warfare with brutality. Prisoners
United States should expand overseas to build American prestige, were summarily executed. Entire communities were evacuated–the
spread Christianity and the benefits of civilization (‘the white man’s residents forced into concentration camps while American troops de-
burden’), and protect American strategic interests. If the United States stroyed their villages, farms, crops, and livestock. American soldiers
did not keep the Philippines, some foreign power would take them. came to view the Filipinos as almost subhuman. In March 1901 Agui-
11 TEXTOS HISTÓRICOS Y CULT. ANGLONORTEAMERICANOS NORTH AND SOUTH 12

naldo was captured. The war revived intermittently until 1906; but would become in 1902 an unincorporated territory under the rule of
American possession of the Philippines was now secure. the Taft Commission.) The Navy administered Guam and Tutuila. In
the Insular Cases (1901) the Supreme Court ruled that the inhabi-
tants of the colonial empire were not automatically American citizens
Open door and had only those constitutional rights granted to them by Congress.
The Platt Amendment (1901) to the army appropriations bill au-
The weakness of China during the waning years of the Manchu thorized the president to withdraw troops from Cuba only after Cuba
Dynasty became increasingly evident at the end of the century. The agreed (1) not to make any treaty impairing its independence, (2) not
Japanese defeated the Chinese in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) to borrow money beyond its capacity to pay, (3) to allow the United
and annexed the island of Formosa. In 1898 China granted a leasehold States to intervene in Cuba to preserve Cuban independence, and (4)
to Russia at Port Arthur and one to Germany at Kiaochow Bay. In to sell or lease naval bases to the United States. The Cuban constitu-
1898 the British suggested that the United States join her in defending tional convention attached the same amendment to the constitution.
equal trading opportunities for all nations (the ‘open door’). In 1899 After the United States withdrew from Cuba, the United States-Cuba
Secretary of State John Hay addressed the first Open Door note to treaty included the amendment.
Germany, Russia and Great Britain. Each of the three other major
powers was asked to reassure the United States that: (1) ‘within its
sphere of interest or leasehold in China,’ it would not interfere with Roosevelt’s ‘big stick’
any treaty port (ports open to all nations); (2) the Chinese treaty tariff
(which favored the United States) would apply within its sphere of Theodore Roosevelt believed in using American power in the
interest; and (3) within its sphere it would not discriminate in favor of world (a conviction he once described by citing the proverb, ‘Speak
its own nationals in the matter of harbor dues. The replies of the three softly, but carry a big stick’). And he distinguished between the ‘civi-
powers were evasive, but Hay announced they had accepted the Open lized’ and ‘uncivilized’ nations of the world. ‘Civilized’ nations were
Door Policy. predominantly white and Anglo-Saxon or Teutonic; ‘uncivilized’ na-
The Boxers, a secret Chinese martial-arts society, launched in tions were generally non-white, Latin, or Slavic. Apart from racism,
1900 a revolt against foreigners in China. An international army in- economic development was important in the distinction: Japan, a ra-
cluding American soldiers relieved the foreign legations in Peking, pidly industrializing society, was now civilized.
which had been under siege. Hay, fearing further division of China in Civilized nations were producers of industrial goods; uncivilized
the wake of the Boxer rebellion, issued the second Open Door note nations were suppliers of raw materials and markets. The economic
announcing an American policy of seeking to ‘preserve Chinese terri- relationship between the two parts was vital to both of them. A civi-
torial and administrative entity.’ lized society had the right and duty to intervene in the affairs of a
‘backward’ nation to preserve order and stability–for the sake of both
nations. Accordingly, Roosevelt became an early champion of the de-
Colonial government velopment of American sea power. By 1906, the American navy had
attained a size and strength surpassed only by that of Great Britain
In April 1900 the Foraker Act made Puerto Rico an unincorpo- (although Germany was fast gaining ground).
rated territory; Congress gave Hawaii full territorial status, and Presi-
dent McKinley appointed a Philippine Commission under judge
William Howard Taft to start civil rule in the islands. (The Philippines
13 TEXTOS HISTÓRICOS Y CULT. ANGLONORTEAMERICANOS NORTH AND SOUTH 14

Latin America In November 1903, rebels in Panama, aided by Philippe Bunau-

Varilla, an agent of the New Panama Canal Company, announced the
Roosevelt established a pattern of American intervention in the independence of Panama from Colombia. A United States cruiser
Caribbean and South America. In 1904 he added a Roosevelt Corol- prevented Colombian troops from landing to put down the rebellion,
lary to the Monroe Doctrine. The United States had the right not and Roosevelt recognized Panama as an independent nation. The new
only to oppose European intervention in the Western Hemisphere but Panamanian government quickly agreed to the terms the Colombian
to intervene itself in the domestic affairs of its neighbors if they proved senate had rejected. The canal was completed in 1914.
unable to maintain order on their own. Dollar diplomacy in Nicaragua. The United States sent troops
The Hague Court decided in 1904 in favor of Germany, Great into Nicaragua in 1910 to protect American lives during a revolution.
Britain and Italy, which had used force to collect debts from Venezuela In an agreement of 1911, Nicaragua arranged to refund its debt
in 1902. Roosevelt decided to prevent a similar intervention in the through New York banks; though the Senate rejected the agreement,
Dominican Republic, which owed large sums to Europe. In 1905 he United States bankers gained control of the National Bank of Nicara-
assumed control of Dominican customs and distributed 45 percent of gua. President Taft ordered 2,500 Marines into Nicaragua again in
the revenues to the Dominicans and the rest to foreign creditors. The 1912, and troops remained until 1933. Critics accused Taft of ‘dollar
United States established a military government there in 1916 when diplomacy,’ that is, intervening to support American investments.
the Dominicans refused to accept a treaty that would have made the In Haiti Woodrow Wilson landed the marines in 1915 to suppress
country a virtual American protectorate. The military occupation a revolution. American military forces remained in the country until
lasted eight years. 1934, and American officers drafted the new Haitian constitution
In 1906, when domestic uprisings seemed to threaten the internal adopted in 1918. When Wilson began to fear a German base in the
stability of Cuba, Roosevelt reasoned that America must intervene to Danish West Indies, he bought the colony from Denmark for $25
‘protect’ Cuba from disorder. American troops landed in Cuba, million, and renamed it the Virgin Islands (1917).
quelled the fighting, and remained there for three years. In Mexico Francisco Madero overthrew the dictator Porfirio Díaz
Panama Canal. A treaty with Great Britain in 1901 allowed the in 1911. President Taft recognized the Madero regime and embargoed
United States to build and control an inter-oceanic canal across Cen- arms shipments to Madero’s opponents in order to protect American
tral America. The New Panama Canal Company of France offered to investments. In 1913 General Victoriano Huerta overthrew Madero,
sell its rights to build an isthmian canal to the United States for $40 who was then assassinated. President Wilson, who disapproved of
million, a reduction from its original price of $109 million. The U.S. Huerta’s bloody rule, refused to recognize the Huerta government.
Isthmian Commission, which had previously favored a canal through President Wilson, in his Mobile address (1913), promised that the
Nicaragua, reversed itself and recommended the Panama route. United States would ‘never again seek one additional foot of territory
Under heavy American pressure, the Colombian chargé d’affaires, by conquest.’
Tomas Herrán, signed an agreement giving the United States perpe- In 1914 President Wilson lifted the arms embargo to Mexico to
tual rights to a six-mile-wide ‘canal zone’ across Colombia; in return, help the forces of Venustiano Carranza, who was opposing Huerta.
the United States would pay Colombia $10 million and an annual When a few American sailors were arrested by mistake at Tampico,
rental of $250,000. The Colombian Senate rejected the treaty and Wilson used it as a pretext for seizing the Mexican port of Veracruz to
decided to wait until the concession of the Canal Company expired in prevent the landing of German arms for Huerta. Carranza captured
1904 and then collect the entire $40 million. Mexico City and forced Huerta to flee the country.
15 TEXTOS HISTÓRICOS Y CULT. ANGLONORTEAMERICANOS NORTH AND SOUTH 16

In 1916 the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa murdered 16 ain, Russia, and Japan to join the United States in a Manchurian con-
Americans in Mexico in order to goad the United States into interven- sortium to lend money to the Chinese so that they could buy back the
ing against the Carranza regime. Then he raided Columbus, New Manchurian railroads. The Manchurian plan failed and only drove
Mexico, and killed 19. Wilson sent General John J. Pershing and 6,000 Russia and Japan to sign a treat establishing Southern Manchuria as a
soldiers into Mexico, but the army clashed with Carranza’s troops and Japanese sphere and Northern Manchuria as a Russian sphere.
was unable to keep Villa from another raid into Texas. Anticipating
war with Germany, President Wilson withdrew Pershing in early 1917
and when Carranza was elected president, recognized him. Outbreak of the Great War

The major powers of Europe were organized by 1914 in two com-

Asia peting alliances: the Triple Entente (Britain, France, and Russia) and
the Triple Alliance (Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and
In 1904 the Japanese staged a surprise attack on the Russian fleet at Italy). The chief rivalry was between Great Britain and Germany.
Port Arthur in Southern Manchuria, a province of China that both On June 28, 1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the
Russia and Japan hoped to control. Japan won this Russo-Japanese throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was assassinated in Sarajevo
War. Roosevelt, anxious to maintain the balance of power in Asia by by a Serbian nationalist. Sarajevo was the capital of Bosnia, a province
preventing further Japanese conquests, mediated the peace negotia- of Austria-Hungary that Slavic nationalists wished to annex to Serbia.
tions in 1905. The Russians recognized Japan’s territorial gains, and Germany supported Austria-Hungary’s decision to launch a puni-
the Japanese agreed to cease the fighting and expand no further. At the tive assault on Serbia. The Serbians called on Russia to help with their
same time, Roosevelt negotiated a secret agreement with the Japanese defense. The Russians began mobilizing their army on July 30. By
to ensure that the United States could continue to trade freely in the August 3, Germany had declared war on both Russia and France and
region. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for his work in had invaded Belgium. On August 4, Great Britain declared war on
ending the Russo-Japanese War, but in the years that followed, rela- Germany. Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire formally began
tions between the United States and Japan deteriorated. Japan began hostilities on August 6. Italy, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and other,
to exclude American trade from many of the territories it controlled. smaller nations all joined the fighting later in 1914 or 1915. By the end
In 1906 San Francisco segregated Asian schoolchildren in separate of the year, virtually the entire European continent (and part of Asia)
schools. A year later, California tried to limit the immigration of Japa- was embroiled in a major war.
nese laborers. Anti-Asian riots in California and inflammatory stories
in the Hearst papers about the ‘Yellow Peril’ further fanned resent-
ment in Japan. Roosevelt persuaded the San Francisco school board to Wilson’s neutrality
rescind its edict in return for a Japanese agreement to stop the flow of
agricultural immigrants into California. Then Roosevelt sent a large Wilson urged Americans in 1914 to remain ‘impartial in thought as
part of the United States fleet to the Pacific and around the world in well as deed.’ While some Americans sympathized with the German
order to strengthen the American position in the Western Pacific, an cause (German-Americans, because of affection for Germany; Irish-
example of Roosevelt’s use of force in diplomacy (‘the big stick’). Americans, because of hatred of Britain), many more (including Wil-
Dollar Diplomacy in Asia. President Taft asked for the admis- son himself) sympathized with Britain. Reports of German atrocities in
sion of American bankers to a European pool to build a railway in Belgium and France, exaggerated by British propagandists, streng-
China. Then Secretary of State Philander C. Knox asked Great Brit- thened the hostility of many Americans toward Germany.
17 TEXTOS HISTÓRICOS Y CULT. ANGLONORTEAMERICANOS NORTH AND SOUTH 18

The British had imposed a naval blockade on Germany, but as a War for democracy
neutral, the United States continued trading with both belligerents.
However, war orders from Britain and France soared after 1914, help- In January 1917, Wilson presented in Congress a plan for a post-
ing produce one of the greatest economic booms in the nation’s histo- war order in which the United States would help maintain peace
ry. By 1915, the United States had gradually transformed itself from a through a permanent league of nations–a ‘peace without victory’ that
neutral power into the arsenal of the Allies. would ensure self-determination for all nations These were goals
Unable to challenge British domination on the ocean’s surface, worth fighting for if there was sufficient provocation.
Germany began early in 1915 to use the newly improved submarine In January, the military leaders of Germany launched major as-
to try to stop the flow of supplies to England. Enemy vessels, the saults on the enemy’s lines in France and began unrestricted subma-
Germans announced, would be sunk on sight. Months later, on May 7, rine warfare to cut Britain off from vital supplies. On February 25, the
1915, a German submarine sank the British passenger liner Lusitania, British gave Wilson an intercepted telegram from the German foreign
causing the deaths of 1,198 people, 128 of them Americans. The ship minister, Arthur Zimmermann, to the government of Mexico. It pro-
was carrying not only passengers but also munitions. posed that the Mexicans should join with Germany against the Ameri-
Wilson demanded that Germany promise not to repeat such out- cans. In return, they would regain their ‘lost provinces’ in the north
rages and that the Central Powers affirm their commitment to neutral (Texas and much of the rest of the American Southwest). Widely pub-
rights. The Germans finally agreed to Wilson’s demands, but tensions licized by British propagandists and in the American press, the Zim-
between the nations continued to grow. Early in 1916, in response to mermann telegram inflamed public opinion and helped build up
an announcement that the Allies were now arming merchant ships to popular sentiment for war. In March 1917 a revolution in Russia top-
sink submarines, Germany proclaimed that it would fire on such ves- pled the reactionary czarist regime and replaced it with a new, republi-
sels without warning. A few weeks later, it attacked the unarmed can government. The United States would now be spared the embar-
French steamer Sussex, injuring several American passengers. Again, rassment of allying itself with a despotic monarchy. The war for a
Wilson demanded that Germany abandon its ‘unlawful’ tactics; again, progressive world order was declared on April 6.
the German government relented.
Facing a difficult battle for reelection, Wilson could not ignore the
powerful factions that continued to oppose intervention. Wilson at Naval assistance and ground forces
first considered the idea of an American military build-up as needless
and provocative. But tensions between the United States and Germany By the spring of 1917, Great Britain was suffering vast losses from
grew, and in the fall of 1915, he endorsed an ambitious proposal by attacks by German submarines–one of every four ships setting sail
military leaders for a large increase in the nation’s armed forces. By from British ports never returned. Within weeks of joining the war,
midsummer 1916, armament for a possible conflict was under way. the United States had begun to alter the balance.
The Democratic Convention in the summer of 1916 showed the But naval assistance was not enough, and a major commitment of
strength of the peace faction. One of the most prominent slogans of American ground forces would be necessary as well. Britain and France
Wilson’s reelection campaign was: ‘He kept us out of war.’ Wilson had few remaining reserves, and Russia abandoned the war after the
won reelection against Charles Evans Hughes by one of the smallest Bolshevik Revolution in November 1917, when the communist gov-
margins for an incumbent in American history: fewer than 600,000 ernment of V. I. Lenin negotiated a peace with the Central Powers.
popular votes and only 23 electoral votes. The Democrats retained a The United States did not have a large enough standing army to
precarious control over Congress. provide the necessary ground forces in 1917. Some urged a voluntary
recruitment process. The president, however, decided that only a na-
19 TEXTOS HISTÓRICOS Y CULT. ANGLONORTEAMERICANOS NORTH AND SOUTH 20

tional draft could provide the needed men. The draft brought nearly 3 In all, more than 1,500 people were arrested in 1918 for the crime of
million men into the army; another 2 million joined various branches criticizing the government.
of the armed services voluntarily. Citizens’ groups emerged to root out disloyalty. The American
Under the command of General John J. Pershing, the American Protective League had 250,000 members, who served as ‘agents’–
troops joined the existing Allied forces in turning back new German prying into the activities and thoughts of their neighbors, opening
assaults. By July 18, the German advance had been halted, and the mail, tapping telephones, and in general attempting to impose unity of
Allies were beginning a successful offensive of their own. By the end of opinion on their communities. The most frequent victims of such
October, faced with an invasion of their own country, German military activities were immigrants: Irish-Americans, because of their historic
leaders began to seek an armistice. Pershing wanted to drive on into animosity toward the British; and Jews, because many had expressed
Germany itself; but other Allied leaders, after first insisting on terms opposition to the anti-Semitic policies of the Russian government.
that made the agreement little different from a surrender, accepted the Public opinion turned bitterly hostile to German-Americans.
German proposal. On November 11, 1918, the Great War ended. There was a campaign against all things German. German music was
frequently banned. German books were removed from libraries. Vigi-
lante groups subjected Germans to harassment and beatings, including
Imposing social unity a lynching in Southern Illinois in 1918.

Many believed that a crucial prerequisite for victory was the unit-
ing of public opinion behind the war effort. A vast propaganda cam- Wilson’s Fourteen Points
paign was orchestrated by the Committee on Public Information
(CPI), under the direction of the Denver journalist George Creel. The On January 8, 1918, Wilson appeared before Congress to present a
CPI supervised the distribution of over 75 million pieces of printed list of war aims, widely known as the Fourteen Points; but they fell
material and controlled much of the information that was available for into three broad categories. (1) There were eight specific recommen-
newspapers and magazines. Creel encouraged journalists to exercise dations for adjusting postwar boundaries and for establishing new
‘self-censorship’ when reporting war news. nations to replace the defunct Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman em-
CPI-financed advertisements in magazines appealed to citizens to pires. They reflected his belief in the right of all peoples to self-
report to the authorities any evidence among their neighbors of dis- determination. (2) There were five general principles to govern
loyalty, pessimism, or yearning for peace. The Espionage Act of 1917 international conduct in the future: freedom of the seas, open cove-
gave the government new tools with which to combat spying, sabo- nants instead of secret treaties, reductions in armaments, free trade,
tage, or obstruction of the war effort. The Sabotage Act and the Se- and impartial mediation of colonial claims. (3) There was a proposal
dition Act of 1918 made illegal any public expression of opposition to for a ‘League of Nations’ that would help implement these new prin-
the war; in practice, they allowed officials to prosecute anyone who ciples and territorial adjustments and resolve future controversies.
criticized the president or the government, in particular such anticapi- Wilson’s proposals did not specify how to implement ‘national self-
talist groups as the Socialist party and the Industrial Workers of the determination,’ and did not mention the Soviet Union, or the eco-
World (IWW). Eugene V. Debs, the leader of the Socialist party and nomic rivalries among countries. But his international vision was ap-
an opponent of the war, was sentenced to ten years in prison in 1918. pealing because it reflected his belief, strongly rooted in the ideas of
President Warren G. Harding released him in 1921. Big Bill Haywood progressivism, that the world was capable of just and efficient govern-
and members of the IWW were energetically prosecuted. Only by ment. However, Britain and France, having developed great bitterness
fleeing to the Soviet Union did Haywood avoid a long imprisonment. toward Germany, were in no mood for a benign and generous peace.
21 TEXTOS HISTÓRICOS Y CULT. ANGLONORTEAMERICANOS NORTH AND SOUTH 22

In 1918, with the war almost over, Wilson unwisely appealed to the commission. The final amount, established in 1921, was far more than
American voters to support his peace plans by electing Democrats to the German economy could absorb.
Congress in the November elections. Days later, the Republicans cap- Wilson did manage to win some important victories in Paris in set-
tured majorities in both houses. Domestic economic troubles had been ting boundaries and dealing with former colonies. But his most visible
the most important factor in the voting; but the results damaged his triumph was the creation of a permanent international organization to
ability to claim broad popular support for his peace plans. Many Re- oversee world affairs and prevent future wars. On January 25, 1919,
publican leaders were angry that Wilson had tried to make the 1918 the Allies voted to accept the ‘covenant’ of the League of Nations.
balloting a referendum on his war aims, since many of them had been The covenant provided for an assembly of nations that would meet
supporting the Fourteen Points. regularly to debate means of resolving disputes and protecting the
peace. Authority to implement League decisions would rest with a
nine-member Executive Council; the United States would be one of
Paris peace conference five permanent members of the council, along with Britain, France,
Italy, and Japan. The covenant left many questions unanswered, most
When Wilson entered Paris on December 13, 1918, he was notably how the League would enforce its decisions.
greeted by a large crowd. The principal figures in the negotiations
were the leaders of the victorious Allied nations: David Lloyd George,
the prime minister of Great Britain; Georges Clemenceau, the presi- Ratification battle
dent of France; Vittorio Orlando, the prime minister of Italy; and
Wilson, who hoped to dominate them all. Many Americans, accustomed to their nation’s isolation from Eu-
The atmosphere of idealism Wilson had sought to create was com- rope, questioned the wisdom of this major new commitment to inter-
peting with a spirit of national aggrandizement. There was also unease nationalism. Others had serious reservations about the specific features
about the unstable situation in Eastern Europe and the threat of com- of the treaty and the covenant. After a brief trip to Washington in
munism. Russia, whose new Bolshevik government was still fighting February 1919, during which he listened to harsh objections to the
‘White’ counterrevolutionaries, was unrepresented in Paris. Wilson treaty from members of the Senate and others, Wilson returned to
himself had sent American troops into Russia in 1918, allegedly to Europe and insisted on certain modifications in the covenant (limiting
protect trapped Czech forces but really, many believed, to support the America’s obligations to the League) to satisfy his critics.
anti-Bolshevik forces in the civil war there. Wilson presented the Treaty of Versailles to the Senate on July
Wilson was unable to win approval of freedom of the seas, free 10, 1919. He refused to consider any compromise. Some members of
trade, or ‘open covenants openly arrived at’. He was forced to accept a the Senate–the ‘Irreconcilables,’ many of them Western isolation-
transfer of German colonies in the Pacific to Japan, to which the Brit- ists–opposed the agreement on principle. But many other opponents
ish had promised them in exchange for Japanese assistance in the war. were concerned with constructing a winning issue for the Republicans
His pledge of ‘national self-determination’ for all peoples suffered in 1920. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts used every
numerous assaults. Economic and strategic demands were constantly possible tactic to obstruct, delay, and amend the treaty. He presented a
coming into conflict with the principle of cultural nationalism. series of ‘reservations’–amendments to the League covenant further
When the conference began, the president opposed demanding limiting American obligations to the organization.
reparations from the defeated Central Powers. The other Allied lead- When Wilson realized the Senate would not yield, he embarked on
ers, however, were intransigent, and slowly Wilson gave way and ac- a speaking tour to arouse public support for the treaty. For more than
cepted the principle of reparations, the specific sum to be set later by a
23 TEXTOS HISTÓRICOS Y CULT. ANGLONORTEAMERICANOS NORTH AND SOUTH 24

three weeks, he traveled over 8,000 miles, resting hardly at all. On alleged radical centers throughout the country and arrested more than
September 25, 1919, he collapsed. 6,000 people. The Palmer Raids had been intended to uncover huge
Wilson ultimately recovered, but he was essentially an invalid for caches of weapons and explosives; they netted a total of three pistols
the remaining eighteen months of his presidency. When the Foreign and no dynamite.
Relations Committee finally sent the treaty to the Senate, recom- In May of 1920, two Italian immigrants, Nicola Sacco and Barto-
mending nearly fifty amendments and reservations, Wilson refused to lomeo Vanzetti, were charged with the murder of a paymaster in
consider any of them. When the full Senate voted in November to Braintree, Massachusetts. The case against them was questionable and
accept fourteen of the reservations, Wilson gave directions to his suffused with nativist prejudices and fears; but because both men were
Democratic allies to vote only for a treaty with no changes whatsoever. confessed anarchists, they faced a widespread public presumption of
On November 19, 1919, forty-two Democrats, following the presi- guilt. They were convicted and sentenced to death.
dent’s instructions, joined thirteen Republican ‘irreconcilables’ to
reject the amended treaty. When the Senate voted on the original
version without any reservations, thirty-eight senators, all but one a
Democrat, voted to approve it; fifty-five voted no.
Wilson was convinced that the 1920 national election would serve
as a ‘solemn referendum’ on the League. By now, however, public
interest in the peace process had begun to fade.

Red Scare

After the Russian Revolution of November 1917 communism was

no longer a theory but a real regime. In 1919 the Soviet government
announced the formation of the Communist International (or Com-
intern) to export revolution around the world.
In America, small groups of radicals were presumably responsible
for a series of bombings in 1919 that produced great national alarm. In
April, the post office intercepted several dozen parcels addressed to
leading businessmen and politicians that were triggered to explode
when opened. Two months later, eight bombs exploded in eight cities
within minutes of one another, suggesting a nationwide conspiracy.
The Red Scare began. Nearly thirty states enacted new peacetime
sedition laws imposing harsh penalties on those who promoted revolu-
tion; some 300 people went to jail as a result. There were acts of vi-
olence against supposed radicals in some communities, and efforts by
universities and other institutions to expel radicals from their midst.
On New Year’s Day, 1920, Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer
and his assistant, J. Edgar Hoover, orchestrated a series of raids on