2026-4-1+Lecture+-+Post+WW1

Key Themes of World War I and its Aftermath

State Capacity and Nationalism: World War I significantly increased state capacity and mobilized new, potent nationalistic sentiments within the United States.
Propaganda and Repression: The government developed unprecedented new capacities for the dissemination of propaganda and the enforcement of political repression.
Women’s Suffrage: The war increased both the stakes and the specific tactics available to the transnational women’s suffrage movement, leading to significant legislative changes.
Geopolitics and WWII: In hindsight, the Versailles Treaty that ended the war and the subsequent failure of the League of Nations are seen as enabling factors for the later outbreak of World War II.
Xenophobia and Immigration Policy: WWI catalyzed intense nationalistic sentiments and anti-immigrant xenophobia. These cultural shifts were instrumental in the passage of the Johnson-Reed Act of $1924$ .

The Paradox of Making the World "Safe for Democracy"

Wilsonian Rhetoric: When President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war in April $1917$ , he famously stated: ‐The world…must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundation of political liberty.‑
Contradictions in Domestic Democracy: The question remains: But democracy for whom? * White Supremacy: The film Birth of a Nation ( $1915$ ) was released during this era, helping to inspire the rise of the second Ku Klux Klan (KKK). President Wilson famously screened this film in the White House. * Gender Exclusion: During the war effort, women’s suffrage was not yet legal across the entire country. * Imperialism: Despite the rhetoric of democracy, President Wilson sent marines to Haiti after the Haitian government refused to prioritize American banks. This intervention led to U.S. military rule in Haiti until $1934$ .

Growth of the Wartime State and Federal Capacity

Military Expansion: Congress passed the Selective Service Act in May $1917$ , requiring $24 \times 10^0$ million (or $24$ million) men to register for the draft. * The U.S. Army expanded rapidly from $120,000$ to $5$ million personnel. * The arrival of U.S. troops in $1917$ - $1918$ shifted the balance of power in the war in favor of the Allies.
Federal Regulation and Industry: There was a significant growth of new federal agencies dedicated to the regulation of war-related industries. * The war catalyzed a drive for efficiency via state-led regulation and standardization of various economic sectors.
Financing the War: Corporate and individual taxes rose sharply to finance the military effort. * By $1918$ , the wealthiest Americans were paying $60\%$ of their income in taxes.

Propaganda and State-Led Repression

Initial Ambivalence: Many Americans were initially ambivalent regarding entry into the war. In $1915$ , the most popular song in the U.S. was ‐I didn't raise my boy to be a soldier.‑ This divide persisted through $1916$ and $1917$ .
Committee on Public Information (CPI): Created by President Wilson in April $1917$ , this agency was designed to disseminate pro-war propaganda. It set a precedent for the government shaping a pro-war atmosphere in society.
Legislative Repression: * Espionage Act ( $1917$ ): Prohibited making ‐false statements‑ that might impede military success. * Sedition Act ( $1918$ ): Prohibited making spoken or printed statements that cast ‐scorn‑ on the government.
Post-War Repression: Repression continued after the ceasefire with the rise of the Red Scare. * Palmer Raids: Attorney General Palmer led raids on radical and labor organizations. * Anti-German Sentiment: Intense anti-German attitudes influenced law and society, as seen in the primary document case Meyer v. Nebraska ( $1923$ ).

The Women’s Suffrage Movement and WWI

Tactical Shifts: The war increased both the stakes and the radical tactics available to the transnational movement.
Internal Divisions: * Some members of the suffrage movement supported the war effort as a means to prove their citizenship and worthiness of the vote. * Jeanette Rankin: The first woman member of Congress, she opposed the war from a pacifist stance. * Alice Paul: Employed radical confrontation, protesting the war and advocating for suffrage simultaneously outside the White House.
The 19th Amendment ( $1920$ ): While this amendment supposedly guaranteed the right to vote regardless of sex, Black women in the South still faced significant disenfranchisement.
Constitutional Strategy: The National Women’s Party specifically sought a constitutional amendment to ensure a uniform national standard for suffrage.

Racial Tensions and Military Service

Opportunities for Rights: Like Alice Paul, many African Americans viewed the war as an opportunity to enlarge freedom struggles and secure civil rights victories through demonstration of loyalty.
Systemic Discrimination: Despite their service, soldiers faced strict segregation within the military and were systematically excluded from high-ranking leadership positions.
Racist Pogroms: The era was marked by intense racial violence at home: * East St. Louis ( $1917$ ) * Red Summer ( $1919$ ) * Tulsa Massacre ( $1921$ ) * Efforts by groups like the Colored Women’s Clubs of Michigan included submitting petitions to Congress in $1922$ to address these injustices.

The Treaty of Versailles and International Diplomacy

Allied Success: U.S. entry into the war turned the tide and contributed to the success of the Allied powers.
Treaty of Versailles ( $1919$ ): * Redrew the map of Eastern Europe and broke up the Austro-Hungarian Empire. * Placed harsh economic penalties on Germany and Austria.
League of Nations: This was an attempt to establish an international body ‐to make the world safe for Democracy.‑ * It failed to pass in the U.S. Congress, as critics argued it would undermine U.S. sovereignty.

The Long History of U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Restriction

Naturalization Act of $1790$ : This act excluded Black people and Asian people from becoming naturalized citizens. The exclusion for Black people was removed in $1870$ following the Civil War.
Page Act of $1875$ : Prohibited immigration for sex workers, individuals perceived to have intellectual disabilities, people with contagious diseases, and those convicted of crimes.
Chinese Exclusion Act of $1882$ : Excluded Chinese individuals not only from citizenship but from entering the U.S. entirely.
Immigration Act of $1882$ : Prohibited immigration for ‐lunatics‑ and people deemed likely to become a ‐public charge.‑
Exclusion Rates ( $1880$ - $1914$ ): Of the $25$ million immigrants from Europe during this period, only $1\%$ were excluded.

Post-WWI Immigration Policy and the Rise of Nativism

Pre-WWI Status: Almost all individuals classified as ‐white‑ were able to immigrate and become citizens without numerical restriction.
Post-WWI Shifts: * Increase in nationalism and anti-German-American sentiment. * Rising fears of immigrant radicalism, specifically associating Jews with Communism and Italians with anarchism.
Immigration Act of $1917$ : Introduced literacy tests as a requirement for entry.
Emergency Immigration Act of $1921$ : * Restricted total immigration to $355,000$ per year. * Established a quota at $3\%$ for each European country based on the number of foreign-born individuals of that nationality residing in the U.S. as of the $1910$ census. * Nativists lobbied for a $2\%$ quota based on the $1890$ census to further limit Southern and Eastern European immigrants.

The Immigration Act of 1924 (Johnson-Reed Act)

Quota System: Restricted immigration to $155,000$ people per year.
Census Base: Quotas were set at $2\%$ of the non-U.S. born population according to the $1890$ census.
Exclusion of Asians: The act excluded all those ‐ineligible for citizenship,‑ which Mae Ngai notes was a ‐euphemism for Japanese exclusion.‑
Global Impact: This barred approximately half of the world's population, including nearly all nationalities from East and South Asia.
Administrative Difficulty: The laws presented immense challenges in the practical administration of the quota system.

Methodologies of Racial Classification and Engineering

Classification Categories: * Native Stock: Defined as the white population present at the time of the late $1700$ s. * Immigrant Stock: People who entered the U.S. after $1790$ and their descendants. * Nationality: Defined by country of birth (except when referring to the U.S. itself).
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