Woodrow Wilson and World War I, 1917-1921

This is the engrossing history of the dawn of modern America, when we became a great power and when the concept of big government was born. Probably the most concise and at the same time detailed overview of the American experience in the First World War and through the end of the Wilson administration that I have read. An era that all Americans of both parties should be knowledgeable about in our current times. This book is an excellent starting point.

very boring didn't bother to finish it. Not recommended

Robert H. Ferrell’s Woodrow Wilson & World War I: 1917-1921 says much about the War and examines Wilson’s role in it.Beginning in April 1917 with the President’s abandonment of neutrality and his War message to Congress, it reviews of the strengths of a nation that had grown out of the ashes of the Civil War in which Wilson spent his Southern boyhood. Europe’s road to war is then explained.The next subject is the officers and politicians who organized America’s great effort including to Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge who amended the draft bill, the enlistees and draftees who filled the ranks, reforming War Secretary Newton Baker and Chief of Staff Peyton who organized a greatly expanded Army to be ready for the unprecedented demands of the War.The American’s were a paper tiger until its army had been transported “Over There”. The convoys to carry the American Expeditionary Force and supplies across the Atlantic were the responsibility of the U. S. Navy that performed it without losing a troop ship. The toll taken by German U-Boats dropped with American sailors on patrol. Sections deal with the AEF itself, its leaders, men and the equipment they used, the industrial mobilization that produced the weapons and munitions with which the Army fought and the campaigns in which it was involved.Although on a much more modest scale, the World War I mobilization of industry served as a model for that of World War II. The description of the expansion of shipping to replace Allied losses and the explosion of domestic railroad capacity demand admiration. Secretary of the Treasury William McAdoo effected the daunting task of financing of the War, both through the American government and in loans to Allied nations, that was a substantial American contribution.Though an “Associated “ rather than an “Allied” Power, the need to cooperate with Allies was a consuming interest for Gen. Pershing, the President, and his aid, Col. House.The entry of the AEF into accompanied the collapse of the German War effort. As diplomacy moved to the fore initial German peace feelers were directed to Wilson, rather than to European players, enabling Wilson to advance the Fourteen Points that he proposed to form the basis of a peace settlement. Among the many issues involved were the dismemberment of the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires, the status of Poland, the place of the Bolshevik government of Russia in the new world order and, most importantly to Wilson, the establishment of the League of Nations.The restoration of peace brought domestic politics to the surface. Senate opposition to ratification of the Peace Treaty set off a confrontation into which Wilson threw his heart and soul and, ultimately, his health in an unsuccessful appeal to the people to demand ratification of the Treaty. Demobilization drove millions of men back into the workforce right as the nation was facing rising demands of women for suffrage and other Progressive Era reforms. Throughout and after the War the Civil Rights of Americans were debated and, by the standards of later days, abridged for German-Americans and those suspected of Bolshevik leanings. Race riots erupted in cities across the land. Finally, all must be submitted to the people and the Democratic ticket of 1920, that gave some support to Wilson’s post-war program suffered a crushing defeat that was taken as a repudiation of his stewardship of the White House.I found Woodrow Wilson & World War I to provide insights into America’s involvement in the War and Wilson’s role in it that I had not gathered in other readings. I had never read that submariners who survived a depth charge attack were so shell shocked for days to the point that they could not function effectively. Hooverizing represented deprivation before the depression, as he urged Americans to voluntarily endure meatless and wheatless days and clean their plates. Originally copyrighted in 1985 this tome reflects the judgement of a different time, a time when the War was still a living memory for some. Wisdom was not invented in the Twenty-First Century. A balanced appreciation of history requires a distillation of many viewpoints gathered by historians over a span of time. This book has much to add to our understanding of its subject.

Ferrell paints a clear picture of Wilson as a struggling war time President, who badly misread the mood of the country by thinking his policy of a universal diplomatic organization (The League of Nations) would be a natural outflow of the US/ Allied victory in World War 1. It is clear that the country was ready to "retreat" to isolationism and Wilson turned rather stubborn after the victory. The immediate political result of the miscalculation was the election of Warren G. Harding to the White House in 1920 and the era of big business Conservatism in the 20's.Among the gems found in the book are descriptions of World War 1 logistics and supply, the economy and the war itself. There are also good portions of the important people of the era, such as Tom House, the political manager of Wilson's time and General John J. Pershing.For me, the most interesting part of the book was the description of how civil liberties were badly abused during the war. This is covered well in one of the later chapters.This is another book in the Harper and Row "New American Nation Series."

This excellent book is a part of The New American Nation series and I found it really a good work, tellling much I did not know or had forgotten. It leaves it plain that Wilson was far too stubborn over the League--if he had accepted reservations it would have been for the best. The book is excellent in its documentation, and has a good bibliography, and can be recommended to all interested in its fascinating subject.