Adam Hochschild's American Midnight revisits the painful period of 1917 through 1921, when the United States entered World War I then, having helped tAdam Hochschild's American Midnight revisits the painful period of 1917 through 1921, when the United States entered World War I then, having helped to win it, plunged into a maelstrom of political violence and state repression. Hochschild (King Leopold's Ghost) turns his narrative gifts to Woodrow Wilson's quixotic effort to "make the world safe for democracy" while working to crush it at home. Dissent was criminalized by the Espionage and Sedition Acts, with the government arresting socialists, labor leaders and other radicals under the guise of protecting America from German espionage. Vigilantes targeted German-Americans, some of whom were beaten, tarred-and-feathered or lynched; the American Protective League, a semi-official citizens' detective agency, rounded up draft-dodging "slackers" and conscientious objectors; the Bureau of Investigation, under the ambitious detective William J. Flynn, consolidated its power. War's end in November 1918 merely presaged a flowering of peacetime unrest: a flu pandemic, labor strikes, race riots, a wave of anarchist bombings and reprisals by super-patriots like the American Legion. It culminated in the Palmer Raids, where Wilson's Attorney General unleashed the Federal government on thousands of victims - some radicals, many simply immigrants in the wrong place, who were arrested, beaten and many of them deported. The hysteria eventually burned itself out, but not without leaving deep scars on the American psyche.
These topics have often been discussed individually, like in Kenneth Ackerman's Young J. Edgar (which depicts the Red Scare through the eyes of an ambitious young Bureau official), David Kennedy's Over Here or Cameron McWhirter's Red Summer. Hochschild ties these events into a cohesive narrative while adding unfamiliar contours. Familiar progressives Eugene Debs, Emma Goldman and Robert La Follette brush shoulders with less-known figures like socialist Kate Richards O'Hare, the first American prosecuted under the Espionage Act, and IWW leader Frank Little, lynched by a patriotic mob; reactionaries Ole Hanson, Seattle's Red-baiting Mayor, and former Rough Rider Leonard Wood use the chaos to craft political careers. Black leaders like W.E.B. Du Bois bemoan race riots in East St. Louis and Chicago while encouraging the "New Negro" to assert their democratic rights in the face of prejudice and violence. Strikers are demonized as Bolsheviks, while a wave of wartime xenophobia leads to violence against immigrants and ultimately strict restrictions on their arrival. Hochschild unsparingly portrays Wilson as a pious hypocrite, with subordinates Flynn, A. Mitchell Palmer, George Creel (head of wartime propaganda) and postmaster Albert Burleson tightening the screws of repression. America emerged from this period fundamentally changed, its extant fault lines emphasized and a pattern for government repression in the name of "democracy" and anti-communism firmly established. A thoughtful, highly-readable narrative of a tumultuous time....more
Geoffrey R. Stone's Perilous Times offers a sobering assessment of America's approach to civil liberties during wartime, from colonial times to the WaGeoffrey R. Stone's Perilous Times offers a sobering assessment of America's approach to civil liberties during wartime, from colonial times to the War on Terror. Stone's book includes chapters on the Alien and Sedition Acts during John Adams' Quasi-War with France; Abraham Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus and arrest of Copperhead seditionists during the Civil War; Woodrow Wilson's extensive abuses of power during the First World War and Franklin Roosevelt's use of internment camps and mass conspiracy trials during the Second; the '50s Red Scare under Truman and Eisenhower and the response to the Vietnam antiwar movement. There are focuses on particularly notorious cases, from Clement Vallandigham's arrest during the Civil War to the Palmer Raids, the WWII Sedition Trial of fascist sympathizers, the Smith Act prosecutions of Communists and the Chicago Seven conspiracy trial. Stone teases out the nuances in the differing approaches, showing how presidents differed in their response; where a Lincoln earnestly wrestled with constitutional issues of suppressing a rebellion (and thus was relatively lenient), Wilson showed few qualms about jailing even the mildest agitators. While Roosevelt's advisers determined not to repeat Wilson's mistakes, the internment of Japanese Americans eclipsed even the worst excesses of the Palmer Raids and the Espionage Act. And others, particularly John Adams and Richard Nixon, seemed to view even mild dissent as a personal attack on themselves. Stone's stories, of course, aren't always about the reactions of presidents; there's plenty of blame cast at Attorneys General, state governments and particularly the court system - the Supreme Court's record on civil liberties reads as a ghastly roll of collaboration. And sadly, as Stone (writing in 2005) shows, modern leaders seem to have learned the wrong lessons - namely, that they can get away with repression so long as they justify it as national security. ...more
Geoffrey Wawro's Sons of Freedom offers an energetic narrative of America’s military involvement in the First World War. Wawro essentially skims over Geoffrey Wawro's Sons of Freedom offers an energetic narrative of America’s military involvement in the First World War. Wawro essentially skims over the war’s background and political leaders (unlike G.J. Meyer's recent work), opting to focus on the American Expeditionary Force’s experiences in the climax of the Western Front. Wawro insists that American intervention in the war was decisive, coming at a moment when Britain and France’s armies were on the verge of collapse and unable to stop the Germans in their Spring Offensive without a massive infusion of American reinforcements, materiel and morale. Despite claims on the dust jacket that this argument’s “revisionist,” it’s actually a well-worn, constantly-argued interpretation of events; how valid it is comes down to the individual reader. Regardless, the book’s main virtues are its immediacy and quick-paced narrative, offering blow-by-blow accounts, alternately exciting and horrific, of the AEF’s battles and the experiences of the Doughboys, quickly trained and thrown into a maelstrom, forced to become an expert army under fire. By Wawro’s account, at least, they succeeded handsomely....more
Veteran journalist and political historian Jules Witcover turns his attention to the little-known German sabotage campaign in pre-WWI America. As the Veteran journalist and political historian Jules Witcover turns his attention to the little-known German sabotage campaign in pre-WWI America. As the title suggests, the bulk of the book focuses on the Black Tom explosion in July 1916, the Germans' most dramatic success. Other segments focus on Franz von Papen, the duplicitous diplomat and spymaster; Franz von Rintelen, the vainglorious pencil bombers who schemed to involve disaffected blacks and Irish longshoremen, deposed Mexican dictators and radical unionists in his schemes to sabotage America; Eric Muenter, the "lone wolf" assassin who blew up the Capitol and shot J.P. Morgan's son; and the cell of German-Americans who actually plotted the Black Tom Affair. Witcover blends thorough research with a fast-paced, absorbing writing style, though he's more willing to credit the German spies with effectiveness than I would be. A large segment of the book focuses on the decades-long investigation and legal battle over Black Tom, which weren't resolved until the 1950s. Probably the best popular book on this subject written to date (much better than Howard Blum's sensationalized Dark Invasion). ...more
Maverick Marine charts Smedley Butler's long and controversial career as an imperial enforcer, expanding American influence by force in Cuba, the PhilMaverick Marine charts Smedley Butler's long and controversial career as an imperial enforcer, expanding American influence by force in Cuba, the Philippines, Nicaragua, Mexico, China, Haiti and France before becoming a staunch opponent of imperialism, fascism and war. For all his undoubted courage as a multiple Medal of Honor winner, Butler does not come off well here. Despite his about-face later in life, he clearly had no qualms about brutality or racism while actually serving (his epithets towards the Haitians in particular would make a Klansman blush), earning a memetic reputation as a deadly fighter (Nicaraguans of the era, Schmidt reports, cautioned misbehaving children that "Major Butler will get you"). Schmidt explores this with commendable objectivity, allowing Old Gimlet Eye to speak for himself without editorializing; his own words are pretty damning. As for his later turn towards pacifism, Schmidt suggests that it came less from principle than a falling out with the Marine Corps brass over a delayed promotion and bureaucratic infighting; always outspoken and unvarnished in his opinions, Butler made many enemies even within the institution he served so faithfully. A fascinating biography highly recommended to students of military history. ...more
Mary Renda's Taking Haiti offers a cultural analysis of the invasion. It's certainly an interesting perspective to explore, as Renda examines the Amer Mary Renda's Taking Haiti offers a cultural analysis of the invasion. It's certainly an interesting perspective to explore, as Renda examines the American occupation's impact on American culture: she argues that the plethora of military memoirs and travel writing from the era, for instance, directly led to America's fascination with voodoo and zombies. Similarly, it's fascinating to see how many American writers (Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Eugene O'Neill, Orson Welles) drew inspiration from the period through plays, poems, novels and political activism. The book is less successful looking at the occupation itself, becoming too preoccupied in psychoanalysis of the "masculine" role playing of American Marines and officials confronted with a culture they neither respected nor understood. There may be value in such an approach, but really it seems too much like literary criticism or Fawn Brodie-esque psychobiography to seem applicable to real life. And again, there's little consideration of Haitian reactions to the occupation, leaving a gap in the research....more
This history of America's brutal occupation of Haiti manages to be both exhaustive and incomplete. Schmidt exhaustively chronicles the attitudes and aThis history of America's brutal occupation of Haiti manages to be both exhaustive and incomplete. Schmidt exhaustively chronicles the attitudes and actions of American servicemen, politicians and financial officials during the nineteen years of occupation, showing a bizarre melange of conflicting motives: Woodrow Wilson's commitment to spreading democracy and imposing "law and order," protection from European nations (namely France and Germany) along with dreams of economic exploitation. Though Schmidt emphasizes Wilson's liberal idealism (with democracy and "free trade" going hand in glove), he doesn't shy away from depicting the violent racism of American occupiers, brutal atrocities ranging from massacres to impressment into chain gangs (exploding the "we built roads" defense of imperialism), and the everyday slights, indignities and tensions that accompany any occupation. Unfortunately, Schmidt's prose ranges from pedestrian to leaden, and without a clear narrative or thematic through line he bogs down in repetitive discussions of American financial interests and an endless barrage of racial slurs. Even worse, the book almost completely lacks a Haitian perspective on events, reducing an entire nation to passive spectators, pliant puppets or recalcitrant rebels without a voice. Valuable for the researcher, not recommended for a casual reader....more
Lester Langley's The Banana Wars showcases American military adventurism in the first third of the Twentieth Century, from the Spanish-American War thLester Langley's The Banana Wars showcases American military adventurism in the first third of the Twentieth Century, from the Spanish-American War through FDR's Good Neighbor Policy. Langley advances under the idea that, far from upholding purely commercial interests (as Smedley Butler and others accused), America's enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine represented a sincere, if monumentally misguided effort at making the Caribbean safe for democracy. Which doesn't mean that he skimps on the brutality and counter-productiveness of America's interventions abroad: the constant dispatch of troops in Cuba, the Veracruz expedition to Revolutionary Mexico, the savage occupations of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the war against Sandino in Nicaragua. Whatever the ostensibly noble motives, Langley shows, all of these interventions devolved into bloodletting and oppression that belied America's high-blown rhetoric. In short, the Land of the Free becomes Just Another Empire....more
The title is only half-accurate: relatively little of the book discusses the Centralia Massacre, a deadly 1919 encounter between the International WorThe title is only half-accurate: relatively little of the book discusses the Centralia Massacre, a deadly 1919 encounter between the International Workers of the World and American Legionnaires which resulted in six deaths and endless bitterness, trials and recriminations. Copeland instead focuses on the travails of Elmer Smith, a lawyer and labor organizer who gradually drifts into the Wobblies' radical orbit, becomes arrested in conjunction with Centralia and struggles to obtain justice for his comrades. Smith seems such a peripheral figure in the events described that it's a wonder why Copeland chose him for a subject; certainly there's little in the book to justify it. Between this and John McClelland's underwhelming, though impeccably-researched The Wobbly War, Centralia is still aching for a worthy non-fiction treatment (though novelists like John Dos Passos have done a lot with it). ...more
Admittedly, this is a book I bought more to learn something than as an engrossing read, and on that score I have few complaints. Smith, a diplomat andAdmittedly, this is a book I bought more to learn something than as an engrossing read, and on that score I have few complaints. Smith, a diplomat and historian, does a fine job showing the political divisions rending early 20th Century Greece, namely the rivalry between nationalist Eleftherios Venizelos, who envisioned a new Hellenic Empire across Asia Minor (with winking support of Britain and its allies), and the more conservative, cautious King Constantine and his advisers, who took hold of Greece in 1920 and drove it to disaster. Smith navigates these strands well, showing how this internal division, along with confused strategy, dismal military leadership (not least the half-mad General Hatzianestis) and the British withholding support at crucial moment. Strangely, Smith treats Mustafa Kemal and his Turkish nationalists as almost passive players in the story, except when they're slaughtering Christians in Smyrna and elsewhere. While consistently informative, Smith does often become bogged down in oft-repetitive detail, transcripts of political debates and policy papers that don't make for gripping reading. Between this and David Walder's The Chanak Affair, my excursions into this chunk of Greek history have been disappointing; will have to keep my antennae raised for something better....more
Barbara Tuchman's The Zimmermann Telegram was her third book, and the first to really embrace the breakneck, character-driven narrative history form sBarbara Tuchman's The Zimmermann Telegram was her third book, and the first to really embrace the breakneck, character-driven narrative history form she'd master in The Guns of August and other books. Indeed, Telegram covers similar ground, focusing on the United States' road to intervening in the First World War. Woodrow Wilson, declaring himself "too proud to fight," initially espoused neutrality even though he personally favored the Allies over Germany; Germany, seeing the United States as an unannounced belligerent, seeded America with spies and saboteurs and engaged in diplomatic intrigues in Mexico and the Pacific to undermine its position. Tuchmann shows that the Zimmermann Telegram, the notorious German diplomatic note which spurred America into war, was not completely fanciful in its visions of an alliance between Germany, Mexico and Japan. Wilson had intervened repeatedly in Mexico's ongoing Revolution, to the chagrin of all sides, while longstanding fears of Japanese expansion in the Pacific (unabated by Japan joining England in capturing Germany's Pacific colonies) made many Americans fearful of a future conflict with that Empire. Modern historians tend not to be so generous towards Wilson and his motives as Tuchman, who doesn't doubt for a second the President's sincerity in wanting peace, nor the perfidy of Kaiser Wilhelm and his goose-stepping minions. The book is selective in which context it provides, for instance a dramatic chapter about the American capture of Veracruz but little about America's not-so-discreet arming of Britain and double-standard regarding the German U-Boat campaign and the Allies' starvation blockade. Still, I give the book 4 stars (maybe 3.5 would be better on a non-Goodreads scale) not because it's the last word on the subject (far from it) or because Tuchman's conclusions are irrefutable (certainly not), but because it's a compelling, highly readable narrative that provides some welcome context to an obscure chapter in American history....more
Christopher
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