WHEN FEAR IS SUBSTITUTED FOR REASON: EUROPEAN AND WESTERN GOVERNMENT POLICIES REGARDING NATIONAL SECURITY 1789-1919 Norma Lisa Flores A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2012 Committee: Dr. Beth Griech-Polelle, Advisor Dr. Mark Simon Graduate Faculty Representative Dr. Michael Brooks Dr. Geoff Howes Dr. Michael Jakobson © 2012 Norma Lisa Flores All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Dr. Beth Griech-Polelle, Advisor Although the twentieth century is perceived as the era of international wars and revolutions, the basis of these proceedings are actually rooted in the events of the nineteenth century. When anything that challenged the authority of the state – concepts based on enlightenment, immigration, or socialism – were deemed to be a threat to the status quo and immediately eliminated by way of legal restrictions. Once the façade of the Old World was completely severed following the Great War, nations in Europe and throughout the West started to revive various nineteenth century laws in an attempt to suppress the outbreak of radicalism that preceded the 1919 revolutions. What this dissertation offers is an extended understanding of how nineteenth century government policies toward radicalism fostered an environment of increased national security during Germany’s 1919 Spartacist Uprising and the 1919/1920 Palmer Raids in the United States. Using the French Revolution as a starting point, this study allows the reader the opportunity to put events like the 1848 revolutions, the rise of the First and Second Internationals, political fallouts, nineteenth century imperialism, nativism, Social Darwinism, and movements for self-government into a broader historical context. This background also underscores the problems between Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire that resulted in the two Balkan Wars and the eventual Great War. By this point in time, 1914-1918, the structure of the Old World was shattered beyond repair and the social problems of the pre-war period were erupting throughout the west as ancient regimes collapsed, borders were redrawn, and new republics emerged. For nations like iv Germany, a Bolshevik revolution was thought probable since the state had been weakened during the war years. While Germany actually came closer to succumbing to the ideals of bolshevism, both the Weimar Republic and the United States government used this time as a means of further restricting civil liberties in an effort to rid the nation of radicalism and preserve the authority of the national executive. Therefore, instead of peace after the Great War, surveillance states soon emerged as nations rushed to eradicate all forms of foreignism from the national environment. v In Honor of my Parents John and Ludivina Flores and my Grandparents Justo II and Benita Resendez and In Memory of my Grandparents Rito Sr. and Susanna Flores vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Since 2009, this project has captivated my time and attention and therefore has been shared by countless individuals over the years. First, to my family, Mum and Da, thank you for your unfailing faith, love, encouragement, understanding and guidance not only during this project, but throughout my academic career. You have given me the foundation to not only dream the impossible, but achieve it with a sense of hope, grace and humility. And to Elsa, Ron, and Reece Wawrzyniak, thank you for your love, patience and support during these last two decades. Academically, to my advisor, Dr. Beth Griech-Polelle, thank you for your unfailing support over the years, I have truly appreciated your guidance. Also, to my committee members Dr. Michael Brooks, Dr. Geoff Howes, and Dr. Mark Simon of Bowling Green State University and Dr. Michael Jakobson of the University of Toledo, thank you for lending their time to seeing the completion of this project. I am indebted to all of you. Professionally, to Tina Thomas of Bowling Green State University and the faculty and staff at the University of Toledo including Dr. William O’Neal, Dr. Larry Wilcox, and Debbie MacDonald who have all kept me in good spirits throughout this process. Thank you. To Robert L. MacDonald who has stood by me throughout this entire process. Thank you for your continuous guidance, constant patience, and unfailing love throughout these last few years. You have helped make this journey all the more memorable. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION .....…………………………………………………………………….... 1 CHAPTER I. EUROPE IN TRANSITION: THE RISE OF NINETEENTH CENTURY REVOLUTIONS AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS ........................................ 9 CHAPTER II. SOCIAL DEMOCRACY AND THE BALKAN CRISIS ........................... 69 CHAPTER III. THE WAR YEARS: PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION ................................ 139 CHAPTER IV. A CONTINUAL STATE OF CRISIS: WAR, PEACE AND THE FIRST RED SCARE……………………………………………………………………. ..... 218 CONCLUSION. FALLOUT OF 1919 IN GERMANY AND THE UNITED STATES… . 275 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………….. 290 APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………………… ... 319 1 INTRODUCTION By the turn of the nineteenth century, Europe and the Western world had undergone a significant change in power. Incessant warfare in areas of Europe, North America, and Asia throughout the eighteenth century placed additional pressure on Europe’s imperial powers and further strained the economies. As a result, empires like Great Britain, France, Prussia, Austria- Hungary, and Russia struggled to maintain political authority over their subjects. Following the loss of British dominance in the New World in the immediate aftermath of the American Revolutionary War and the murder of France’s monarchs in 1793 during its own revolution, the challenge to Europe’s imperial powers for continual dominance over land, resources, and people was starting to fracture both internally and abroad. Movements toward self-determination and calls for constitutional monarchs forced many imperial governments to enact laws that would restrict civil liberties in the event that those privileges – speech, press, and assembly – were being used by the nation’s general population as a means of overthrowing the current political system. In an attempt to safeguard their own concepts of national security, Europe’s surviving empires opened the Congress of Vienna in 1814 and entered into negotiations that permitted the heads of Europe’s Five Great Powers (Great Britain, France, Prussia, Austria-Hungary, and Russia) to secure their titles for nearly 100 years. Nevertheless, while power was restored by the European monarchs, the ideals that led to the revolutionary movements in 1774 and 1789 had not been defeated. In fact, the principles that resulted in the two revolutions were quickly being adopted by new organizations throughout Europe. Advocating, freedom, liberty, equality, civil rights, and independence from foreign rule and internal corruption, these radical beliefs fostered the rise of philosophies like liberalism, nativism, socialism, communism, and anarchism 2 throughout the 1800s. Although the twentieth century is perceived as the era of international wars and revolutions, the basis of these proceedings are actually rooted in the events of the nineteenth century. When anything that challenged the authority of the state – concepts based on enlightenment, immigration, ethnicity, religion, poverty, or even striking laborers – were deemed to be a threat to the status quo and immediately eliminated by way of legal restrictions. Once the façade of the Old World was completely severed following the Great War, nations in Europe and throughout the West started to revive various nineteenth century laws in an attempt to suppress the outbreak of radicalism that preceded the 1919 revolutions. To date, the uprisings of 1919 are restricted to geographical regions and timeframes that are limited to the events surrounding the Great War. In most instances, the Russian Revolution of 1917 is used as a means of explaining the volatile post-war period, however, the division between capital and labor already existed long before the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Consequently preliminary laws and state reactions toward extremism, liberalism, and the rise of social democracy, particularly in Germany, are often times omitted from secondary literature. What this dissertation offers is an extended understanding of how nineteenth century government policies toward radicalism fostered an environment of increased national security during Germany’s 1919 Spartacist Uprising and the 1919/1920 Palmer Raids in the United States. Using the French Revolution as a starting point, this study allows the reader the opportunity to put events like the 1848 revolutions, the rise of the First and Second Internationals, political fallouts, nineteenth century imperialism, nativism, Social Darwinism, and movements for self-government into a broader historical context. This background also underscores the problems between Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire that resulted in the two Balkan Wars and the eventual Great War. By this point in time, 1914-1918, the structure of 3 the Old World was shattered beyond repair and the social problems of the pre-war period were erupting throughout the west as ancient regimes collapsed, borders were redrawn, and new republics emerged. For nations like Germany, a Bolshevik revolution was thought probable since the state had been weakened during the war years. While