SPECIALIZED COMMITTEE

JCC: Democrats (1920 Elections) The First and the

Kate Farmer and Henry Coates

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS Introduction “League of Nations.” A term coined by Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson in 1914. Dickinson was a founding member of the Bryce Group, after Lord Bryce, another avid proponent of the League of Nations concept, which developed into the League of Nations Union, one of the most influential factions in the governing Liberal Party in Britain. The intention of the organization in Dickinson’s eyes was as one for arbitration and conciliation. In spite of their British basing, the message of the Bryce Group became widespread throughout both England and the United States. Feminist leaders and protesters of the war in the United States have turned to this idea as well, with Jane Addams promoting the idea of a “permanent league of neutral nations.” The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom was established in The Hague and convinced most foreign ministers of most belligerent nations to agree to the League of Nations concept in the event that American President Woodrow proposes the body. In spite of the noble effort of the Women’s League, Wilson refused the proposition due to the ongoing war. In the post war Wilson promoted the League as one of his 14 points. The main objection of Congress to the League of Nations is that it has the possibility of pulling the nation into war when undeclared by the Congress itself. Henry Cabot Lodge, a Republican Senator, leads the opposition to the treaty on this basis. It is written into the Constitution that Congress possesses the sole power to declare war, and any treaty that overrides this thereby overrides the founding document of the United States of America. Additional objections to the League of Nations are that it interferes with America conducting its own foreign policy, under fear that the nation’s actions would become dictated by the League. History of the Issue The initial concept of a League of Nations was conceived in 1795 by Immanuel Kant. The idea was a community of nations that would promote international peace and control conflict between nations. The goal of this was not an international governing body, like the League that became, but rather for every nation to individually promote peace and respect of foreign governments, so that they might collaborate against conflict throughout the world. The first example of a cooperative international group promoting prosperity and controlling conflict is the Concert of Europe that arose to halt the expansionism of Napoleon. The goal of this group was to maintain the status quo, thereby promoting peace and seeking the aims put forth by Kant. This period also saw the beginning of regulation on war, with the first Geneva Conventions, and the Hague Conventions establishing humanitarian laws and rules of war. Theodore Roosevelt emerged in this period as the first American president to join the outcry for an international league to keep the peace, stating “it would be a masterstroke if those great powers honestly bent on peace would form a League of Peace.” The base structure of the League of Nations was derived from the first such body established, the Inter-Parliamentary Union. This Union was founded by peace activists in Great Britain, and consisted primarily of members of Parliament who promoted peace within the government. The structure of the Union, with a council lead by a president, was emulated by the League when it was created. With the onset of support for the League concept became much more popular throughout the world. Led by Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson and Lord Bryce in England, and extending the the United States on the backs of feminist movements. The League had gained traction throughout the world as a result of the war, who’s atrocities needed to be prevented in the future. Recent Developments Democratic Point of View: The League of Nations was heavily supported at the Paris Peace Conference by Democrat President . Democrats generally support the League idea, and deem it the most effective way of securing peace in the world. Without an established group of nations to watch over the world there would be nothing stopping a nation like Germany to rise in power again and having the ability to wage war upon the free world. There is no greater fear than a repeat of World War I, and such an occurrence is entirely unthinkable for the American people after the atrocities witnessed in Europe.

Republican Point of View: The League of Nations is widely feared by Republicans, led in the Senate by Henry Cabot Lodge. While the League is deemed good in theory, it is feared by its unilateral power over the member states. Congress is not meant to be subordinate to an international governing body. The League of Nations would have the power to call the United States to war without the approval of Congress, meaning if the warring Europeans decided they wanted to repeat the terror they had just unleashed on the world, they could do so and draw America into a war it wanted no part of. The general consensus is that a Treaty with a compromise such that Congress must approve any decision that would draw America into war would be accepted by Republicans, but Wilson has thus far refused to consider such an amendment to his crowning achievement. Conclusion There is no question that the universal desire of every involved party is peace. International and permanent peace, making true the nickname for World War I, the “War to End all Wars.” There has never been a war so terrible, and the desire of the American people is to never see such an event occur for the rest of history. The conflict arises over the methodology of preventing another Great War. Should America join the League of Nations that promises to watch over the world preventing any unjust conflict, or instead avoid the overarching international government that has the power to overrule Congress and send American into a war where it does not belong. Questions to Consider

 Would the League of Nations have the power to prevent international conflict with America as a member?

 Is the possibility of being drawn into conflict worth being part of the international governing body to prevent world conflict?

 How might Wilson be convinced to compromise on the treaty so that America cannot be drawn into an undesirable war?

 What measures could America take if not a member of the League to prevent international conflict?

 Is international peace with limited American influence a suitable solution? Should the world’s most powerful nation have more control over the League? Sources for Additional Research

 https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/league

 https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/league-of-nations

 https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/wilson-league-nations/

Bibliography A&E Television Networks. "League of Nations." HISTORY. Last modified October 12, 2017. Accessed January 29, 2019. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/league-of- nations.

George Washington University. "League of Nations." The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project. Accessed January 29, 2019. https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/league-of-nations.cfm.

"League of Nations." The President Woodrow Wilson House. Accessed January 29, 2019. https://www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org/league-nations.

PBS. "The League of Nations." PBS. Accessed January 29, 2019. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/wilson-league-nations/.

Townshend, Charles. "The League of Nations and the United Nations." BBC (England), February 2, 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/league_nations_01.shtml.

US Department of State. "The League of Nations, 1920." Office of The Historian. Accessed January 29, 2019. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/league.

THE Introduction America’s traditional “fear of the Reds” has an extensive and rocky history. This first arose in mass numbers in the early 20th century, ignited by such events as the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and the conclusion of WWI. Because the Bolshevik Revolution lead to the establishment of the first ever communist state, Americans and the world had never witnessed the manifestation of such left-wing ideologies before in history. Combined with national labor unrest, left-wing groups began to increasingly show their presence in society. As a result, sentiments such as nationalism, nativism, and jingoism became rampant, causing many Americans to become suspicious and distrusting of their immigrant neighbors and friends. There is a lot of information surrounding the Red Scare of 1919-1920. When examining such influential historical events as the creation of the and Acts, the case, and the , take note of the circumstances, beliefs, and prejudices of key figures/groups. For many of these, what’s important is not necessarily what exactly happened, but why it happened, who it affected, and what kind of reaction it caused. Before delving into your research, keep this close in mind: There are two major “Red Scares” in American history. The larger and more commonly known is the Second Red Scare, which occured in the late 1940s to mid-1950s as a result of Cold War hysteria. Because the Second Red Scare was longer and more notorious, it is usually referred to as simply “The Red Scare”, not explicitly as the second of the Red Scares. This topic focuses on the First Red Scare. When conducting outside research, I urge you to pay close attention to dates and titles so that you do not collect data from the wrong one. History Arguably, the most immediate and direct cause of the First Red Scare was the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, which occurred on November 6-7, 1917. It also is referred to as the October Revolution due to the fact that it occurred on October 24-25 on the Julian calendar. The event was initiated by Vladimir Lenin, leader of the leftist Bolshevik Party. The Bolshevik group had grown rapidly in the previous years, spreading the teachings of German revolutionary Karl Marx. As supporters of Marxist Communism, they believed the working class was inherently exploited by the bourgeois, or the upper classes, in a capitalistic system. Lenin, with the rest of the Bolshevik Party, wanted to overthrow the capitalist Russian provisional government and replace it with councils of soldiers, peasants, and workers. Thus, he lead a group of Bolshevik revolutionaries into a nearly bloodless coup d’etat, successfully occupying strategic locations in Petrograd, Russia’s capital (modern-day St. Petersburg). Lenin placed himself as head of the new government, soon earning the title of dictator of the world’s first communist state. For the next six years, Russia would be engaged in a bloody civil war until the establishment of the Soviet Union by Lenin’s Red Army in 1922. Back home, President Woodrow Wilson immediately refused to recognize the Bolshevik regime’s authority, believing the group’s communist to be a threat to American liberal-capitalist values. Once WWI ended with an armistice on November 11, 1918, the US no longer was solely concentrated on winning the war and began to look forward. Now that veterans were returning home and industry was normalizing, workers who had avoided striking during the war were beginning to do so. More labor angst was caused by rising unemployment, largely due to declining labor and production needs that previously had fueled America’s war effort. Over 3,300 postwar labor strikes occurred. One of the most significant of the strikes was the Boston Police Strike in September 1919, in which Boston experienced several nights of lawlessness and disorder. Another influential strike was the Great Steel Strike of 1919. This strike, involving more than 350,000 workers nationwide, called for an end to the difficult hours and low wages thousands of workers in the steel industry faced. This strike, along with many others that year, was lead by the American Federation of Labor (AFL), a powerful national labor union largely composed of craft workers. That same year, a small American Communist Labor Party arose. Communism is, by nature, an expansionist ideology intended to be spread through revolution of the working classes. Fear of such a movement threatening US democracy began to spread like wildfire. This fear manifested itself in rising jingoist and nationalist sentiments. Jingoism, meaning excessive patriotic and aggressively nationalistic views, caused many Americans to be fearful of/hateful to immigrants, particularly those from Southern and Eastern Europe. Even the national government began to see such individuals as a threat to American democracy. It soon began to use the Espionage and Sedition Acts passed during WWI, which defied much of the First Amendment, to justify the government convicting anyone used "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States". This lead to the arrest of thousands of suspected “communists”. Recent Developments In late April 1919, at least 36 dynamite bombs were mailed to a variety of prominent US figures and politicians by self-proclaimed “anarchists”, most notably to Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. This lead to the US Department of Justice under President Wilson, angered by the bombings, responding by initiating a series of raids on known headquarters of radical organizations and arresting thousands of suspected left- wing radicals. Known as the Palmer Raids, they were lead by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. Throughout the process, Palmer lead the deportation of several thousand aliens. The majority of the “radicals” deported by Palmer and the US Department of Justice hailed from Southern and Eastern Europe (particularly Italy). Later in 1920, Palmer issued a national warning that the Department of Justice had discovered imminent plots to kill over twenty federal and state officials as a part of May Day celebrations. May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, was a holiday celebrated by labor unions, as well as by communists, socialists, and anarchists. However, these plans failed to occur, decreasing the credibility of the Palmer Raids and soon bringing them to an end. The following year, in 1921, occurred the infamous Sacco and Vanzetti case. The case began with Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti on trial for the robbery and murder of two individuals in a Massachusetts shoe factory. The two individuals were Italian immigrants and outspoken anarchists. They had been accused of the crime by two so- called “witnesses” who claimed Sacco and Vanzetti committed the crime to fund anarchist political campaigns. Possessing difficulty with English, the men were not given proper translators in court and struggled to defend their innocence. Continually, despite the two men having confirmed alibis, the reports were poorly transposed into English. Experts studying the trial find it rather clear that these men were innocent; however, the political and racial biases of the time period against them were rampant, causing much of the court system to unjustly perceive them as guilty. In the end, despite their efforts, Sacco and Vanzetti were sentenced to death and executed. Opinions and Perspectives Democratic Point of View The Democratic Party of 1920 stands in support of honest labor and sees itself as “the promoter of progressive industry”. In relation to unions, it believes that the right to organization and collective bargaining of unions should not be infringed upon but encouraged, and should be seen as a collective national right. They do not, however, support extreme strikes or lockouts that endanger the health or lives of individuals in the process of bargaining for workers’ rights. In relation to free speech and the Espionage and Sedition Acts, they affirm their respect for free speech but agree that radicals should be convicted for hateful/threatening speech, stating that they “afford no toleration of enemy propaganda or the advocacy of the overthrow of the government”. Furthermore, under Wilson’s Immigration Act of 1918, they support the government’s ability to deport or detain those whose actions the Departments of Justice and Labor find fall under their definition of . They believe this is necessary to protect the nation’s labor from becoming radicalized. Republican Point of View The Republican Party of 1920 stands in general opposition to strikes against the government, arguing that “the strike or the lockout, as a means of settling industrial disputes, inflicts such loss and suffering on the community as to justify government initiative to reduce its frequency and limit its consequences”. They deny the right to strike against the government, yet assert that the government should protect the interests of workers by instead guarding them with impartial laws and tribunals. This way, service will not be interrupted and the lives of workers and consumers will not be impacted. In relation to free speech and the Espionage and Sedition Acts, they assert that free speech should be allowed to all citizens regardless of political affiliation, even if it is seen as hateful. They agree with the government’s right to exclude and deport aliens who pose a threat to American society, yet disagree with previous practices of the Departments of Justice and Labor, and call for adequate public hearings before permitting them to deport radicals. Conclusion The First Red Scare is an issue that took early 1920s America by storm. The establishment of the world’s first openly communist state, combined with labor angst and radical attacks following the end of WWI, sent Americans into what can be best described as a national panic. As a result, the national government began to infringe on the Constitutional rights of the citizens in order to fight back against this crisis. This has occurred frequently in American history during times of national panic, especially during wartime, yet historians still question if this is always necessary. How the government should deal with hateful/threatening speech, as well as with undesirable figures in American society, is another important ethical and political question. Keep in mind these overarching debates as you examine historical events and determine solutions to the “red tide”. Good luck! Questions to Consider  Is it unlawful to deny Constitutional rights to citizens in exchange for national safety during times of crisis? Are the Espionage and Sedition Acts justified or unlawful?  Should the US have deport these left-wing anarchists? What should be done with them?  Were the Palmer raids a proper government reaction to the issue, or did the government handle that situation incorrectly?  What does the Sacco and Vanzetti case say about the political climate at this time? Is such potent anti-anarchist sentiment a good or a bad thing?  Should workers be allowed to form unions and strike? Why/why not? Sources for Additional Research

 https://www.mass.gov/info-details/sacco-vanzetti-the-red-scare-of-1919-1920  http://www.ushistory.org/us/47a.asp  http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=3387  https://prezi.com/k1fwi1cqbdue/the-cause-and-effects-of-the/

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