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The Role of Anglo-Saxonism and American Involvement in the First World War

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The Role of Anglo-Saxonism and American Involvement in the First World War UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE The Yanks are Coming Over There: The Role of Anglo-Saxonism and American Involvement in the First World War A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History by Dino Ejercito Buenviaje August 2014 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Brian Lloyd, Chairperson Dr. Roger Ransom Dr. Thomas Cogswell Copyright by Dino Ejercito Buenviaje 2014 The Dissertation of Dino Ejercito Buenviaje is approved: Committee Chairperson University of California, Riverside ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It is truly a humbling experience when I consider the people and institutions that have contributed to this work. First of all, I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Brian Lloyd, for his patience and mentorship in helping me to analyze the role of Anglo- Saxonism throughout American history and for making me keep sight of my purpose. I am also grateful to my other committee members such as Dr. Roger Ransom, for his support early in my graduate program, and Dr. Thomas Cogswell, for his support at a crucial point in my doctorate program. I also would like to thank Dr. Kenneth Barkin for his suggestion that I add a German-American chapter to my dissertation to make my study of American society during the First World War more well-rounded. I also would like to thank the staff at the history department for helping me navigate throughout the various stages of my program. I am especially grateful to the University of California, Riverside for all the material and financial support it has provided me throughout my graduate education, such as the use of the Tomás Rivera Library, the Dean’s Fellowship, the Dissertation Year Fellowship, as well as valuable teaching experience through teaching assistantships. My gratitude extends beyond UC Riverside. I would like to thank the California State University for its support in my graduate program through the Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program and Dr. Gordon Bakken, who served as my mentor in the application process. I owe my gratitude to the libraries of the Claremont Colleges, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Duke University, DePaul University, and the Missouri Historical Museum, as well as the archives of the National World War I iv Museum in Kansas City, Missouri in helping me conduct my research. The information I gathered at these institutions helped guide the direction of my dissertation. The road toward the completion of my dissertation goes back even further, and I owe many others my thanks toward this end. I owe my thanks to Dr. Arthur Hansen, Dr. Roshanna Sylvester, and the late Dr. Warren Clark Davis at the California State University, Fullerton, for teaching me what was expected of me at the graduate level during my Master’s program. I remain grateful to Dr. David Burton, whose article, “Theodore Roosevelt and his English Correspondents,” became the kernel of my master’s thesis that became the launching point for my dissertation. I owe my thanks to Dr. Jon Jacobson of the University of California, Irvine, whose dedication to the discipline of history inspired me to pursue a graduate education. I also wish to thank my high school history teacher, Mr. Calwell, for helping me realize that history is more about connections, rather than dates, and to ask “so what?” in understanding the past, which led me to pursue history as a major. I especially wish to thank my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Hales, and my principal at Mariposa Elementary School, the late Howard G. Bryden, for believing in me, so many years ago. Finally, I am grateful to my friends, both inside and outside of the history department, for their camaraderie and support. Above all, I owe my sincerest thanks to my family, especially my mother, whose strength and perseverance has always served as an example to me in all my endeavors. v IN MEMORIAM Howard G. Bryden Who embodied the best qualities of an educator and a human being vi ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION The Yanks are Coming Over There: Anglo-Saxonism and American Involvement in the First World War by Dino Ejercito Buenviaje Doctor of Philosophy, Graduate Program in History University of California, Riverside, August 2014 Dr. Brian Lloyd, Chairperson At first glance, the United States had little reason to be involved in the First World War. Its isolationism and its significant Irish- and German-American immigrant populations, who were unfriendly to Great Britain, should have kept the United States from involvement. How the United States government cast its lot with the Allies by 1917 will be the focus of this study. Anglo-Saxonism is crucial to understanding the reason for the entry of the United States in the First World War. Anglo-Saxonism is the belief that the peoples of the British Isles and their descendants in the United States and the British Empire are inherently “superior” because of their qualities of courage, thrift, and most importantly, “self-government.” Anglo-Saxonism originally revolved around the founding myths of the British people. Over the centuries, these narratives were appropriated by various interests to suit the needs of the time. The founders of the United States adapted the Anglo-Saxon myths by linking the ideals of American liberty to the ancient Anglo- vii Saxons who fought against their Norman oppressors. By the turn of the twentieth century, Anglo-Saxonism culminated with the injection of racial and pseudoscientific explanations for the supremacy of the United States and the British Empire. By the outbreak of the First World War, the United States foreign policy establishment appropriated Anglo-Saxonism to suit Allied war aims. By endowing the United States and Great Britain with the qualities of “self-government” and liberty, the war became a struggle between “civilization”, as represented by the Allied powers, and the forces of “autocracy” and “militarism”, as represented by Germany. Even though the German people had previously been considered to be close relatives of the Anglo-Saxons, the militarism and reactionary ideology espoused by the Hohenzollern dynasty and Prussian aristocracy, disqualified them from the Anglo-Saxon family. Thus, the foreign policy establishment swayed American public opinion and convinced them of the need to go to war. Primary sources such as correspondences, government documents, and periodical articles from the time will be utilized to understand the role of Anglo-Saxonism. Understanding Anglo-Saxonism can help us understand the role of culture in foreign policy. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………………………..iv DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………………v ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………..vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.……………………………………………………………………….1 CHAPTER 2: ANGLO-SAXONISM AND AMERICAN CULTURE, 1895—1914…………………..24 CHAPTER 3: THE GERMAN-AMERICAN CONNECTION, 1850—1914.………………………….76 Chapter 4: ANGLO-SAXONISM IN THE FOREIGN POLICY ESTABLISHMENT……………137 Chapter 5: ANGLO-SAXONISM IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR……………………………….212 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………...267 BIBLIOGRAPHY...……………………………………………………………………291 ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The entry of the United States on the side of the Allied powers in 1917 was a turning point in the First World War. For three years, there had been a stalemate on both sides, particularly along the Western Front. Britain, France, and Germany, which had counted on a swift victory in 1914, instead witnessed the carnage that drained both in blood and treasure. The unprecedented nature of the war, which saw the introduction of new technology, prevented neither side from gaining an advantage, while at home, the pressures of the war significantly altered social relationships in terms of politics, class, and gender, sweeping away pre-war assumptions. Once the United States had cast its lot with Britain and France, the balance had tipped in the favor of the Allies, through the injection of fresh recruits, American industrial power, and American credit. The addition of the United States into the ranks of the Allies, did not only pave the way for victory. Its involvement in the First World War introduced the “crusading” theme of American foreign policy when President Woodrow Wilson declared that the world be “made safe for democracy,” which continues to have relevance in the early years of the twenty-first century. The First World War was a significant moment in the history of American foreign policy as well as a cataclysmic baptism by fire for much of humanity. While at first glance, it may appear that “The War to End All Wars” may have little else to yield to historians, there are still some areas that call for historical inquiry. The following questions reflect the nature of this dissertation proposal: What induced the United States 1 to join the side of the Allies during the First World War? How could the United States have entered on the side of Great Britain in 1917 when Irish-Americans and German- Americans, who formed significant portions of the population, were hostile to the British? By what means did the United States government convince the American public that joining the side of the Allies was a just and noble cause? Anglo-Saxonism could be one key to explaining American involvement in the First World War. Briefly, Anglo-Saxonism is the belief that those of Anglo-Saxon origin, particularly the peoples of the British Isles and their descendants in the United States and the “White Dominions” (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa) of the British Empire, contained virtues and qualities that made them naturally “superior” to other ethnic groups. Among the virtues highly prized by Anglo-Saxonists include courage, thrift, independence, and self-control, culminating into “self-government,” unique to these peoples. These qualities, therefore, explained the economic success of the United States and the British Empire and justified imperial expansion during the late nineteenth century. Anglo-Saxonism has undergone an evolution throughout its long history, and over the centuries, people in both Great Britain and the United States used Anglo-Saxonism to suit the needs of the time.
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