Transcript File - ChapmanHistory.org

American Opposition to WWI
Matthew Duncan
Amy Willim
Sarah Gibson
Robbie Engler
Kyle Walker
Shawn O’Connor
Outline
Slides 1, 3, 4, 5 (Title, Introduction, Vocabulary,
Prelude, How the Great War Began) – Amy Willim
Slides 6- 8 (Emma Goldman)- Sarah Gibson
Slides 9-11 (John Reed)- Kyle Walker
Slides 12-14 ( Robert Lafollette)- Shawn O’ Connor
Slides 15-17 (Eugene Debs) – Robbie Engler
Slides 18-20 (Victor Berger)- Sarah Gibson
Slides 21-23 (Haywood) –Matthew Duncan
Conclusion, Significance, and Bibliography- Matthew
Duncan
Video Presentation!
Power Point Presentation- 20 Minutes
Video- 10 Minutes
Vocabulary
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IWW- Industrial Workers of the
World. Believe there should not be a
wage system and that all of the
unions should unite as one.
Propaganda-the spreading of ideas
or beliefs that help a particular
cause and hurt an opposing cause
by using half truths using famous
people.
Fourteen points-Woodrow Wilson’s
plan for peace in Europe after WWI.
Required the surrender of the
central powers and moral ideals set
by the Allies.
League of nations- founded during
the Paris Peace Conference in 19191920. It attempted to secure peace
after WWI.
Espionage-spying or gaining
information through intelligence
work.
Pacifist-opposition to war or
violence through peaceful means of
settling disputes.
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Socialism- point of view that the
middle working class is most
important.
Capitalism- point of view where
private funds and pricing of goods
and services are determined
through the market. .
Espionage Act- 1917- crime for a
person to give information to the
enemies of the war. Those
convicted of esipionage would pay
10,000 and 20 years in prison.
Sedition Act of 1918- amendment to
the espionage act. “disloyal,
profane, scurrilous, or abusive
language” about the u.s. or armed
forces was forbidden.
Radicals- a group of people holding
political views from either the far
left or far right. Extreme.
Bolshevik regime- fraction of
Russia who seized power during
the Russian Revolution fo 1917 and
later formed the Soviet Union
In the midst of WWI activist
movies, posters, and
legislations, there was a faint
underbelly known as opposition.
In the uphill battle to have
their views be heard, several
anti WWI activists took a stand
for what they believed in –
peace. The following presentation
will display the views of those
who did not remain silent.
How the Great War Began
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, by a
Serbian nationalist was the culmination of tensions already existing in Europe due to
imperialism, militarism, extensive treaties, and nationalism. Because of AustriaHungary's close relationship with Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm took the opportunity
presented by the assassination to begin his strike for empire. An unforeseen
consequence, however, came when the Serbians invoked their ties with the Russian
Empire. This brought cousins Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas to odds. Soon afterward, the
treaties tying the Russians, British, and French led to the tumultuous European freefor-all now known as "The Great War". The opposition to American entry into this
war viewed it as a squabble amongst the higher classes of nations at the cost of lower
class blood. When it was revealed that such tycoons as Rockefeller and J. P. Morgan,
Jr. had heavy investment in the Entente cause versus the Central Powers, the
isolationist and pacifist argument was strengthened.
Emma Goldman
June 27, 1869- May
14, 1940
Origin: Kaunas,
Lithuania
American Employment:
Anti WWI activist
Felony: Organized the
No- Conscription
League
Day of Arrest:
15, 1917
June
Deportation: December
21, 1919
Emma Goldman
Beliefs
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Not a pacifist
Most modern wars were
capitalist
Felt that the war was at the
expense of the working class
The draft was a form of
illegitimate coercion.
Opposed the government’s
military preparations
Antiwar effort was the product
of a broad coalition of liberals,
socialists, anarchists, and
progressive unionists.
Caption: “The free expression of the
hopes and aspirations of a people is the
greatest and only safety in a sane society”
– Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman Contd.
Anti WWI movements
• Goldman started the No-Conscription League which encouraged war
objectors to speak against the draft.
• In response Goldman was arrested on June 15, 1917.
– Convicted to two years in prison and possible deportation.
– Goldman served term at the Missouri State Penitentiary In Jefferson City.
– Released on September 27,1919.
• J. Edgar Hoover arrested her soon after she was released.
– Hoover swayed the court to deny Goldman’s citizenship and deport her.
– On December 21, 1919, Goldman and other foreign born antiwar radicals were
shipped off to the Soviet Union.
• For the next twenty one years (1919-1940) Emma lived in a variety of
different places outside of the U.S.
• She soon found a home in Russia where she defended a revolution
against the Bolshevik regime.
John Reed
October 27, 1887October 19, 1920
Origin: Portland,
Oregon
American Employment:
Journalist
Felony: criminal
anarchy in Chicago
Date of Arrest:
November 1919
Deportation:
N/A
John Reed Contd.
Beliefs
•leftist sympathies
•pro communism
•pro labor unions
•expressed anti WWI views
through poetry.
•Wrote several novels from
the anti WWI prospective
•Covered stories for anti WWI
newspapers as well as
communist newspapers.
John Reed Contd.
Anti WWI Movements
• Revolutionary writer and activist
• Began Writing for The Masses, a Socialist newspaper, in
1913.
• In 1914 Reed covered revolutionary fighting in Mexico.
• Frequently arrested for organizing and defending fights
• Helped form the Communist Party of the United States
• Covered World War I for Metropolitan magazine
• Wrote an anti WWI novel The War in Eastern Europe in 1916
• Personally knew Lenin
• Became the leader of the Communist Labor Part in 1919.
• Tried for treason and escaped to the Soviet Union
• Reed died of typhus and was buried next to Bolshevik heroes
beside the Kremlin wall.
Robert Marion La
Follette- Fighting Bob
Lafollette
June 14, 1855- June 18,
1925
Origin: Primrose,
Wisconsin
American Employment:
U.S. Congressman
Governor of Wisconsin
Senator from Wisconsin
Presidential Candidate
"In times of peace, the
war party insists on
making preparation for
war. As soon as
prepared for, it
insists on making war."
Robert Lafollette Cont.
Beliefs
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Opposed to WWI and the
League of Nations
his views of evils were
corporate monopoly at home
and imperialism abroad.
Americans wanted radical
solutions, not moderation on
popular topics.
wanted the government
takeover of railroads, no private
utilities, easy credit for farmers,
no child labor, womens unions
rights, civil liberities, and no
more U.S. imperialism in Latin
America. Without these, he did
not see how a president could
justify joining the war.
described the war as a scheme
to line the pockets of the
corporations.
Robert Lafollette Contd.
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Platform Opposed to WWI and the League of Nations
“I would not change my record on the war for that of any man, living or dead”
condemned in Washington as well as in his home state of Wisconsin as a traitor.
Tried to be reelected as a Senator but his war cries denounced him.
When told to give a speech that did not mention war in order to gain back lost voters,
La Follette rebelled and in his speech he boomed, “I am going to be a candidate for
reelection to the United States Senate. I do not want the vote of a single citizen
under any misapprehension of where I stand: I would not change my record on the
war for that of any man, living or dead”
repeatedly risked political death rather than abandon his oppositional beliefs to WWI.
Owner of Lafollette’s Weekly which would turn into The Progressive
Held up the declaration of war for twenty four hours by refusing unanimous consent.
Many believed he would never win re-election to senate, but he proved them wrong.
He was nominated for the Presidential Candidacy of the Progressive party in 1924.
One Sixth of the vote went to Lafollette.
Eugene Debs
November 5, 1855October 12, 1926
Origin: Noblesville,
Indiana
Employment:
Socialist Party
Presidential Candidate
Founder of the
International Labor
Union
Founder of the
International Workers of
the World (IWW)
Railroad Industry
involvement
Felony: not adhering to
the Espionage Act
Date Arrested: April 13,
1919
Eugene Debs
Beliefs
• WWI was in the interest of
capitalism
• The war benefited upper
classes
• Racism was an aspect of
capitalism
• Gained many socialist ideas
from Karl Marx’s works.
• Upheld the working class
above all other classes and
saw WWI as a threat to the
common man
Eugene Debs Contd.
• Elected to Indiana state legislature as a Democrat but only served
one term.
• Arrested under the Espionage Act of 1917 concerning several anti
WWI statements he had made during multiple speeches.
• Sentenced to serve ten years in prison and disenfranchised for life.
• Debs v. United States-Supreme Court decision that upheld the
Espionage Act of 1917. This case declared that Debs should go to
prison.
• When he was imprisoned, the May Riots of 1919 resulted when
Charles Ruthenberg lead a protest march in Debs’ name.
• While he wa sin prison, Debs ran for president in the 1920 election
and received 3.4% of the vote.
• December 25, 1921 President Warren G. Harding released him.
• In 1924 Debs was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Victor Berger
Feb 28,1860-August
7, 1929
Origin:
Hungary
Austria-
American Employment:
First Socialist in
U.S. Congress
Felony: violated the
Espionage Act
Date of Arrest:
December 1919
Victor Berger Contd.
Beliefs
Four main points in anti WWI stance
1. War was a result of European
imperialism
2. War was a result of capitalist
profiteering
3. American involvement in the war
would hurt the socialist cause
4. War was purely of European
concern
Victor Berger Contd.
• Socialist party branded the war a “crime against the people of the
United States”
• Berger publically attacked newspaper editors like Lucius Nieman
from the Milwaukee Journal for his support of the war.
• Chicago court trial December 9, 1918 for his ethnicity and political
views.
• sentenced to twenty years of work in Leavenworth prison.
• Supreme court overturned the conviction in 1923.
• After WWI Berger’s political career flourished.
• United States Representative in the 1920’s.
• opposed the League of Nations. “alliance of more or less plutocratic
governments.”
William D.
HaywoodBig Bill Haywood
Feburary 4, 186918, 1928
May
Origin: Salt Lake
City, Utah
American Employment:
Figure in the American
Labor movement & IWW
Felony: violationg the
Espionage Act with the
IWW
Date Arrested: April
1918
Deportation: Haywood
voluntarily fled the
U.S. for Russia in 1921
Big Bill Haywood Contd.
Beliefs
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Industrial unionism
Direct action over political tactics
Respected working people
Saw WWI as an invention of
Capitalists to make business rich.
• WWI sacrificed young men for
the elite.
Big Bill Haywood Contd.
• He was in a series of IWW labor conflicts before WWI
• Encouraged labor strikes and viewed the IWW as a group that could
change any system.
• Urged workers to resist joining the army and slow down wok in defense
industries
• IWW was raided by the Department of Justice when WWI began
• President Wilson arrested 165 IWW members for “conspiring to hinder the
draft, encourage desertion, and intimidate others in connection with labor
disputes.
• A five month long trial later, Haywood was arrested.
• 1918- convicted of espionage and sedition laws on the grounds for calling
a wartime strike
• I921- Haywood fled the country while out on appeal and went to Russia
• Became an advisor of the Soviet Labor Movement
WWI Opposition Significance
•Many of the anti WWI radicals set examples for future
wartime opposition events.
•Wartime opposition had a huge effect on how citizens
viewed the Espionage and Sedition Acts.
•Heightened WWI opposition lead many Americans to
believe that anti-patriotic meant pro-communist. This
would slowly progress into the Red Scare.
•Most, if not all prominent WWI opposition figures went on
to rally for other important world causes. (ex. HaywoodRussian Labor movement, Goldman-Bolshevik revolution)
Conclusion
• American Opposition to WWI was critical in how citizens viewed
the war during such a time of crisis. With the involvement of anti
WWI radicals both sides of the war could be clearly seen. These
figures included:
Emma Goldman, John Reed, Robert Lafollette, Eugene Debs,
Victor Berger, and Big Bill Haywood
• Also, the involvement of corporations like the Socialist Party and
the IWW were key to portraying opposition to WWI.
• Perhaps the most important aspect of American opposition to
WWI was the Socialist point of view which called for giving back
to the worker instead of the elite.
The lasting effects of the opposition to WWI are still present in
today’s society where it is now more acceptable to present one’s
views on his country.
Bibliography
• 19 Mar. 2007
<http://www.kued.org/joehill/faces/bill_haywood.html>.
• 20 Mar. 2007 <http://sunsite.berekely.edu/Goldman/>.
• 20 Mar. 2007 <http://sunsite.berkely.edu/Goldman/>.
• 20 Mar. 2007
<http://www.alfcio.org/aboutus/history/history/debs.cfm>.
• 20 Mar. 2007
<http://www.alfcio.org/aboutus/history/history/debs.cfm>.
• 20 Mar. 2007 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article9078752/Victor-Berger>.
• 20 Mar. 2007 <http://www.eugenevdebs.com/>.
• 20 Mar. 2007
<http://www.iww.org/culture/official/Haywood1.shtml>.
• 20 Mar. 2007 <http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/johnreed.htm>.
Bibliography, Cont.
• 20 Mar. 2007
<http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/haywood/HAY_BHA
Y.HTM>.
• 20 Mar. 2007 <http://www.marxistss.org/archive/debs/>.
• 20 Mar. 2007
<http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/Lesson_66_Handout_Robert_LaFoll
ette.htm>.
• 20 Mar. 2007 <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jreed.htm>.
• 20 Mar. 2007 <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAdebs.htm>.
• 20 Mar. 2007
<http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAlafollette.htm>.
• 20 Mar. 2007 <http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1050.html>.
• "Socialism." 20 Mar. 2007 <http://www.answers.com/topic/socialism>.