A Democracy at War

A Democracy at War PDF Author: William L. O'Neill
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674197374
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 516

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Book Description
Surveys the bureaucratic mistakes--including poor weapons and strategic blunders--that marked America's entry into World War II, showing how these errors were overcome by the citizens waging the war.

A Democracy at War

A Democracy at War PDF Author: William L. O'Neill
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674197374
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 516

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Book Description
Surveys the bureaucratic mistakes--including poor weapons and strategic blunders--that marked America's entry into World War II, showing how these errors were overcome by the citizens waging the war.

Military Service and American Democracy

Military Service and American Democracy PDF Author: William A. Taylor
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700630406
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
“When I became secretary of defense,” Ashton B. Carter said when announcing that the Pentagon would open all combat jobs to women, “I made a commitment to building America's force of the future. In the twenty-first century, that requires drawing strength from the broadest possible pool of talent.” That “pool of talent”—and how our nation's civilian and military leaders have tried to fill it—is what Military Service and American Democracy is all about. William Taylor chronicles and analyzes the long and ever-changing history of that often contentious and controversial effort, from the initiation of America's first peacetime draft just before our entry into World War II up to present-day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. A history that runs from the selective service era of 1940–1973 through the era of the All-Volunteer Force of 1973 to the present, his book details the many personnel policies that have shaped, controlled, and defined American military service over the last eight decades. Exploring the individual and group identities excluded from official personnel policy over time—African Americans, women, and gays among others—Taylor shows how military service has been an arena of contested citizenship, one in which American values have been tested, questioned, and ultimately redefined. Yet, we see how this process has resulted in greater inclusiveness and expanded opportunities in military service while encouraging and shaping similar changes in broader society. In the distinction between compulsory and voluntary military service, Taylor also examines the dichotomy between national security and individual liberty—two competing ideals that have existed in constant tension throughout the history of American democracy.

American Democracy and the World War: Pre-war years, 1913-1917

American Democracy and the World War: Pre-war years, 1913-1917 PDF Author: Frederic Logan Paxson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 468

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Unsafe for Democracy

Unsafe for Democracy PDF Author: William H. Thomas
Publisher: Studies in American Thought an
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 484

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Book Description
During World War I it was the task of the U.S. Department of Justice, using the newly passed Espionage Act and its later Sedition Act amendment, to prosecute and convict those who opposed America’s entry into the conflict. In Unsafe for Democracy, historian William H. Thomas Jr. shows that the Justice Department did not stop at this official charge but went much further—paying cautionary visits to suspected dissenters, pressuring them to express support of the war effort, or intimidating them into silence. At times going undercover, investigators tried to elicit the unguarded comments of individuals believed to be a threat to the prevailing social order. In this massive yet largely secret campaign, agents cast their net wide, targeting isolationists, pacifists, immigrants, socialists, labor organizers, African Americans, and clergymen. The unemployed, the mentally ill, college students, schoolteachers, even schoolchildren, all might come under scrutiny, often in the context of the most trivial and benign activities of daily life. Delving into numerous reports by Justice Department detectives, Thomas documents how, in case after case, they used threats and warnings to frighten war critics and silence dissent. This early government crusade for wartime ideological conformity, Thomas argues, marks one of the more dubious achievements of the Progressive Era—and a development that resonates in the present day. Best Books for Special Interests, selected by the American Association of School Librarians “Recommended for all libraries.”—Frederic Krome, Library Journal “A cautionary tale about what can happen to our freedoms if we take them too lightly.”—Dave Wood, Hudson Star-Observer

American Democracy and the World War

American Democracy and the World War PDF Author: Frederic L. Paxson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 465

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Arsenal of Democracy

Arsenal of Democracy PDF Author: Charles K. Hyde
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 0814339522
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
Throughout World War II, Detroit's automobile manufacturers accounted for one-fifth of the dollar value of the nation's total war production, and this amazing output from "the arsenal of democracy" directly contributed to the allied victory. In fact, automobile makers achieved such production miracles that many of their methods were adopted by other defense industries, particularly the aircraft industry. In Arsenal of Democracy: The American Automobile Industry in World War II, award-winning historian Charles K. Hyde details the industry's transition to a wartime production powerhouse and some of its notable achievements along the way. Hyde examines several innovative cooperative relationships that developed between the executive branch of the federal government, U.S. military services, automobile industry leaders, auto industry suppliers, and the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union, which set up the industry to achieve production miracles. He goes on to examine the struggles and achievements of individual automakers during the war years in producing items like aircraft engines, aircraft components, and complete aircraft; tanks and other armored vehicles; jeeps, trucks, and amphibians; guns, shells, and bullets of all types; and a wide range of other weapons and war goods ranging from search lights to submarine nets and gyroscopes. Hyde also considers the important role played by previously underused workers-namely African Americans and women-in the war effort and their experiences on the line. Arsenal of Democracy includes an analysis of wartime production nationally, on the automotive industry level, by individual automakers, and at the single plant level. For this thorough history, Hyde has consulted previously overlooked records collected by the Automobile Manufacturers Association that are now housed in the National Automotive History Collection of the Detroit Public Library. Automotive historians, World War II scholars, and American history buffs will welcome the compelling look at wartime industry in Arsenal of Democracy.

American Democracy and the World War

American Democracy and the World War PDF Author: Frederic Logan Paxson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages :

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Torchbearers of Democracy

Torchbearers of Democracy PDF Author: Chad L. Williams
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 9780807899359
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
For the 380,000 African American soldiers who fought in World War I, Woodrow Wilson's charge to make the world "safe for democracy" carried life-or-death meaning. Chad L. Williams reveals the central role of African American soldiers in the global conflict and how they, along with race activists and ordinary citizens, committed to fighting for democracy at home and beyond. Using a diverse range of sources, Torchbearers of Democracy reclaims the legacy of African American soldiers and veterans and connects their history to issues such as the obligations of citizenship, combat and labor, diaspora and internationalism, homecoming and racial violence, "New Negro" militancy, and African American memories of the war.

American Democracy and the World War: America at war, 1917-1921

American Democracy and the World War: America at war, 1917-1921 PDF Author: Frederic Logan Paxson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 488

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Black Newspapers and America's War for Democracy, 1914-1920

Black Newspapers and America's War for Democracy, 1914-1920 PDF Author: William G. Jordan
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 080787552X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
During World War I, the publishers of America's crusading black newspapers faced a difficult dilemma. Would it be better to advance the interests of African Americans by affirming their patriotism and offering support of President Wilson's war for democracy in Europe, or should they demand that the government take concrete steps to stop the lynching, segregation, and disfranchisement of blacks at home as a condition of their participation in the war? This study of their efforts to resolve that dilemma offers important insights into the nature of black protest, race relations, and the role of the press in a republican system. William Jordan shows that before, during, and after the war, the black press engaged in a delicate and dangerous dance with the federal government and white America--at times making demands or holding firm, sometimes pledging loyalty, occasionally giving in. But although others have argued that the black press compromised too much, Jordan demonstrates that, given the circumstances, its strategic combination of protest and accommodation was remarkably effective. While resisting persistent threats of censorship, the black press consistently worked at educating America about the need for racial justice.