Douglas Kriner and Francis Shen
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195390964
- eISBN:
- 9780199776788
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195390964.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Many have long suspected that when America takes up arms it is a rich man's war, but a poor man's fight. Despite these concerns about social inequality in military sacrifice, the hard data to ...
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Many have long suspected that when America takes up arms it is a rich man's war, but a poor man's fight. Despite these concerns about social inequality in military sacrifice, the hard data to validate such claims has been kept out of public view. The Casualty Gap renews the debate over unequal sacrifice by bringing to light new evidence on the inequality dimensions of American wartime casualties. It demonstrates unequivocally that since the conclusion of World War II, communities at the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder have borne a disproportionate share of the human costs of war. Moreover, they show for the first time that when Americans are explicitly confronted with evidence of this inequality, they become markedly less supportive of the nation's war efforts. The Casualty Gap also uncovers how wartime deaths affect entire communities. Citizens who see the high price war exacts on friends and neighbors become more likely to oppose war and to vote against the political leaders waging it than residents of low-casualty communities. Moreover, extensive empirical evidence connects higher community casualty rates in Korea and Vietnam to lower levels of trust in government, interest in politics, and electoral and non-electoral participation. In this way, the casualty gap threatens the very vibrancy of American democracy by depressing civic engagement in high-casualty communities for years after the last gun falls silent.Less
Many have long suspected that when America takes up arms it is a rich man's war, but a poor man's fight. Despite these concerns about social inequality in military sacrifice, the hard data to validate such claims has been kept out of public view. The Casualty Gap renews the debate over unequal sacrifice by bringing to light new evidence on the inequality dimensions of American wartime casualties. It demonstrates unequivocally that since the conclusion of World War II, communities at the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder have borne a disproportionate share of the human costs of war. Moreover, they show for the first time that when Americans are explicitly confronted with evidence of this inequality, they become markedly less supportive of the nation's war efforts. The Casualty Gap also uncovers how wartime deaths affect entire communities. Citizens who see the high price war exacts on friends and neighbors become more likely to oppose war and to vote against the political leaders waging it than residents of low-casualty communities. Moreover, extensive empirical evidence connects higher community casualty rates in Korea and Vietnam to lower levels of trust in government, interest in politics, and electoral and non-electoral participation. In this way, the casualty gap threatens the very vibrancy of American democracy by depressing civic engagement in high-casualty communities for years after the last gun falls silent.
Eric K. Yamamoto and Liann Ebesugawa
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199291922
- eISBN:
- 9780191603716
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199291926.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
How does a country repair its harm to a vulnerable minority targeted during times of national fear because of race? How did the United States redress its then popular yet unconstitutional WWII ...
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How does a country repair its harm to a vulnerable minority targeted during times of national fear because of race? How did the United States redress its then popular yet unconstitutional WWII incarceration of 120,000 innocent Japanese Americans in desolate barbed wire prisons without charges, hearings, or bona fide evidence of military necessity? In response to a Congressional inquiry, political lobbying, and lawsuits, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 directed the President to apologize and authorized over one billion dollars in reparations. Congress also created a fund to educate the public about the government’s false assertion of “national security” to restrict civil liberties. Some considered redress a tremendous victory — rewriting history and personal healing. Others questioned reparations for one U.S. group but not others. Japanese American Redress served as a catalyst for reparations movements worldwide. This paper examines its genesis, legal implementation, and apparent effects. It also explores wide-ranging political mobilization and social meanings of redress and “unfinished business”. Reparations cannot be measured by laws alone. Diverse communities must engage contested questions of history, justice, and belonging. Reparations claims face often unforeseen benefits and limitations. The paper concludes with these “lessons learned” to date.Less
How does a country repair its harm to a vulnerable minority targeted during times of national fear because of race? How did the United States redress its then popular yet unconstitutional WWII incarceration of 120,000 innocent Japanese Americans in desolate barbed wire prisons without charges, hearings, or bona fide evidence of military necessity? In response to a Congressional inquiry, political lobbying, and lawsuits, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 directed the President to apologize and authorized over one billion dollars in reparations. Congress also created a fund to educate the public about the government’s false assertion of “national security” to restrict civil liberties. Some considered redress a tremendous victory — rewriting history and personal healing. Others questioned reparations for one U.S. group but not others. Japanese American Redress served as a catalyst for reparations movements worldwide. This paper examines its genesis, legal implementation, and apparent effects. It also explores wide-ranging political mobilization and social meanings of redress and “unfinished business”. Reparations cannot be measured by laws alone. Diverse communities must engage contested questions of history, justice, and belonging. Reparations claims face often unforeseen benefits and limitations. The paper concludes with these “lessons learned” to date.
Ariel Colonomos and Andrea Armstrong
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199291922
- eISBN:
- 9780191603716
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199291926.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
The post-world war II German-Israeli reparations program is the largest, most comprehensive reparations program ever implemented. Traditionally, reparations were supported by the vanquished and were ...
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The post-world war II German-Israeli reparations program is the largest, most comprehensive reparations program ever implemented. Traditionally, reparations were supported by the vanquished and were designed to compensate the victor for the damages caused during the war. The Wiedergutmachung (literally “making the good again”) program as it is called in Germany, or Shilumim (the payments) as Israelis usually prefer to refer to it, innovates in many areas and goes beyond this interstate framework. Jewish leaders participated in the Luxembourg negotiations that led to the signature of the 1952 treaty, and community networks played a crucial role in the distribution of the money to the victims. Civil society groups played an instrumental role in the United States as plans for reparations were being discussed during the war. Neither the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) nor Israel existed during the war. Reparations have been paid to the state of Israel and were paid to Jewish Holocaust survivors regardless of their nationality. The FRG benefited politically and economically from this treaty. It was able to enter the international arena and establish diplomatic relations with Israel, whose economy greatly benefited from the money it received.Less
The post-world war II German-Israeli reparations program is the largest, most comprehensive reparations program ever implemented. Traditionally, reparations were supported by the vanquished and were designed to compensate the victor for the damages caused during the war. The Wiedergutmachung (literally “making the good again”) program as it is called in Germany, or Shilumim (the payments) as Israelis usually prefer to refer to it, innovates in many areas and goes beyond this interstate framework. Jewish leaders participated in the Luxembourg negotiations that led to the signature of the 1952 treaty, and community networks played a crucial role in the distribution of the money to the victims. Civil society groups played an instrumental role in the United States as plans for reparations were being discussed during the war. Neither the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) nor Israel existed during the war. Reparations have been paid to the state of Israel and were paid to Jewish Holocaust survivors regardless of their nationality. The FRG benefited politically and economically from this treaty. It was able to enter the international arena and establish diplomatic relations with Israel, whose economy greatly benefited from the money it received.
John Authers
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199291922
- eISBN:
- 9780191603716
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199291926.003.0012
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
In 2001, 56 years after the cessation of hostilities in World War II, Germany’s federal government and a group of large German companies entered into a new reparations agreement aimed at compensating ...
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In 2001, 56 years after the cessation of hostilities in World War II, Germany’s federal government and a group of large German companies entered into a new reparations agreement aimed at compensating people who had been forced to work for the Third Reich against their will. This paper examines the confluence of historical circumstances that led to such a belated attempt at righting the injustice, and the political factors behind the extremely “rough” criteria that were used to allocate funds to claimants. It also examines the distribution effort itself — still not quite completed by mid-2005 — and finds that the various NGOs and governments involved in the reparations work were surprisingly successful in tracing claimants and making payments to them, given the amount of time that had elapsed.Less
In 2001, 56 years after the cessation of hostilities in World War II, Germany’s federal government and a group of large German companies entered into a new reparations agreement aimed at compensating people who had been forced to work for the Third Reich against their will. This paper examines the confluence of historical circumstances that led to such a belated attempt at righting the injustice, and the political factors behind the extremely “rough” criteria that were used to allocate funds to claimants. It also examines the distribution effort itself — still not quite completed by mid-2005 — and finds that the various NGOs and governments involved in the reparations work were surprisingly successful in tracing claimants and making payments to them, given the amount of time that had elapsed.
Peter A. Swenson
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195142976
- eISBN:
- 9780199872190
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195142977.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
Wraps up the analysis of labor market developments in the U.S. through the 1940s showing how and why employers abdicated their segmentalist autonomy and submitted temporarily to state‐imposed ...
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Wraps up the analysis of labor market developments in the U.S. through the 1940s showing how and why employers abdicated their segmentalist autonomy and submitted temporarily to state‐imposed solidarism, including intersectoral wage compression similar to what Sweden's normal peace time system brought about. During the prewar and interwar periods, the same employers actively sought another kind of intersectoral control, especially over wages in the building and construction trades, because high wages in this sector disrupted major manufacturers’ otherwise workable system of labor market governance just as they did in Sweden. Unlike in Sweden, however, major American manufacturers were unable to find allies for a cross‐class alliance against the building trade unions, and thus political relations between capital and labor remained far more hostile than in Sweden despite the Swedish labor movement's explicitly anticapitalist ideology.Less
Wraps up the analysis of labor market developments in the U.S. through the 1940s showing how and why employers abdicated their segmentalist autonomy and submitted temporarily to state‐imposed solidarism, including intersectoral wage compression similar to what Sweden's normal peace time system brought about. During the prewar and interwar periods, the same employers actively sought another kind of intersectoral control, especially over wages in the building and construction trades, because high wages in this sector disrupted major manufacturers’ otherwise workable system of labor market governance just as they did in Sweden. Unlike in Sweden, however, major American manufacturers were unable to find allies for a cross‐class alliance against the building trade unions, and thus political relations between capital and labor remained far more hostile than in Sweden despite the Swedish labor movement's explicitly anticapitalist ideology.
Douglas L. Kriner and Francis X. Shen
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195390964
- eISBN:
- 9780199776788
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195390964.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter presents data that provide strong evidence that U.S. combat casualties are not distributed uniformly across society. Beginning with the Korean War, some communities, particularly those ...
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This chapter presents data that provide strong evidence that U.S. combat casualties are not distributed uniformly across society. Beginning with the Korean War, some communities, particularly those like Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, have borne a disproportionate share of America's wartime sacrifice. The size of the differences in casualty rates between rich and poor communities may not be as great as some of the rhetoric from the Left suggests. While socioeconomically disadvantaged communities do bear disproportionately large shares of the casualty burden, some wealthy and highly educated communities have also suffered significant numbers of casualties. However, contra the protestations of some on the Right, the casualty gap is real, and, perhaps equally significantly, the data suggest that this gap may have widened over time.Less
This chapter presents data that provide strong evidence that U.S. combat casualties are not distributed uniformly across society. Beginning with the Korean War, some communities, particularly those like Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, have borne a disproportionate share of America's wartime sacrifice. The size of the differences in casualty rates between rich and poor communities may not be as great as some of the rhetoric from the Left suggests. While socioeconomically disadvantaged communities do bear disproportionately large shares of the casualty burden, some wealthy and highly educated communities have also suffered significant numbers of casualties. However, contra the protestations of some on the Right, the casualty gap is real, and, perhaps equally significantly, the data suggest that this gap may have widened over time.
David Ellwood
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198228790
- eISBN:
- 9780191741739
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198228790.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, American History: 20th Century
The chapter debates the role of the US armed services as transmission agents for American models of modernity, conscious and otherwise, and their reception as such in a variety of European contexts ...
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The chapter debates the role of the US armed services as transmission agents for American models of modernity, conscious and otherwise, and their reception as such in a variety of European contexts from 1943 onwards. The evidence suggests that the Americans brought to the war a variety of distinctive features, of which the most obvious were their opulence and technological grandeur, coupled with a fine sense of detachment regarding the meaning of the conflict for the war torn lands and peoples of western Europe. For their part these peoples projected on the Americans a series of hopes, fears and prejudices, so that when the two sides finally met on the ground before (in the British case) or at the moment of liberation, a great range of experiences emerged, by no means always corresponding to what was expected. Young women bore the brunt of the encounter more than anyone, and were often changed by what they lived through. But the Americans too were forced to adapt as they moved forward from liberation to occupation and back again, and then to nation-building in the cases of Austria and Germany. These were great tasks that they were not prepared for, least of all in a context of radical alientation from their erstwhile ally, the Soviet Union.Less
The chapter debates the role of the US armed services as transmission agents for American models of modernity, conscious and otherwise, and their reception as such in a variety of European contexts from 1943 onwards. The evidence suggests that the Americans brought to the war a variety of distinctive features, of which the most obvious were their opulence and technological grandeur, coupled with a fine sense of detachment regarding the meaning of the conflict for the war torn lands and peoples of western Europe. For their part these peoples projected on the Americans a series of hopes, fears and prejudices, so that when the two sides finally met on the ground before (in the British case) or at the moment of liberation, a great range of experiences emerged, by no means always corresponding to what was expected. Young women bore the brunt of the encounter more than anyone, and were often changed by what they lived through. But the Americans too were forced to adapt as they moved forward from liberation to occupation and back again, and then to nation-building in the cases of Austria and Germany. These were great tasks that they were not prepared for, least of all in a context of radical alientation from their erstwhile ally, the Soviet Union.
Kevin M. Kruse and Stephen Tuck (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195382419
- eISBN:
- 9780199932641
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195382419.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This collection is a timely reconsideration of the intersection between two of the dominant events of twentieth-century American history, the upheaval wrought by the Second World War and the social ...
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This collection is a timely reconsideration of the intersection between two of the dominant events of twentieth-century American history, the upheaval wrought by the Second World War and the social revolution brought about by the African American struggle for equality. Scholars from a wide range of fields explore the impact of war on the longer history of African American protest from many angles: from black veterans to white segregationists, from the rural South to northern cities, from popular culture to federal politics, and from the American confrontations to international connections. It is well known that World War II gave rise to human rights rhetoric, discredited a racist regime abroad, and provided new opportunities for African Americans to fight, work, and demand equality at home. It would be all too easy to assume that the war was a key stepping stone to the modern civil rights movement. But the book shows that in reality the momentum for civil rights was not as clear cut as that, with activists facing setbacks as well as successes and their opponents finding ways to establish more rigid defenses for segregation. While the way set the scene for a mass movement, it also narrowed some of the options for black activists.Less
This collection is a timely reconsideration of the intersection between two of the dominant events of twentieth-century American history, the upheaval wrought by the Second World War and the social revolution brought about by the African American struggle for equality. Scholars from a wide range of fields explore the impact of war on the longer history of African American protest from many angles: from black veterans to white segregationists, from the rural South to northern cities, from popular culture to federal politics, and from the American confrontations to international connections. It is well known that World War II gave rise to human rights rhetoric, discredited a racist regime abroad, and provided new opportunities for African Americans to fight, work, and demand equality at home. It would be all too easy to assume that the war was a key stepping stone to the modern civil rights movement. But the book shows that in reality the momentum for civil rights was not as clear cut as that, with activists facing setbacks as well as successes and their opponents finding ways to establish more rigid defenses for segregation. While the way set the scene for a mass movement, it also narrowed some of the options for black activists.
Mandy Sadan
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265550
- eISBN:
- 9780191760341
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265550.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter considers the impact of World War II on the Kachin region. It examines evidence for the motivations of Kachin volunteers during the war in the Kachin Levies and other organisations. It ...
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This chapter considers the impact of World War II on the Kachin region. It examines evidence for the motivations of Kachin volunteers during the war in the Kachin Levies and other organisations. It examines the demographics of this conflict and its impact on the development of politicised Kachin youth groups. It discusses their role in developing political strategy for Kachin State in the Union of Burma at the Panglong Conference and Frontier Areas Committee of Enquiry in 1947. The chapter also looks at the developments in this region in a broader regional context to understand how related communities in Burma, India, and China interacted with each other and with their respective national governments during the early post-World War II years.Less
This chapter considers the impact of World War II on the Kachin region. It examines evidence for the motivations of Kachin volunteers during the war in the Kachin Levies and other organisations. It examines the demographics of this conflict and its impact on the development of politicised Kachin youth groups. It discusses their role in developing political strategy for Kachin State in the Union of Burma at the Panglong Conference and Frontier Areas Committee of Enquiry in 1947. The chapter also looks at the developments in this region in a broader regional context to understand how related communities in Burma, India, and China interacted with each other and with their respective national governments during the early post-World War II years.
Douglas L. Kriner and Francis X. Shen
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195390964
- eISBN:
- 9780199776788
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195390964.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Through a series of empirical analyses of individual-level survey data from the National Election Study and the Social Capital Benchmark Survey, as well as analysis of aggregate electoral turnout ...
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Through a series of empirical analyses of individual-level survey data from the National Election Study and the Social Capital Benchmark Survey, as well as analysis of aggregate electoral turnout data at the county level, this chapter examines the immediate and lasting effects of the considerable variance in communities' wartime experience in Vietnam, Korea, and World War II, on their residents' patterns of political engagement and participation. The analysis reveals very different dynamics in the wake of the three conflicts. Across the data sets, statistical models find that respondents from communities that suffered higher casualty rates in Vietnam and Korea reported lower levels of trust in government, interest in politics, and electoral and nonelectoral political participation than respondents with identical demographic characteristics from cities and towns that sustained lower casualty rates in these conflicts. By contrast, respondents from communities that endured the heaviest burdens in World War II were just as politically engaged as their peers, if not more so. However, while the conflicts in Vietnam and Korea may have fundamentally reshaped citizens' relationship with the federal government, citizens did not let their resentment toward government policies affect all of their participatory activities. More nuanced data from the Social Capital Benchmark Survey reveal that Vietnam casualty rates had no discernible impact on nonpolitical forms of civic engagement such as charitable giving, volunteering, and organizational activity.Less
Through a series of empirical analyses of individual-level survey data from the National Election Study and the Social Capital Benchmark Survey, as well as analysis of aggregate electoral turnout data at the county level, this chapter examines the immediate and lasting effects of the considerable variance in communities' wartime experience in Vietnam, Korea, and World War II, on their residents' patterns of political engagement and participation. The analysis reveals very different dynamics in the wake of the three conflicts. Across the data sets, statistical models find that respondents from communities that suffered higher casualty rates in Vietnam and Korea reported lower levels of trust in government, interest in politics, and electoral and nonelectoral political participation than respondents with identical demographic characteristics from cities and towns that sustained lower casualty rates in these conflicts. By contrast, respondents from communities that endured the heaviest burdens in World War II were just as politically engaged as their peers, if not more so. However, while the conflicts in Vietnam and Korea may have fundamentally reshaped citizens' relationship with the federal government, citizens did not let their resentment toward government policies affect all of their participatory activities. More nuanced data from the Social Capital Benchmark Survey reveal that Vietnam casualty rates had no discernible impact on nonpolitical forms of civic engagement such as charitable giving, volunteering, and organizational activity.
Pertti Ahonen
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199259892
- eISBN:
- 9780191717451
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199259892.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This book connects two central problems encountered by the Federal Republic of Germany prior to reunification in 1990, both of them rooted in the Second World War. Domestically, the country had to ...
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This book connects two central problems encountered by the Federal Republic of Germany prior to reunification in 1990, both of them rooted in the Second World War. Domestically, the country had to integrate eight million expellees forced out of their homes in Central and Eastern Europe as a result of the lost war. Externally, it had to reestablish relations with Eastern Europe, despite the burdens of the Nazi past, the expulsions, and the ongoing East–West struggle during the Cold War. This book shows how the long-term consequences of the expellee problem significantly hindered West German efforts to develop normal ties with the East European states. In particular, it emphasizes a point largely overlooked in the existing literature: the way in which the political integration of the expellees into the Federal Republic had unanticipated negative consequences for the country's Ostpolitik.Less
This book connects two central problems encountered by the Federal Republic of Germany prior to reunification in 1990, both of them rooted in the Second World War. Domestically, the country had to integrate eight million expellees forced out of their homes in Central and Eastern Europe as a result of the lost war. Externally, it had to reestablish relations with Eastern Europe, despite the burdens of the Nazi past, the expulsions, and the ongoing East–West struggle during the Cold War. This book shows how the long-term consequences of the expellee problem significantly hindered West German efforts to develop normal ties with the East European states. In particular, it emphasizes a point largely overlooked in the existing literature: the way in which the political integration of the expellees into the Federal Republic had unanticipated negative consequences for the country's Ostpolitik.
Gary Scott Smith
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195300604
- eISBN:
- 9780199785285
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195300604.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Scholars have provided scant analysis of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s personal faith, regular use of religious rhetoric, relationship with religious constituencies and leaders, the impact of his religious ...
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Scholars have provided scant analysis of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s personal faith, regular use of religious rhetoric, relationship with religious constituencies and leaders, the impact of his religious convictions on his policies as president, or the role of religion in his four presidential campaigns. The Democrat, however, repeatedly emphasized the importance of the Bible, prayer, and Christian morality. In numerous speeches and letters, he urged Americans to work for spiritual renewal, promote social justice, and strive to achieve a more abundant material and spiritual life. He frequently asserted that God directed history, labeled himself God’s agent, and insisted that the United States would prosper only if its citizens sought divine guidance and followed biblical principles. His courage, confidence, and calm in dealing with the Great Depression and World War II sprang from his temperament, life experiences, and faith. Interested much more in the moral, character-building, and social justice emphases of Christianity than its theological or devotional aspects, Roosevelt’s faith was sincere but not intellectually sophisticated. Like his approach to politics, his faith focused more on action than contemplation, more on results than on principles. More than any other 20th-century president, Roosevelt managed to maintain cordial relations with Protestants (especially ones concerned about social justice), Catholics, and Jews. In September 1935, Roosevelt sent a letter to more than 120,000 “representative clergymen” to ask them for “counsel and advice”, particularly about the impact of his administration’s new social security legislation and public works program. His faith played a significant role in shaping the New Deal and his approach to international relations.Less
Scholars have provided scant analysis of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s personal faith, regular use of religious rhetoric, relationship with religious constituencies and leaders, the impact of his religious convictions on his policies as president, or the role of religion in his four presidential campaigns. The Democrat, however, repeatedly emphasized the importance of the Bible, prayer, and Christian morality. In numerous speeches and letters, he urged Americans to work for spiritual renewal, promote social justice, and strive to achieve a more abundant material and spiritual life. He frequently asserted that God directed history, labeled himself God’s agent, and insisted that the United States would prosper only if its citizens sought divine guidance and followed biblical principles. His courage, confidence, and calm in dealing with the Great Depression and World War II sprang from his temperament, life experiences, and faith. Interested much more in the moral, character-building, and social justice emphases of Christianity than its theological or devotional aspects, Roosevelt’s faith was sincere but not intellectually sophisticated. Like his approach to politics, his faith focused more on action than contemplation, more on results than on principles. More than any other 20th-century president, Roosevelt managed to maintain cordial relations with Protestants (especially ones concerned about social justice), Catholics, and Jews. In September 1935, Roosevelt sent a letter to more than 120,000 “representative clergymen” to ask them for “counsel and advice”, particularly about the impact of his administration’s new social security legislation and public works program. His faith played a significant role in shaping the New Deal and his approach to international relations.
Hew Strachan
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199232024
- eISBN:
- 9780191716133
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232024.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Clausewitz's On War aroused controversy from its first publication in 1832-4, and the validity of its interpretation of war's nature was challenged in the wake of both world wars and in the Cold War. ...
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Clausewitz's On War aroused controversy from its first publication in 1832-4, and the validity of its interpretation of war's nature was challenged in the wake of both world wars and in the Cold War. Those who condemn Clausewitz today as the exponent of an outdated form of inter-state war therefore form part of a familiar tradition. They are however guilty of reading Clausewitz's text selectively. Because he used dialectics as a means to understanding war, he himself provided counters to many of his best known propositions.Less
Clausewitz's On War aroused controversy from its first publication in 1832-4, and the validity of its interpretation of war's nature was challenged in the wake of both world wars and in the Cold War. Those who condemn Clausewitz today as the exponent of an outdated form of inter-state war therefore form part of a familiar tradition. They are however guilty of reading Clausewitz's text selectively. Because he used dialectics as a means to understanding war, he himself provided counters to many of his best known propositions.
Mariah Zeisberg
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691157221
- eISBN:
- 9781400846771
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691157221.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter pairs President Polk's entry into the Mexican War with President Roosevelt's movement toward World War II. Using the relational conception, it argues that while both Polk and Roosevelt ...
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This chapter pairs President Polk's entry into the Mexican War with President Roosevelt's movement toward World War II. Using the relational conception, it argues that while both Polk and Roosevelt behaved independently and made good use of the distinctive capacities of the executive branch, Roosevelt's behavior was more deeply relational in that it was more subject to legislative rebuff. Roosevelt's constitutional authority was also buttressed by a defensive security necessity. After World War II, repelling troops at the border was transparently revealed as an inadequate standard for judging whether a president was using the office's war powers “defensively.” Confronted with this transparent destabilization of the category of “defensive,” the United States embarked on a project of global institution building to reduce its vulnerabilities.Less
This chapter pairs President Polk's entry into the Mexican War with President Roosevelt's movement toward World War II. Using the relational conception, it argues that while both Polk and Roosevelt behaved independently and made good use of the distinctive capacities of the executive branch, Roosevelt's behavior was more deeply relational in that it was more subject to legislative rebuff. Roosevelt's constitutional authority was also buttressed by a defensive security necessity. After World War II, repelling troops at the border was transparently revealed as an inadequate standard for judging whether a president was using the office's war powers “defensively.” Confronted with this transparent destabilization of the category of “defensive,” the United States embarked on a project of global institution building to reduce its vulnerabilities.
Christopher P. Loss
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691148274
- eISBN:
- 9781400840052
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691148274.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter moves the story from the New Deal to the U.S. Army. As the state's main wartime hub for psychological research, the Army Research Branch, headed by University of Chicago sociologist ...
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This chapter moves the story from the New Deal to the U.S. Army. As the state's main wartime hub for psychological research, the Army Research Branch, headed by University of Chicago sociologist Samuel A. Stouffer, presented evidence to military commanders that better-educated soldiers were more efficient, exhibited higher morale, and were less likely to desert or suffer a psychoneurotic breakdown than their educationally deprived peers. Military and educational policymakers were galvanized by this finding and joined forces to create the Army Information and Education Division—the education clearinghouse for the common soldier. With the steady support of General George C. Marshall, the chief of staff of the army, who believed wholeheartedly in the transformative power of education, millions of G.I.s made use of the educational services provided to them.Less
This chapter moves the story from the New Deal to the U.S. Army. As the state's main wartime hub for psychological research, the Army Research Branch, headed by University of Chicago sociologist Samuel A. Stouffer, presented evidence to military commanders that better-educated soldiers were more efficient, exhibited higher morale, and were less likely to desert or suffer a psychoneurotic breakdown than their educationally deprived peers. Military and educational policymakers were galvanized by this finding and joined forces to create the Army Information and Education Division—the education clearinghouse for the common soldier. With the steady support of General George C. Marshall, the chief of staff of the army, who believed wholeheartedly in the transformative power of education, millions of G.I.s made use of the educational services provided to them.
Gary Herrigel
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199557738
- eISBN:
- 9780191720871
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199557738.003.0002
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy
The chapter analyzes the interaction of American Military Occupying authorities in Germany and Japan with indigenous stakeholders in the steel industry. German and Japanese steel industries are ...
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The chapter analyzes the interaction of American Military Occupying authorities in Germany and Japan with indigenous stakeholders in the steel industry. German and Japanese steel industries are radically recomposed through processes of creative reflection and interaction among all the playersLess
The chapter analyzes the interaction of American Military Occupying authorities in Germany and Japan with indigenous stakeholders in the steel industry. German and Japanese steel industries are radically recomposed through processes of creative reflection and interaction among all the players
Wendy Wall
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195329100
- eISBN:
- 9780199870226
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195329100.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
For fifty years, scholars and popular commentators have portrayed the decades immediately following World War II as a time of unusually deep and well-grounded national unity, a period when postwar ...
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For fifty years, scholars and popular commentators have portrayed the decades immediately following World War II as a time of unusually deep and well-grounded national unity, a period when postwar affluence and the Cold War combined to naturally produce a remarkable level of agreement about the nation’s core values. This book challenges that vision of inevitable consensus. Americans were united, it argues, not so much by identical beliefs, as by a shared conviction that a distinctive “American Way” existed and that reinforcing such common ground was essential to the future of the nation. This book also suggests that the roots of that consensus political culture lie, not in the postwar years, but in the turbulent decade that preceded U.S. entry into World War II. The social and economic chaos of the Depression years alarmed a diverse array of groups, as did the rise of two “alien” ideologies: fascism and communism. In this context, Americans of divergent backgrounds and agendas seized on the notion of a unifying “American Way” and sought to convince their fellow citizens of its merits.This book traces the competing efforts of business groups, politicians, leftist intellectuals, interfaith proponents, foreign policy strategists, civil rights activists and many others over nearly three decades to shape public understandings of the “American Way.” It explores the politics behind cultural productions ranging from The Adventures of Superman to the Freedom Train that circled the nation in the late 1940s, and locates the origins of phrases such as “free enterprise” and the “Judeo-Christian tradition” that remain central to American political life. In uncovering the culture wars of the mid-twentieth century, it sheds new light on a period that proved pivotal for America’s national identity and that provides the unspoken backdrop for debates over multiculturalism, national unity, and public values today.Less
For fifty years, scholars and popular commentators have portrayed the decades immediately following World War II as a time of unusually deep and well-grounded national unity, a period when postwar affluence and the Cold War combined to naturally produce a remarkable level of agreement about the nation’s core values. This book challenges that vision of inevitable consensus. Americans were united, it argues, not so much by identical beliefs, as by a shared conviction that a distinctive “American Way” existed and that reinforcing such common ground was essential to the future of the nation. This book also suggests that the roots of that consensus political culture lie, not in the postwar years, but in the turbulent decade that preceded U.S. entry into World War II. The social and economic chaos of the Depression years alarmed a diverse array of groups, as did the rise of two “alien” ideologies: fascism and communism. In this context, Americans of divergent backgrounds and agendas seized on the notion of a unifying “American Way” and sought to convince their fellow citizens of its merits.
This book traces the competing efforts of business groups, politicians, leftist intellectuals, interfaith proponents, foreign policy strategists, civil rights activists and many others over nearly three decades to shape public understandings of the “American Way.” It explores the politics behind cultural productions ranging from The Adventures of Superman to the Freedom Train that circled the nation in the late 1940s, and locates the origins of phrases such as “free enterprise” and the “Judeo-Christian tradition” that remain central to American political life. In uncovering the culture wars of the mid-twentieth century, it sheds new light on a period that proved pivotal for America’s national identity and that provides the unspoken backdrop for debates over multiculturalism, national unity, and public values today.
Neil M. Maher
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195306019
- eISBN:
- 9780199867820
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195306019.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
The final chapter traces the CCC's legacy into the post–World War II period. It does so by focusing on the controversy, during the mid-to-late 1940s, surrounding the Bureau of Reclamation's plan to ...
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The final chapter traces the CCC's legacy into the post–World War II period. It does so by focusing on the controversy, during the mid-to-late 1940s, surrounding the Bureau of Reclamation's plan to construct a hydroelectric dam in Dinosaur National Monument's Echo Park, which straddles the Utah—Colorado border. While environmental historians have long viewed the defeat of the Echo Park dam as one of the founding moments of the American environmental movement, this chapter argues that this victory by environmentalists was predicated on the Corps and its conservation work during the New Deal period. For instance, during the 1930s the CCC developed Dinosaur National Monument for outdoor recreation, a process that later brought outdoor enthusiasts into the anti-dam camp. Criticism of Corps conservation work during the early 1940s, however, raised public concern about the destruction of wilderness and ecological balance in the region as well. When the federal government announced plans for the Echo Park dam during the late 1940s, these concerns resurfaced and guided environmentalist opposition. This chapter ends by discussing the declining power of the federal government within postwar conservation, and concludes, somewhat ironically, that the strong hand of the New Deal helped make what eventually became environmentalism a more democratic movement.Less
The final chapter traces the CCC's legacy into the post–World War II period. It does so by focusing on the controversy, during the mid-to-late 1940s, surrounding the Bureau of Reclamation's plan to construct a hydroelectric dam in Dinosaur National Monument's Echo Park, which straddles the Utah—Colorado border. While environmental historians have long viewed the defeat of the Echo Park dam as one of the founding moments of the American environmental movement, this chapter argues that this victory by environmentalists was predicated on the Corps and its conservation work during the New Deal period. For instance, during the 1930s the CCC developed Dinosaur National Monument for outdoor recreation, a process that later brought outdoor enthusiasts into the anti-dam camp. Criticism of Corps conservation work during the early 1940s, however, raised public concern about the destruction of wilderness and ecological balance in the region as well. When the federal government announced plans for the Echo Park dam during the late 1940s, these concerns resurfaced and guided environmentalist opposition. This chapter ends by discussing the declining power of the federal government within postwar conservation, and concludes, somewhat ironically, that the strong hand of the New Deal helped make what eventually became environmentalism a more democratic movement.
Zachary Shore
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195154597
- eISBN:
- 9780199868780
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195154597.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This is a fascinating study of how the climate of fear in Nazi Germany affected Hitler's advisers, and shaped the decision-making process. It explores the key foreign policy decisions from the Nazi ...
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This is a fascinating study of how the climate of fear in Nazi Germany affected Hitler's advisers, and shaped the decision-making process. It explores the key foreign policy decisions from the Nazi seizure of power up to the hours before the outbreak of World War II. The author argues persuasively that the tense environment led the diplomats to a nearly obsessive control over the “information arsenal” in a desperate battle to defend their positions and to safeguard their lives. Unlike previous studies, this book draws the reader into the diplomats' darker world, and illustrates how Hitler's power to make informed decisions was limited by the very system he created. The result, the author concludes, was a chaotic flow of information between Hitler and his advisers that may have accelerated the march toward war.Less
This is a fascinating study of how the climate of fear in Nazi Germany affected Hitler's advisers, and shaped the decision-making process. It explores the key foreign policy decisions from the Nazi seizure of power up to the hours before the outbreak of World War II. The author argues persuasively that the tense environment led the diplomats to a nearly obsessive control over the “information arsenal” in a desperate battle to defend their positions and to safeguard their lives. Unlike previous studies, this book draws the reader into the diplomats' darker world, and illustrates how Hitler's power to make informed decisions was limited by the very system he created. The result, the author concludes, was a chaotic flow of information between Hitler and his advisers that may have accelerated the march toward war.
Keith Gandal
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195338911
- eISBN:
- 9780199867127
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195338911.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory, American, 20th Century Literature
When anti-Semitism becomes untenable after the Holocaust is revealed toward the end of World War II, Faulkner himself revises The Sound and the Fury in an Appendix that strikingly demonizes his once ...
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When anti-Semitism becomes untenable after the Holocaust is revealed toward the end of World War II, Faulkner himself revises The Sound and the Fury in an Appendix that strikingly demonizes his once beloved promiscuous heroine Caddy. He has her become involved with a German officer in Paris during World War II, and he does so in 1945 and 1946, just as the American public is reeling from the revelation of Nazi “death camps.” Thus, Faulkner's Appendix marks an end to the modernist promiscuity novel: with it, Faulkner distances himself from the casual anti-Semitism of his 1929 text and from a female sexual freedom he seemed to embrace or tolerate in Caddy. The outlook of the Appendix, with regard to women, dovetails with that of the military in the world wars. The Appendix is part of a growing backlash against the new woman of the post-World War I era; the promiscuous female is once again, as in the vamp story that became popular in the 1910s, a fiend.Less
When anti-Semitism becomes untenable after the Holocaust is revealed toward the end of World War II, Faulkner himself revises The Sound and the Fury in an Appendix that strikingly demonizes his once beloved promiscuous heroine Caddy. He has her become involved with a German officer in Paris during World War II, and he does so in 1945 and 1946, just as the American public is reeling from the revelation of Nazi “death camps.” Thus, Faulkner's Appendix marks an end to the modernist promiscuity novel: with it, Faulkner distances himself from the casual anti-Semitism of his 1929 text and from a female sexual freedom he seemed to embrace or tolerate in Caddy. The outlook of the Appendix, with regard to women, dovetails with that of the military in the world wars. The Appendix is part of a growing backlash against the new woman of the post-World War I era; the promiscuous female is once again, as in the vamp story that became popular in the 1910s, a fiend.
