Christopher Capozzola
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195335491
- eISBN:
- 9780199868971
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195335491.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
In April 1917, the United States embarked on World War I, with little history of conscription, an army smaller than Romania's, and a political culture that saw little role for the federal government ...
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In April 1917, the United States embarked on World War I, with little history of conscription, an army smaller than Romania's, and a political culture that saw little role for the federal government other than delivering the mail. This book tells the story of the American homefront in World War I, revealing how the tensions of mass mobilization led to a significant increase in power in Washington. It shows how — in the absence of a strong federal government — Americans at first mobilized society by stressing duty, obligation, and responsibility over rights and freedoms. In clubs, schools, churches, and workplaces, Americans governed each other. But the heated temper of war quickly unleashed coercion on an unprecedented scale, making wartime America the scene of some of the nation's most serious political violence, including notorious episodes of outright mob violence. To solve this problem, Americans turned over increasing amounts of power to state institutions. In the end, whether they were some of the four million men drafted under the Selective Service Act or the tens of millions of homefront volunteers — or counted themselves among the thousands of conscientious objectors, anti-war radicals, or German enemy aliens — Americans of the World War I era created a new American state, and new ways of being American citizens.Less
In April 1917, the United States embarked on World War I, with little history of conscription, an army smaller than Romania's, and a political culture that saw little role for the federal government other than delivering the mail. This book tells the story of the American homefront in World War I, revealing how the tensions of mass mobilization led to a significant increase in power in Washington. It shows how — in the absence of a strong federal government — Americans at first mobilized society by stressing duty, obligation, and responsibility over rights and freedoms. In clubs, schools, churches, and workplaces, Americans governed each other. But the heated temper of war quickly unleashed coercion on an unprecedented scale, making wartime America the scene of some of the nation's most serious political violence, including notorious episodes of outright mob violence. To solve this problem, Americans turned over increasing amounts of power to state institutions. In the end, whether they were some of the four million men drafted under the Selective Service Act or the tens of millions of homefront volunteers — or counted themselves among the thousands of conscientious objectors, anti-war radicals, or German enemy aliens — Americans of the World War I era created a new American state, and new ways of being American citizens.
Jonathan Atkin
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719060700
- eISBN:
- 9781781700105
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719060700.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
The Great War still haunts us. This book draws together examples of the ‘aesthetic pacifism’ practised during the Great War by such celebrated individuals as Virginia Woolf, Siegfried Sassoon and ...
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The Great War still haunts us. This book draws together examples of the ‘aesthetic pacifism’ practised during the Great War by such celebrated individuals as Virginia Woolf, Siegfried Sassoon and Bertrand Russell. It also tells the stories of those less well known who shared the attitudes of the Bloomsbury Group when it came to facing the first ‘total war’. The five-year research for this study gathered evidence from all the major archives in Great Britain and abroad in order to paint a complete picture of this unique form of anti-war expression. The narrative begins with the Great War's effect on philosopher-pacifist Bertrand Russell and Cambridge University.Less
The Great War still haunts us. This book draws together examples of the ‘aesthetic pacifism’ practised during the Great War by such celebrated individuals as Virginia Woolf, Siegfried Sassoon and Bertrand Russell. It also tells the stories of those less well known who shared the attitudes of the Bloomsbury Group when it came to facing the first ‘total war’. The five-year research for this study gathered evidence from all the major archives in Great Britain and abroad in order to paint a complete picture of this unique form of anti-war expression. The narrative begins with the Great War's effect on philosopher-pacifist Bertrand Russell and Cambridge University.
Richard W. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199581986
- eISBN:
- 9780191723247
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199581986.003.0010
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
If the established institutions of great powers, including the United States, are an enduring source of global injustice, social movements hold special promise as means of progress. The history of ...
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If the established institutions of great powers, including the United States, are an enduring source of global injustice, social movements hold special promise as means of progress. The history of the anti‐Vietnam‐War movement and the recent advance of movements against global injustice—mutually reinforcing yet diverse in forms and goals—suggest how movements can affect decisions of global reach by changing the calculus of power. In the current cluster of social movements against global injustice, a certain community of outlook, globalizing the aspirations of social democracy, makes use of the connections between power, responsibility and actual irresponsibility traced in this book. The patterns of distrust and trust that it promotes are its distinctive contribution. In the United States and, perhaps, some other countries, affiliation with global social democracy tends to undermine patriotism. But it provides a better form of solidarity, encouraging a clearer vision of moral reality.Less
If the established institutions of great powers, including the United States, are an enduring source of global injustice, social movements hold special promise as means of progress. The history of the anti‐Vietnam‐War movement and the recent advance of movements against global injustice—mutually reinforcing yet diverse in forms and goals—suggest how movements can affect decisions of global reach by changing the calculus of power. In the current cluster of social movements against global injustice, a certain community of outlook, globalizing the aspirations of social democracy, makes use of the connections between power, responsibility and actual irresponsibility traced in this book. The patterns of distrust and trust that it promotes are its distinctive contribution. In the United States and, perhaps, some other countries, affiliation with global social democracy tends to undermine patriotism. But it provides a better form of solidarity, encouraging a clearer vision of moral reality.
Kathleen M. Blee
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199842766
- eISBN:
- 9780199951161
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199842766.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter explores how emerging activist groups develop an organizational character as they wrestle with issues of belonging, membership, and recruitment. It explains how activist groups decide ...
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This chapter explores how emerging activist groups develop an organizational character as they wrestle with issues of belonging, membership, and recruitment. It explains how activist groups decide who they are able to recruit and who they want to recruit, as well as how they create expectations for what members are expected to do. The chapter shows how an early emphasis on recruiting fades away as groups adjust their goals to their existing membership size and become wary of newcomers. The chapter ends with a comparison of a civil liberties and anti-war group that started as a single group with considerable overlap among members. Members of one group developed a sense of responsibility and commitment that sustained them through difficult times. In the other, members played an increasingly minor role in shaping the group=s direction and it quickly lost momentumLess
This chapter explores how emerging activist groups develop an organizational character as they wrestle with issues of belonging, membership, and recruitment. It explains how activist groups decide who they are able to recruit and who they want to recruit, as well as how they create expectations for what members are expected to do. The chapter shows how an early emphasis on recruiting fades away as groups adjust their goals to their existing membership size and become wary of newcomers. The chapter ends with a comparison of a civil liberties and anti-war group that started as a single group with considerable overlap among members. Members of one group developed a sense of responsibility and commitment that sustained them through difficult times. In the other, members played an increasingly minor role in shaping the group=s direction and it quickly lost momentum
Tim Kendall
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199562022
- eISBN:
- 9780191707636
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562022.003.0013
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
This chapter explores anti-war poetry. War sells poetry so effectively that very few, if any, of the new poems represented in anti-war anthologies would under different circumstances have reached a ...
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This chapter explores anti-war poetry. War sells poetry so effectively that very few, if any, of the new poems represented in anti-war anthologies would under different circumstances have reached a comparable audience. It is no longer quite so newsworthy that poets should speak out against war: the hordes of fierce Strephons and the political uniformity of their response bring about diminishing returns, so that the ‘lofts of sweet celebrity’ are now open only for the briefest of visits. Nevertheless, poets enjoy seizing the moment to skirmish against the famous truism of their irrelevance.Less
This chapter explores anti-war poetry. War sells poetry so effectively that very few, if any, of the new poems represented in anti-war anthologies would under different circumstances have reached a comparable audience. It is no longer quite so newsworthy that poets should speak out against war: the hordes of fierce Strephons and the political uniformity of their response bring about diminishing returns, so that the ‘lofts of sweet celebrity’ are now open only for the briefest of visits. Nevertheless, poets enjoy seizing the moment to skirmish against the famous truism of their irrelevance.
Peter Goldie
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195320398
- eISBN:
- 9780199869534
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195320398.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, General
I argue that La Grande Illusion is not just an anti-war film—although it certainly is that. It is also a film about class: it shows how class separates people of a nation from each other; and it ...
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I argue that La Grande Illusion is not just an anti-war film—although it certainly is that. It is also a film about class: it shows how class separates people of a nation from each other; and it shows how it unites people of the same class across nations. Secondly, it is a film which shows that certain capacities or characteristics of human nature can be universal or pan-cultural, but disuniting rather than uniting: the capacity for language; the capacity for group conflict; and the sheer capacity for aggression. I close with a discussion of the relation between La Grande Illusion, philosophy, and art. I suggest that this great film is best thought of as a work of art, which is simply showing us, in wonderfully fine detail, a small fragment of human life which illustrates certain aspects of human nature. That La Grande Illusion is art, and not philosophical argument, in no way detracts from its having this value.Less
I argue that La Grande Illusion is not just an anti-war film—although it certainly is that. It is also a film about class: it shows how class separates people of a nation from each other; and it shows how it unites people of the same class across nations. Secondly, it is a film which shows that certain capacities or characteristics of human nature can be universal or pan-cultural, but disuniting rather than uniting: the capacity for language; the capacity for group conflict; and the sheer capacity for aggression. I close with a discussion of the relation between La Grande Illusion, philosophy, and art. I suggest that this great film is best thought of as a work of art, which is simply showing us, in wonderfully fine detail, a small fragment of human life which illustrates certain aspects of human nature. That La Grande Illusion is art, and not philosophical argument, in no way detracts from its having this value.
Song-Chuan Chen
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9789888390564
- eISBN:
- 9789888390274
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888390564.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This book challenges conventional arguments that the major driving forces of the First Opium War were the infamous opium smuggling trade, the defence of British national honour, and cultural ...
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This book challenges conventional arguments that the major driving forces of the First Opium War were the infamous opium smuggling trade, the defence of British national honour, and cultural conflicts between ‘progressive’ Britain and ‘backward’ China. Instead, it argues that the war was triggered by a group of British merchants in the Chinese port of Canton in the 1830s, known as the ‘Warlike Party’. Living in a period when British knowledge of China was growing rapidly, the Warlike Party came to understand China’s weakness and its members returned to London to lobby for intervention until war broke out in 1839.
However, the Warlike Party did not get its way entirely. Another group of British merchants known in Canton as the ‘Pacific Party’ opposed the war. In Britain, the anti-war movement gave the conflict its infamous name, the ‘Opium War’, which has stuck ever since. Using materials housed in the National Archives, UK, the First Historical Archives of China, the National Palace Museum, the British Library, SOAS Library, and Cambridge University Library, this meticulously researched and lucid volume is a new history of the cause of the First Opium War.Less
This book challenges conventional arguments that the major driving forces of the First Opium War were the infamous opium smuggling trade, the defence of British national honour, and cultural conflicts between ‘progressive’ Britain and ‘backward’ China. Instead, it argues that the war was triggered by a group of British merchants in the Chinese port of Canton in the 1830s, known as the ‘Warlike Party’. Living in a period when British knowledge of China was growing rapidly, the Warlike Party came to understand China’s weakness and its members returned to London to lobby for intervention until war broke out in 1839.
However, the Warlike Party did not get its way entirely. Another group of British merchants known in Canton as the ‘Pacific Party’ opposed the war. In Britain, the anti-war movement gave the conflict its infamous name, the ‘Opium War’, which has stuck ever since. Using materials housed in the National Archives, UK, the First Historical Archives of China, the National Palace Museum, the British Library, SOAS Library, and Cambridge University Library, this meticulously researched and lucid volume is a new history of the cause of the First Opium War.
Gabor S. Boritt
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195089110
- eISBN:
- 9780199853830
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195089110.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This chapter explores Lincoln's childhood years and his growing aberration to war. The War of 1812 coincided with Lincoln's early childhood. Patriotic and pro-war sentiments surrounded his youth. ...
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This chapter explores Lincoln's childhood years and his growing aberration to war. The War of 1812 coincided with Lincoln's early childhood. Patriotic and pro-war sentiments surrounded his youth. Hunting was a way of life and the means of survival on the frontier, which Lincoln admits he did not do much of. Striking evidences suggest that Lincoln harbored anti-military and anti-violence sentiments in the midst of a nation which was prized in military glory. His faith in liberty, combined with political self-interest and abomination of violence, could explain his pacifist approach to the impending civil war in America. Whether or not a nation deserved such a president or his love of peace and dislike of war is a matter for conjecture.Less
This chapter explores Lincoln's childhood years and his growing aberration to war. The War of 1812 coincided with Lincoln's early childhood. Patriotic and pro-war sentiments surrounded his youth. Hunting was a way of life and the means of survival on the frontier, which Lincoln admits he did not do much of. Striking evidences suggest that Lincoln harbored anti-military and anti-violence sentiments in the midst of a nation which was prized in military glory. His faith in liberty, combined with political self-interest and abomination of violence, could explain his pacifist approach to the impending civil war in America. Whether or not a nation deserved such a president or his love of peace and dislike of war is a matter for conjecture.
Martin Ceadel
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198226741
- eISBN:
- 9780191678660
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198226741.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This period saw the peace movement take off: lifted by the support of an attentive public, it came to resemble a glider as it exploited the rising currents of anti-war feeling by launching two ...
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This period saw the peace movement take off: lifted by the support of an attentive public, it came to resemble a glider as it exploited the rising currents of anti-war feeling by launching two separate campaigns against attempts to revive the militia: a Friendly International Addresses movement — The League of Universal Brotherhood — and an international peace congress at Brussels, in 20—22 September 1848. A key activist in this period was newly arrived American, Elihu Burritt, whose League of Universal Brotherhood became the first peace association to attract a mass membership.Less
This period saw the peace movement take off: lifted by the support of an attentive public, it came to resemble a glider as it exploited the rising currents of anti-war feeling by launching two separate campaigns against attempts to revive the militia: a Friendly International Addresses movement — The League of Universal Brotherhood — and an international peace congress at Brussels, in 20—22 September 1848. A key activist in this period was newly arrived American, Elihu Burritt, whose League of Universal Brotherhood became the first peace association to attract a mass membership.
William B. Kurtz
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780823267538
- eISBN:
- 9780823272372
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823267538.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, American History: Civil War
Anti-war Catholic opponents of the Republican-led war effort believed that the Lincoln administration had gone too far in converting what had been a conservative war to restore the Union “as it was” ...
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Anti-war Catholic opponents of the Republican-led war effort believed that the Lincoln administration had gone too far in converting what had been a conservative war to restore the Union “as it was” to trying to effect a radical and unconstitutional transformation of American society. They feared that the extraordinary measures the Republicans took to enforce the draft, end slavery, and curtail liberties foreshadowed a possible future attack on the Catholic Church itself. Many Irish Catholics took part in the bloody New York draft riots in 1863, violence which many Republicans and Protestants blamed on their religion as well as their politics. Catholic civilians by and large voted for the Democrats in 1864, further cementing their reputation as unpatriotic in the mind of pro-war northerners. For their part, Catholics responded in alarm when editor Horace Greeley assailed their patriotism and worried about the possibility of a future religious civil war.Less
Anti-war Catholic opponents of the Republican-led war effort believed that the Lincoln administration had gone too far in converting what had been a conservative war to restore the Union “as it was” to trying to effect a radical and unconstitutional transformation of American society. They feared that the extraordinary measures the Republicans took to enforce the draft, end slavery, and curtail liberties foreshadowed a possible future attack on the Catholic Church itself. Many Irish Catholics took part in the bloody New York draft riots in 1863, violence which many Republicans and Protestants blamed on their religion as well as their politics. Catholic civilians by and large voted for the Democrats in 1864, further cementing their reputation as unpatriotic in the mind of pro-war northerners. For their part, Catholics responded in alarm when editor Horace Greeley assailed their patriotism and worried about the possibility of a future religious civil war.
Giorgio Mariani
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252039751
- eISBN:
- 9780252097850
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252039751.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature
The notion that war plays a fundamental role in the United States' idea of itself obscures the rich—and by no means naïve—seam of anti-war thinking that winds through American culture. This book ...
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The notion that war plays a fundamental role in the United States' idea of itself obscures the rich—and by no means naïve—seam of anti-war thinking that winds through American culture. This book engages with the question of what makes a text anti-war. Ranging from Ralph Waldo Emerson and Joel Barlow to Maxine Hong Kingston and Tim O'Brien, this book explores why sustained attempts at identifying the anti-war texts formal and philosophical features seem to always end at an impasse. The book moves a step beyond to construct a theoretical model that invites new inquiries into America's nonviolent, nonconformist tradition even as it challenges the ways we study U.S. war-making and the cultural reactions to it. In the process, it defines anti-war literature and explores the genre's role in the assertive peace-fighting project that offered—and still offers—alternatives to violence.Less
The notion that war plays a fundamental role in the United States' idea of itself obscures the rich—and by no means naïve—seam of anti-war thinking that winds through American culture. This book engages with the question of what makes a text anti-war. Ranging from Ralph Waldo Emerson and Joel Barlow to Maxine Hong Kingston and Tim O'Brien, this book explores why sustained attempts at identifying the anti-war texts formal and philosophical features seem to always end at an impasse. The book moves a step beyond to construct a theoretical model that invites new inquiries into America's nonviolent, nonconformist tradition even as it challenges the ways we study U.S. war-making and the cultural reactions to it. In the process, it defines anti-war literature and explores the genre's role in the assertive peace-fighting project that offered—and still offers—alternatives to violence.
Richard Lischer
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195111323
- eISBN:
- 9780199853298
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195111323.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
In the early 1950s, the young King started preaching one of the borrowed, general outlines around which he made a sermon entitled “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life.” Under a wide array of ...
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In the early 1950s, the young King started preaching one of the borrowed, general outlines around which he made a sermon entitled “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life.” Under a wide array of titles, he preached the sermon as a college student, pastor, civil rights leader, and an anti-war activist. He preached it in small black Baptist churches, in New England meeting houses, Saint John the Divine in New York, San Francisco's Grace Cathedral, among others. Never did he acknowledge his source in Episcopal bishop Phillips Brooks 19th-century book, “The Symmetry of Life.”Less
In the early 1950s, the young King started preaching one of the borrowed, general outlines around which he made a sermon entitled “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life.” Under a wide array of titles, he preached the sermon as a college student, pastor, civil rights leader, and an anti-war activist. He preached it in small black Baptist churches, in New England meeting houses, Saint John the Divine in New York, San Francisco's Grace Cathedral, among others. Never did he acknowledge his source in Episcopal bishop Phillips Brooks 19th-century book, “The Symmetry of Life.”
Grace Huxford
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781526118950
- eISBN:
- 9781526138958
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781526118950.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
The Korean War in Britain explores the social and cultural impact of the Korean War (1950–53) on Britain. Coming just five years after the ravages of the Second World War, Korea was a deeply ...
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The Korean War in Britain explores the social and cultural impact of the Korean War (1950–53) on Britain. Coming just five years after the ravages of the Second World War, Korea was a deeply unsettling moment in post-war British history. When North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950, Britons worried about a return to total war and the prospect of atomic warfare. As the war progressed, British people grew uneasy about the conduct of the war. From American ‘germ’ warfare allegations to anxiety over Communist use of ‘brainwashing’, the Korean War precipitated a series of short-lived panics in 1950s Britain. But by the time of its uneasy ceasefire in 1953, the war was becoming increasingly forgotten, with more attention paid to England’s cricket victory at the Ashes than to returning troops. Using Mass Observation surveys, letters, diaries and a wide range of under-explored contemporary material, this book charts the war’s changing position in British popular imagination, from initial anxiety in the summer of 1950 through to growing apathy by the end of the war and into the late-twentieth century. Built around three central concepts – citizenship, selfhood and forgetting –The Korean War in Britain connects a critical moment in Cold War history to post-war Britain, calling for a more integrated approach to Britain’s Cold War past. It explores the war a variety of viewpoints – conscript, POW, protestor and veteran – to offer the first social history of this ‘forgotten war’. It is essential reading for anyone interested in Britain’s post-1945 history.Less
The Korean War in Britain explores the social and cultural impact of the Korean War (1950–53) on Britain. Coming just five years after the ravages of the Second World War, Korea was a deeply unsettling moment in post-war British history. When North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950, Britons worried about a return to total war and the prospect of atomic warfare. As the war progressed, British people grew uneasy about the conduct of the war. From American ‘germ’ warfare allegations to anxiety over Communist use of ‘brainwashing’, the Korean War precipitated a series of short-lived panics in 1950s Britain. But by the time of its uneasy ceasefire in 1953, the war was becoming increasingly forgotten, with more attention paid to England’s cricket victory at the Ashes than to returning troops. Using Mass Observation surveys, letters, diaries and a wide range of under-explored contemporary material, this book charts the war’s changing position in British popular imagination, from initial anxiety in the summer of 1950 through to growing apathy by the end of the war and into the late-twentieth century. Built around three central concepts – citizenship, selfhood and forgetting –The Korean War in Britain connects a critical moment in Cold War history to post-war Britain, calling for a more integrated approach to Britain’s Cold War past. It explores the war a variety of viewpoints – conscript, POW, protestor and veteran – to offer the first social history of this ‘forgotten war’. It is essential reading for anyone interested in Britain’s post-1945 history.
Steven J. Ramold
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814729199
- eISBN:
- 9780814760178
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814729199.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: Civil War
Union soldiers left home in 1861 with expectations that the conflict would be short, the purpose of the war was clear, and public support back home was universal. As the war continued, however, Union ...
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Union soldiers left home in 1861 with expectations that the conflict would be short, the purpose of the war was clear, and public support back home was universal. As the war continued, however, Union soldiers began to perceive a great difference between what they expected and what was actually occurring. Their family relationships were evolving, the purpose of the war was changing, and civilians were questioning the leadership of the government and Army to the point of debating whether the war should continue at all. Separated from Northern civilians by a series of literal and figurative divides, Union soldiers viewed the growing disparities between their own expectations and those of their families at home with growing concern and alarm. Instead of support for the war, an extensive and oft-violent anti-war movement emerged. Often at odds with those at home and with limited means of communication to their homes at their disposal, soldiers used letters, newspaper editorials, and political statements to influence the actions and beliefs of their home communities. When communication failed, soldiers sometimes took extremist positions on the war, its conduct, and how civilian attitudes about the conflict should be shaped. This book reveals the wide array of factors that prevented the Union Army and the civilians on whose behalf they were fighting from becoming a united front during the Civil War. It illustrates how the divided spheres of Civil War experience created social and political conflict far removed from the better-known battlefields of the war.Less
Union soldiers left home in 1861 with expectations that the conflict would be short, the purpose of the war was clear, and public support back home was universal. As the war continued, however, Union soldiers began to perceive a great difference between what they expected and what was actually occurring. Their family relationships were evolving, the purpose of the war was changing, and civilians were questioning the leadership of the government and Army to the point of debating whether the war should continue at all. Separated from Northern civilians by a series of literal and figurative divides, Union soldiers viewed the growing disparities between their own expectations and those of their families at home with growing concern and alarm. Instead of support for the war, an extensive and oft-violent anti-war movement emerged. Often at odds with those at home and with limited means of communication to their homes at their disposal, soldiers used letters, newspaper editorials, and political statements to influence the actions and beliefs of their home communities. When communication failed, soldiers sometimes took extremist positions on the war, its conduct, and how civilian attitudes about the conflict should be shaped. This book reveals the wide array of factors that prevented the Union Army and the civilians on whose behalf they were fighting from becoming a united front during the Civil War. It illustrates how the divided spheres of Civil War experience created social and political conflict far removed from the better-known battlefields of the war.
Alex Belsey
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781789620290
- eISBN:
- 9781789623574
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781789620290.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter considers how the statement of conscientious objection with which Keith Vaughan opens his first ever journal entry in August 1939 develops from a political stance into a declaration of ...
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This chapter considers how the statement of conscientious objection with which Keith Vaughan opens his first ever journal entry in August 1939 develops from a political stance into a declaration of personal crisis centred around his homosexuality and feelings of being an outcast. Following the thread of Vaughan’s anti-war writing, it explores how Vaughan constructed his identity as an objector not only to war but to conventional expectations of masculinity and to the political establishment that upheld them. The first section of this chapter considers why the imminence of the Second World War was the catalyst for Vaughan’s journal-writing – a practice that would become a life-long project. The second section reveals how Vaughan’s anti-war writing developed his unwavering belief in the sanctity of the human body and his resistance to its distortion or destruction for the sake of warring ideologies. The third section argues that the uncompromising stance taken by Vaughan in his journal allowed him to position himself as an outsider through identification with neo-classicism and its ideals, conflating beauty with morality to advocate for an alternative vision of a peaceful and (homo)sexually permissive society.Less
This chapter considers how the statement of conscientious objection with which Keith Vaughan opens his first ever journal entry in August 1939 develops from a political stance into a declaration of personal crisis centred around his homosexuality and feelings of being an outcast. Following the thread of Vaughan’s anti-war writing, it explores how Vaughan constructed his identity as an objector not only to war but to conventional expectations of masculinity and to the political establishment that upheld them. The first section of this chapter considers why the imminence of the Second World War was the catalyst for Vaughan’s journal-writing – a practice that would become a life-long project. The second section reveals how Vaughan’s anti-war writing developed his unwavering belief in the sanctity of the human body and his resistance to its distortion or destruction for the sake of warring ideologies. The third section argues that the uncompromising stance taken by Vaughan in his journal allowed him to position himself as an outsider through identification with neo-classicism and its ideals, conflating beauty with morality to advocate for an alternative vision of a peaceful and (homo)sexually permissive society.
Molly Geidel
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780816692217
- eISBN:
- 9781452952468
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816692217.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
To tens of thousands of volunteers in its first decade, the Peace Corps was “the toughest job you’ll ever love.” In the United States’ popular imagination to this day, it is a symbol of selfless ...
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To tens of thousands of volunteers in its first decade, the Peace Corps was “the toughest job you’ll ever love.” In the United States’ popular imagination to this day, it is a symbol of selfless altruism and the most successful program of John F. Kennedy’s presidency. But in her provocative new cultural history of the 1960s Peace Corps, Molly Geidel argues that the agency’s representative development ventures also legitimated the violent exercise of American power around the world and the destruction of indigenous ways of life. In the 1960s, the practice of development work, embodied by iconic Peace Corps volunteers, allowed U.S. policy makers to manage global inequality while assuaging their own gendered anxieties about postwar affluence. Geidel traces how modernization theorists used the Peace Corps to craft the archetype of the heroic development worker: a ruggedly masculine figure who would inspire individuals and communities to abandon traditional lifestyles and seek integration into the global capitalist system. Drawing on original archival and ethnographic research, Geidel analyzes how Peace Corps volunteers struggled to apply these ideals. The book focuses on the case of Bolivia, where indigenous nationalist movements dramatically expelled the Peace Corps in 1971. She also shows how Peace Corps development ideology shaped domestic and transnational social protest, including U.S. civil rights, black nationalist, and antiwar movements.Less
To tens of thousands of volunteers in its first decade, the Peace Corps was “the toughest job you’ll ever love.” In the United States’ popular imagination to this day, it is a symbol of selfless altruism and the most successful program of John F. Kennedy’s presidency. But in her provocative new cultural history of the 1960s Peace Corps, Molly Geidel argues that the agency’s representative development ventures also legitimated the violent exercise of American power around the world and the destruction of indigenous ways of life. In the 1960s, the practice of development work, embodied by iconic Peace Corps volunteers, allowed U.S. policy makers to manage global inequality while assuaging their own gendered anxieties about postwar affluence. Geidel traces how modernization theorists used the Peace Corps to craft the archetype of the heroic development worker: a ruggedly masculine figure who would inspire individuals and communities to abandon traditional lifestyles and seek integration into the global capitalist system. Drawing on original archival and ethnographic research, Geidel analyzes how Peace Corps volunteers struggled to apply these ideals. The book focuses on the case of Bolivia, where indigenous nationalist movements dramatically expelled the Peace Corps in 1971. She also shows how Peace Corps development ideology shaped domestic and transnational social protest, including U.S. civil rights, black nationalist, and antiwar movements.
Jon Wiener
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520216464
- eISBN:
- 9780520924543
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520216464.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This book tells the story of the author's remarkable fourteen-year court battle to win release of the FBI's surveillance files on John Lennon under the Freedom of Information Act. The files had been ...
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This book tells the story of the author's remarkable fourteen-year court battle to win release of the FBI's surveillance files on John Lennon under the Freedom of Information Act. The files had been withheld on the grounds that releasing them would endanger national security. Lennon's file was compiled in 1972, when the war in Vietnam was at its peak, when Nixon was facing re-election, and when the “clever Beatle” was living in New York and joining up with the New Left and the anti-war movement. The Nixon administration's efforts to “neutralize” Lennon are the subject of Lennon's file. The documents are reproduced in facsimile so that readers can see all the classification stamps, marginal notes, blacked out passages and—in some cases—the initials of FBI Director, J. Edgar Hoover. The file includes lengthy reports by confidential informants detailing the daily lives of anti-war activists, memos to the White House, transcripts of TV shows on which Lennon appeared, and a proposal that Lennon be arrested by local police on drug charges. The book documents an era when rock music seemed to have real political force and when youth culture challenged the status quo in Washington. It also delineates the ways the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations fought to preserve government secrecy, and highlights the legal strategies adopted by those who have challenged it.Less
This book tells the story of the author's remarkable fourteen-year court battle to win release of the FBI's surveillance files on John Lennon under the Freedom of Information Act. The files had been withheld on the grounds that releasing them would endanger national security. Lennon's file was compiled in 1972, when the war in Vietnam was at its peak, when Nixon was facing re-election, and when the “clever Beatle” was living in New York and joining up with the New Left and the anti-war movement. The Nixon administration's efforts to “neutralize” Lennon are the subject of Lennon's file. The documents are reproduced in facsimile so that readers can see all the classification stamps, marginal notes, blacked out passages and—in some cases—the initials of FBI Director, J. Edgar Hoover. The file includes lengthy reports by confidential informants detailing the daily lives of anti-war activists, memos to the White House, transcripts of TV shows on which Lennon appeared, and a proposal that Lennon be arrested by local police on drug charges. The book documents an era when rock music seemed to have real political force and when youth culture challenged the status quo in Washington. It also delineates the ways the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations fought to preserve government secrecy, and highlights the legal strategies adopted by those who have challenged it.
Steven J. Ramold
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814729199
- eISBN:
- 9780814760178
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814729199.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, American History: Civil War
This chapter examines the Union soldiers' opposition to the anti-war movement that emerged during the Civil War. It considers how Union soldiers came to despise those who espoused peace at any cost, ...
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This chapter examines the Union soldiers' opposition to the anti-war movement that emerged during the Civil War. It considers how Union soldiers came to despise those who espoused peace at any cost, including those whom they suspected of conspiring with the Confederacy to undermine the Union Army and government from within. It argues that soldiers made little attempt to separate political anti-war support from nefarious conspiracy, and conveniently lumped all who opposed their dedication to the conflict under the Copperhead banner. It cites the Copperheads as a prime example of the communication divide between soldiers and civilians at home. As treasonous adversaries often accused of acting in concert with the Confederate foe, Union soldiers viewed the anti-war movement as unworthy of the political and legal protections granted to loyal citizens. This chapter also looks at the Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC), believed to be conspiring against the Union, and the occurrence of riots throughout the North at the height of the war.Less
This chapter examines the Union soldiers' opposition to the anti-war movement that emerged during the Civil War. It considers how Union soldiers came to despise those who espoused peace at any cost, including those whom they suspected of conspiring with the Confederacy to undermine the Union Army and government from within. It argues that soldiers made little attempt to separate political anti-war support from nefarious conspiracy, and conveniently lumped all who opposed their dedication to the conflict under the Copperhead banner. It cites the Copperheads as a prime example of the communication divide between soldiers and civilians at home. As treasonous adversaries often accused of acting in concert with the Confederate foe, Union soldiers viewed the anti-war movement as unworthy of the political and legal protections granted to loyal citizens. This chapter also looks at the Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC), believed to be conspiring against the Union, and the occurrence of riots throughout the North at the height of the war.
Alice Garner and Diane Kirkby
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781526128973
- eISBN:
- 9781526142030
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781526128973.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
By the early 1960s the original Fulbright Agreement had expired and a new one was negotiated, as a binational agreement with the Australian government providing equal funding. This was signed in ...
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By the early 1960s the original Fulbright Agreement had expired and a new one was negotiated, as a binational agreement with the Australian government providing equal funding. This was signed in 1964, in the context of increasing miliitary intervention in the war in Vietnam by both the US and Australia. Under the ANZUS and SEATO treaties, signed the previous decade, Australia was a keen ally of the US in Vietnam. The Fulbright program and the Australia-US Alliance were pursued simultaneously by the Australian government. Senator Fulbright visited Australia, criticised the Alliance and became a leading dissenter to the Vietnam War. Academics on educational exchange also became active in the anti-war movement.Less
By the early 1960s the original Fulbright Agreement had expired and a new one was negotiated, as a binational agreement with the Australian government providing equal funding. This was signed in 1964, in the context of increasing miliitary intervention in the war in Vietnam by both the US and Australia. Under the ANZUS and SEATO treaties, signed the previous decade, Australia was a keen ally of the US in Vietnam. The Fulbright program and the Australia-US Alliance were pursued simultaneously by the Australian government. Senator Fulbright visited Australia, criticised the Alliance and became a leading dissenter to the Vietnam War. Academics on educational exchange also became active in the anti-war movement.
Alice Garner and Diane Kirkby
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781526128973
- eISBN:
- 9781526142030
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781526128973.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
The Vietnam War posed significant challenges to academics on educational exchange who were expected under the Fulbright program to be ambassadors as well as researchers. The CIA surveillance of the ...
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The Vietnam War posed significant challenges to academics on educational exchange who were expected under the Fulbright program to be ambassadors as well as researchers. The CIA surveillance of the anti-war movement and political interference in the administration of the Fulbright program from government caused academics in both Australia and America to defend the autonomy of the Program. How did scholars interpret the ambassadorial expectation when they were opposed to their government’s foreign policy? Many also found they could not speak critically of their national government without antagonising their hosts. Living up to the Fulbright program’s ideal of achieving ‘mutual understanding’ was very much a matter of learning by experience, to be interpreted by scholars for whom research was actually the priority.Less
The Vietnam War posed significant challenges to academics on educational exchange who were expected under the Fulbright program to be ambassadors as well as researchers. The CIA surveillance of the anti-war movement and political interference in the administration of the Fulbright program from government caused academics in both Australia and America to defend the autonomy of the Program. How did scholars interpret the ambassadorial expectation when they were opposed to their government’s foreign policy? Many also found they could not speak critically of their national government without antagonising their hosts. Living up to the Fulbright program’s ideal of achieving ‘mutual understanding’ was very much a matter of learning by experience, to be interpreted by scholars for whom research was actually the priority.
