Customer Reviews

Over Here: The First World War and American Society (Galaxy Books)

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This is a fine work by the author of the Pulitzer winning "Freedom from Fear". In this book, Prof. Kennedy provides a thematic overview of the American experience in WWI. This is not a narrative history but an analysis of several important aspects of that experience. Topics include the effect of entry into the war and the war experience on the Progressive Movement; the impact of the war on the American economy, the American Labor movement, and the Federal Government; the experience of organizing the large army; the efforts to plan for a postwar world; and the ultimate failure of Wilson's efforts to make the US the leader of benign international order. Kennedy shows very well how the debate over war entry and splintered the Progressive movement. The suppression of dissent during and after the war dealt a serious blow to reformers and the liberal-left movement that had been the prewar engine of reform. Government efforts during the war were characterized by efforts to persuade business rather than developing a centralized economy, though central planning and coercion would probably have been necessary if the war had continued. There is a particularly good chapter on American efforts to use the war to establish American preeminence in international trade, followed by American withdrawal from that role. One defect of the book is that the thematic organization of the chapters leaves some important points unconnected. For example, in an early chapter Kennedy argues cogently that the turn to the right that accompanied the war, encouraged by his administration, would rob him ultimately of important allies for supporting his internationalism in the postwar period. At the end of the book, he makes similar points about Wilson's conduct towards European Liberal-Left movements but these two complementary points are never connected explicitly. Kennedy is an excellent writer and this book contains a great deal of first rate analysis. Recommended strongly.

As the author writes, World War I was an affair of the mind. Here is an excellent portrait of America in 1917 with warts and all. Professor Kennedy brings many interesting personalities of that time to life including John Dewey, Randolph Bourne, George Creel and many others. This book also contains the only good discussion of economic warfare as waged by the United States against Germany during 1917-18 that I've come across. Mitchell Palmer convinced Congress to seize control of thousands of U.S. chemical patents held by German firms or individuals. This amendment was passed on 4 November 1918, just seven days before the armistice. "Shortly thereafter he sold 4,500 lucrative patents at bargain-basement rates to the Chemical Foundation, a newly minted creation of the American chemical industry. (sound familiar?) The Foundation then licensed to member firms production rights under the various patents.. . Palmer provoked the German government to complain that his policies, 'were designed to destroy Germany's economic existence upon this continent.'" His handling of the military side, including mobilization and the Meuse Argonne offensive are also insightful. His view of Pershing and the effectiveness of the AEF will rouse some scorn from those who only wish to read unquestioning tales of American superiority and genius, but that is as it should be given the actual events.

"Over Here" is an important and clearly-written work in a much-neglected area of historical inquiry--the homefront during time of war in foreign lands. It provides a nice supplement to the classic accounts of WWI that focus more on the battlefields, like Barabara Tuchman's "The Guns of August."

Over Here describes the unthinkable degree of xenophobia and repression of dissent that the Wilson administration, particularly Postmaster General Albert Sidney Burleson and Attorney General Thomas W. Gregory, directed and encouraged, and recounts horrible tales, such as the Prager and Goddard incidents, that should live on forever as warnings against future state support of vigilantism and "100 Percent Americanism." This is especially relevant these days in light of Attorney General Ashcroft's war on civil liberties and the revival of the specter of 100 Percent Americanism by the famous xenophobe Pat Buchanan. While today's assaults on liberty are not yet nearly as dastardly as those during WWI, Over Here's historical record serves as a clear warning against repeating past errors and a stunning indictment of the enemies of open society, past and present.

The book also stands as a caution against the dangers of concentrated government power, particularly during wartime, and of excessive and naive confidence in the capacity of the government to do good. It confirms the Libertarian Harry Browne's warning: "Beware of politicians with good intentions."

President Wilson was a Progressive former professor who came to office with optimistic views on improving the lot of the common man by expanding the role of government in domestic affairs and actively promoting peace in the world. Early in his administration, Wilson's words inspired hope in socialists and other leftists around the world. It is particularly credible, therefore, when a fellow progressive/liberal academic like Professor Kennedy describes how, in practice, Wilson did not have the courage of his convictions and some of his ideas turned out not to work as well in the real world as they did in the lecture halls of academia. His behavior as President was characterized by trepidation and cowardice. Instead of prosperity and harmony at home and peace and unity in the world, fledgling labor unions and leftist dissent were ruthlessly crushed at home and the world remained bitterly divided after the end of a brutal and demoralizing war. Instead of progress for workers and a "war to end all wars," the international left was disillusioned and the seeds were sown for a second, more devastating war to come.

Over Here is a great work of scholarship that is also eminently readable and concise, so that both the historian and the layperson should enjoy it immensely. Despite the author's progressive slant, he applies a light touch in the book that should make it palatable for most conservatives, largely leaving the reader to make one's own conclusions, though the case is made sufficiently strongly that the conclusions are nearly inevitable. The author does eloquently summarize his case on the book jacket, saying the book is "in many ways a sad story, a tale of death, broken hopes, frustrated dreams, and of the curious defeat-in-victory that was Woodrow Wilson's and the nation's, bitter lot." This book well earned its recognition as a Pulitzer Prize Finalist.

"This is a war to end all wars." --Woodrow Wilson
"Only the dead have seen the end of war." --George Santayana

This not only an excellent book, but it contains stories and information that are critical to understanding the United States in the First World War. The trends and events of this rather short period (1917-1919) shaped much of the rest of the Century.

Highly recommended not only for military history fans, but for anyone wishing to understand American society in the 20th Century.

Kennedy has brought up many important points, including the role of government in the lives of Americans, and the control of the media: all issues of critical importance as we move on to the next century. Some of the events of those "far gone" times are bone-chilling, as we read about them 80 or so years along (and I'm not talking about life in the trenches of Europe!).

Highly recommended.

I so enjoyed Kennedy's Freedom From Fear that when I saw this book I wanted to read it. But it is not nearly as "popular" a work as Freedom from Fear. Two or three chapters are hard to get interested in, I thought. He does talk about the AEF's time in Europe, and seems much more deprecating toward it than is usual from American authors. For instance, The Defeat of Imperial Germany 1917-1918 by Rod Paschall, while it may over-emphasize the role of the AEF, is, I think a needed corrective to Kennedy's down-playing of the American role in World War One.
As the books Kennedy relies on have made clear (e.g., Opponents of War 1917-1918, by H. C. Peterson and Gilbert C. Fite), the record of the Wilson Administration in the field of civil liberties in wartime to a present-day viewer is sobering, the legal system seemingly surrendering to the war hysteria (as some today seem to again urge it do). The book also has an insightful discussion of the contrast between American writing about the war compared to the more pessimistic view of men who were more sated by their longer involvment in the hell which was the Western front. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of interesting stuff in this book--it is just that some chapters may not be overly exciting to a non-economist, for instance.

Although perhaps best known for "Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945" (1999), much of David Kennedy's earlier work centered on Progressivism and early twentieth-century social history. His 369-page monograph, "Over Here: The First World War and American Society" (1980) followed a decade after his editing of "Social Thought in America and Europe" (1970) and "Progressivism: The Critical Issues" (1971). Significantly, Kennedy wrote in the mid-1970s on "War and the American Character."[1] The influence of these earlier studies is evident in "Over Here." Using "the occasion of the war as a window through which to view early twentieth-century American society," Kennedy explores Progressivism's support for "the historic departure of the United States from isolation and all that isolation implied." (vii) How "millions of persons in the strikingly voluntaristic and fragmented society that was early twentieth-century America" were (or even if they were) disciplined and mobilized "in a manner from which history and geography had theretofore singularly spared them" (viii) is the book's central theme. "The answers," contends Kennedy, "reveal much about the historical moment through which American society was then passing...the peculiarities of American history when contrasted with...other peoples...[and] about abiding features of American national character." (viii)

Kennedy finds that largely through its successes in molding public opinion, the Wilson administration led Progressives to support the war in the belief that it would further their aims. However, under wartime stressors, Wilson proved to be a reactionary and less committed to Progressive ideals than Dewey and other Progressives who followed him to war had hoped or believed. Kennedy documents the slide towards authoritarian management that characterized the one-hundred percent Americanism of the war years. The disillusionment of the war progressives is a foreshadowing of the "tale of death, broken hopes, frustrated dreams, and...curious defeat-in-victory that was Woodrow Wilson's, and the nation's, bitter lot." (ix) Progressivism was a casualty of war.

Kennedy organizes the book thematically following a rough chronology. He details the use of wartime propaganda and its effects, the impact of the War on the American economy and political scene, as well as the international dimensions of "The Political Economy of War." He spends two chapters focusing on the Army: first on the conscription of millions of Americans that had no previous experience with the military (or the federal government in any form other than the post-office for the most part!), and then on their experience on the Western front. Unlike Edward Coffman's The War to End All Wars (1986) or The Regulars (2004), Kennedy is not concerned with the view from the staff officers or from men in the trenches; he focuses on the political impact of Pershing's limited successes during America's comparatively brief experience in France.

The focus of the book goes beyond how the War impacted American society to investigate "those aspects of the American experience in the First World War" the author takes "to be crucial for an understanding of modern American history. Despite its subject matter, Over Here is hardly what many historians consider military history; however, it is just that. Kennedy takes a very broad look at how the War caused certain aspects of what he sees as the national character to emerge under the stressors of that conflict. Kennedy's book is in a class with Cecilia O'Leary's To Die For: The Paradox of American Patriotism (1999) and Alan Dawley's Changing the World: American Progressives in War and Revolution (2003) in its perception of American nationalism and the impact of the war on politics and society. One might even compare its conclusions to Allen Matusow's "Unraveling of America: A History of Liberalism in the 1960s"-both authors claim their political eras are casualties of their respective wars.

David Kennedy masterfully handles the interconnected complexities of Progressivism, nationalism, Wilsonian idealism, and political economy. However, his treatment of the army as an institution and the effects of conscription on both the American home front and for America's citizen-soldiers raises more questions than it attempts to answer. The high political tone and level of analysis taken preclude Kennedy's concentration on these important issues. As good as Kennedy's study is, its failure to address these issues leaves it incomplete.

[1] David M. Kennedy, "War and the American Character," The Stanford Magazine, Vol. 3, No.1 (Spring/Summer 1975), p. 14ff; an abridged version also appeared in The Nation, Vol. 220, No. 17, May 3, 1975, p. 522ff.

This is a good book about the First World War and American society. For a general description, see Roger Albin's review of June, 25 2000. I want to say a few words on an aspect of the book mentioned but not explained in seydlitz89's review of June 30, 1999--that the war "was an affair of the mind."

It refers to Woodrow Wilson's need to overcome American disunity on the question of American involvement. As the author explains, Wilson needed to shape public opinion and to crush dissent to achieve his goals. Thus he embarked on his statist program of parades and propaganda, extreme patriotic rhetoric, moralistic calls to bring democracy to the world, free speech restrictions, police-state crackdowns on and government-sanctioned vigilantism against radical groups and draft-dodgers.

As someone with an interest in the themes and paradoxes in American culture, I find the author's treatment of this war for the American mind to be utterly fascinating. It illuminates much about the the nature of America and the deep undercurrents in American thought that made the country so vulnerable to Wilson's calls for sacrifice. The author's discussion of the draft is a case in point.

He quotes one government official of the time as saying after the war that "Conscription in America was not . . . drafting of the unwilling. The citizens themselves had willingly come forward and pledged their service." As there was mass draft resistance, this statement is misleading; but it is true enough: many, many men *did* voluntarily register. And one of the reasons why is contained in the statement's last word: "service." Insightfully, the author notes that it was in large part this ideal of "service" that enabled the government to sell the war to the American people. The word itself exploited a fundamental tension in American society: that between individualism and collectivism. By "at once connoting the autonomy of the individual will and the obligation of the individual to serve a sphere wider than his own," he says, this "fittingly ambivalent term" bridged and reconciled the two value systems. The draft was not called "Selective Service" for nothing.

In our own age of government-promoted "volunteerism," such works of history as this book are not without contemporary relevance.

Although it probably has broad appeal given the topic and the fame of its author, this book is not aimed primarily at a broad audience; it is first and foremost a work of historical scholarship, by a serious and talented historian. Even so, and as full of analysis and information as this book is, it is eminently readable and is likely the defining book on the social effects of World War I in the United States. It is, in short, an extraordinarily fine work of academic history.

In the years preceding American entry into WWI, Progressivism dominated the political and social landscape. Advocating any number of platforms--from prohibition of alcohol and women's suffrage, to the causes of labor and agriculture, Progressives were extremely active. At the root of their activism, in a sense, was what the role of the federal government was and what it would be. In many ways, as Kennedy points out, World War I weighed in on this question in favor of greater government involvement. During the war, the US government entered a number of spheres of American life and exerted a controlling influence.

And yet, for this involvement and for the promise it held for the pursuit of Progressive ideals, the war effort left much undecided, and following the war, much of the gains were lost. The cause of organized labor had been gutted by wartime efforts to guarantee continued production and remained in shambles at the war's end. Prohibition gained ground, but on the whole, Kennedy argues that the cause of Progressivism and social reform suffered a serious blow as a result of the war. And the question about the government's role was far from settled; the 1920s witnessed a return to virtual non-involvement. This, along with other issues, would only find resolution during the Depression and the New Deal. In this way, then, Over Here is, indeed, prologue to his Freedom from Fear, which covers the eventual answering of many of these lingering questions--including the legitimacy of a more active federal government.

Over Here is essential reading for anyone interested in modern American political and social history.

David Kennedy continues to demonstrate a rare ability to convey the impact of major historical events on a young and often isolationist United States. This book is not similar to "Freedom From Fear", his seminal work on the Great Depression thru the conclusion of WWII. That work, while simply magnificent, was a complete history and sought to bring out all major points of importance to the U.S. of a very significant period of time. "Over Here" is more selective in what the author is trying to convey; that is to say that Kennedy expends virtually all his energy focusing on more of the consequents in terms of societal implications rather than of their respective antecedents, ie the actual Great War on a very politically complicated and framented European continent. All serious students of 20th Century American history should consider this required reading.

Kennedy's masterful look at World War I society in America proves to rank among the best accounts of the early twentieth century. He covers those who joined the war effort, the war effort at home and abroad, and the various issues relative to the Wilson Administration in terms of effectiveness and quality with a certain sophisticated nature that makes this work a must-have for undergraduate and/or graduate level U.S. history classes. Kennedy's obvious strengths are evident in his coverage of war and the Wilson administration yet it must be noted that his lack of bias must also be taken as a strength.