Randolph Bourne's 'War Is The Health Of The State'
Prompt 1:
According to Randolph Bourne, “War is the health of the State” (qtd Zinn par 1). This seems to be at least a partially true statement, as the nations of Europe went to war in that fateful year, 1914, the governments thrived and patriotism in those countries increased, even though young men died in appalling numbers on the battlefields. Meanwhile, in the U.S., the health of the state was of some concern. Class conflict was severe, and radicals were taking extreme measures in order to get their point(s) across. For example, the bomb planted by local radicals Tom Mooney and Warren Billings that detonated during a Preparedness Day parade in San Francisco killing nine people (Zinn). Because our nation was not focused on war, like the European …show more content…
The war provided citizens with a sense of cohesiveness that was previously lacking, patriotism thrived. However, like in most things in this life, Bourne’s quoted is not 100% accurate, as not everyone agreed with Wilson’s decision to go to war. There were those, regular citizens and government types alike, who were adamantly opposed to the president’s pronouncement. This is when the Committee on Public Information was created, in order “…to promote the war domestically while publicizing the American war aims abroad” (Propaganda 1). It was led by press officer George Creel, and was responsible for combining advertising methods with an advanced understanding of the human psyche (Propaganda 1). Unfortunately, it was to become vociferously anti-German and anti-immigrant, leading to the majority of schools banning the teaching of the German language, and renaming sauerkraut “liberty cabbage”. Sadly, it was to get much worse. In East St. Louis, Illinois, a city which housed a rather large German population, a horde of “patriot’s” detained a young German American man, stripped him naked, and covered him with an American flag before lynching him. The men claimed this was a “patriotic murder” (Nash
According to Randolph Bourne, “War is the health of the State” (qtd Zinn par 1). This seems to be at least a partially true statement, as the nations of Europe went to war in that fateful year, 1914, the governments thrived and patriotism in those countries increased, even though young men died in appalling numbers on the battlefields. Meanwhile, in the U.S., the health of the state was of some concern. Class conflict was severe, and radicals were taking extreme measures in order to get their point(s) across. For example, the bomb planted by local radicals Tom Mooney and Warren Billings that detonated during a Preparedness Day parade in San Francisco killing nine people (Zinn). Because our nation was not focused on war, like the European …show more content…
The war provided citizens with a sense of cohesiveness that was previously lacking, patriotism thrived. However, like in most things in this life, Bourne’s quoted is not 100% accurate, as not everyone agreed with Wilson’s decision to go to war. There were those, regular citizens and government types alike, who were adamantly opposed to the president’s pronouncement. This is when the Committee on Public Information was created, in order “…to promote the war domestically while publicizing the American war aims abroad” (Propaganda 1). It was led by press officer George Creel, and was responsible for combining advertising methods with an advanced understanding of the human psyche (Propaganda 1). Unfortunately, it was to become vociferously anti-German and anti-immigrant, leading to the majority of schools banning the teaching of the German language, and renaming sauerkraut “liberty cabbage”. Sadly, it was to get much worse. In East St. Louis, Illinois, a city which housed a rather large German population, a horde of “patriot’s” detained a young German American man, stripped him naked, and covered him with an American flag before lynching him. The men claimed this was a “patriotic murder” (Nash