America's Great War: World War I and the American Experience (Critical Issues in American History)

Much has been written on World War I, but few books focus solely on America's involvement in the war as successfully as Robert H. Zieger. In America's Great War, Zieger concentrates his attention on five broad themes that affected Americans: Woodrow Wilson's role in shaping world order; America's familial connection to Europe; the complicated relationship between the wartime experience and the Progressive Era; race; and the emergence of the National Security State. Recent bestsellers by Niall Ferguson and John Keegan have created tremendous popular interest in World War I. In America's Great War prominent historian Robert H. Zieger examines the causes, prosecution, and legacy of this bloody conflict from a frequently overlooked perspective, that of American involvement. This is the first book to illuminate both America's dramatic influence on the war and the war's considerable impact upon our nation. Zieger's engaging narrative provides vivid descriptions of the famous battles and diplomatic maneuvering, while also chronicling America's rise to prominence within the postwar world. On the domestic front, Zieger details how the war forever altered American politics and society by creating the National Security State, generating powerful new instruments of social control, bringing about innovative labor and social welfare programs, and redefining civil liberties and race relations. America's Great War promises to become the definitive history of America and World War I. Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Series Editor’s Foreword Preface and Acknowledgments Chronology Introduction ONE - A World at War 1914–1915 Early Days Americans View the War The Lusitania Crisis TWO - War, Peace, War 1915–1917 Europe’s Agony The Growing American Stake Preparing for the Worst Reelection Last Chance for Peace And the War Came THREE - Mobilizing for War 1917–1918 Making an Army Mobilizing the Economy Mobilizing the Public FOUR - Over There 1917–1918 Raising an Army An American Army? Americans in Action The U.S. Contribution FIVE - Class, Race, Gender The Working Classes African Americans Women and War SIX - Making the Peace 1918–1920 The Wilsonian Vision Armistice Making Peace SEVEN - Postwar America Bolsheviks Reds and Reaction Domestic Conflicts The Treaty Fight EIGHT - Questions for Americans Some Central Questions Notes Bibliographical Note Index About the Author Critical Issues in History