Mobilization Day

America has a fine tradition, mostly forgotten, of opposition to military values and large military forces. This study of the debate from 1914-1928 documents major events of the period and shows how militarists and anti-militarists contended to persuade Americans which policies were best to preserve national security.

Unlimited military spending is presented as America's only option when the world is depicted as full of threats. Yet 100 years ago, that notion was the subject of heated debates. Questions about relying on force to solve the world's problems were asked in ways that no longer seem possible. The book is a non-technological chronological narrative. It documents major events of the period and shows the arguments used by anti-militarists and their opponents.

The history of anti-war and anti-militarist movements did not stop when World War I endedquite the contrary. Organizations like the American Union Against Militarism and the Committee on Militarism in Education continued to oppose the political and social effects of large military forces and readiness to use them.

Anti-militarists were not pacifists nor were they isolationists. They fought the expansion of military forces and the encouragement of military values because they thought national security was better served by peaceful engagement with the world, and because there was no nation or movement capable of defeating us. Readers may wonder if their reading of the world situation is a lesson for today.

Dettagli