Essay On American Contribution and the Democratic Idea | Page 4

defined as "war against
war." It remained for America to make the issue.
Peoples do not rush to arms unless their national existence is threatened.
It is what may be called the environmental cause that drives nations
quickly into war. It drove the Entente nations into war, though
incidentally they were struggling for certain democratic institutions, for
international justice. But in the case of America, the environmental
cause was absent. Whether or not our national existence was or is
actually threatened, the average American does not believe that it is. He
was called upon to abandon his tradition, to mingle in a European

conflict, to fight for an idea alone. Ideas require time to develop, to
seize the imagination of masses. And it must be remembered that in
1914 the great issue had not been defined. Curiously enough, now that
it is defined, it proves to be an American issue--a logical and positive
projection of our Washingtonian tradition and Monroe doctrine. These
had for their object the preservation and development of democracy,
the banishment from the Western Hemisphere of European
imperialistic conflict and war. We are now, with the help of our allies,
striving to banish these things from the face of the earth. It is
undoubtedly the greatest idea for which man has been summoned to
make the supreme sacrifice.
Its evolution has been traced. Democracy was the issue in the Spanish
War, when we fought a weak nation. We have followed its broader
application to Mexico, when we were willing to ignore the taunts and
insults of another weak nation, even the loss of "prestige," for the sake
of the larger good. And we have now the clue to the President's
interpretation of the nation's mind during the first three years of the
present war. We were willing to bear the taunts and insults of Germany
so long as it appeared that a future world peace night best be brought
about by the preservation of neutrality, by turning the weight of the
impartial public opinion of our democracy and that of other neutrals
against militarism and imperialism. Our national aim was ever
consistent with the ideal of William James, to advance democracy and
put an end to the evil of war.
The only sufficient reason for the abandonment of the Washingtonian
policy is the furtherance of the object for which it was inaugurated, the
advance of democracy. And we had established the precedent, with
Spain and Mexico, that the Republic shall engage in no war of
imperialistic conquest. We war only in behalf of, or in defence of,
democracy.
Before the entrance of America, however, the issues of the European
War were by no means clear cut along democratic lines. What kind of
democracy were the allies fighting for? Nowhere and at no time had it
been defined by any of their statesmen. On the contrary, the various
allied governments had entered into compacts for the transference of
territory in the event of victory; and had even, by the offer of rewards,
sought to play one small nation against another. This secret diplomacy

of bargains, of course, was a European heritage, the result of an
imperialistic environment which the American did not understand, and
from which he was happily free. Its effect on France is peculiarly
enlightening. The hostility of European governments, due to their fear
of her republican institutions, retarded her democratic growth, and her
history during the reign of Napoleon III is one of intrigue for
aggrandizement differing from Bismarck's only in the fact that it was
unsuccessful. Britain, because she was separated from the continent and
protected by her fleet, virtually withdrew from European affairs in the
latter part of the nineteenth century, and, as a result, made great strides
in democracy. The aggressions of Germany forced Britain in self-
defence into coalitions. Because of her power and wealth she became
the Entente leader, yet her liberal government was compelled to enter
into secret agreements with certain allied governments in order to
satisfy what they deemed to be their needs and just ambitions. She had
honestly sought, before the war, to come to terms with Germany, and
had even proposed gradual disarmament. But, despite the best
intentions, circumstances and environment, as well as the precarious
situation of her empire, prevented her from liberalizing her foreign
relations to conform with the growth of democracy within the United
Kingdom and the Dominions. Americans felt a profound pity for
Belgium. But she was not, as Cuba had been, our affair. The great
majority of our citizens sympathized with the Entente, regarded with
amazement and disgust the sudden disclosure of the true character of
the German militaristic government. Yet for the average American the
war wore the complexion of other European conflicts, was one
involving a Balance of Power, mysterious and