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Collected Materials

for the Study of the War

COMPILED BY

ALBERT E. McKINLEY

PHILADELPHIA

MCKINLEY PUBLISHING COMPANY

1918

Copyright, 1917, 1918

MCKINLEY PUBLISHING COMPANY

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The World War has led to an intense sharpening of interest among Americans in international relations and world history. Races, countries, and policies hitherto almost unknown to the great body of American citizens, have in a moment become of vital importance to all. And with this new importance has come a truly American desire to understand the significance of the new world movements. Hence, from the public generally, from students in schools and colleges, from teachers, lecturers, and conductors of classes in clubs and camps, has come the demand for information and interpretation. The aim of the compiler of the following pages has been to present in brief compass such materials as will best meet this demand.

President Wilson's principal addresses in wartime have been included not only because they present the official statements upon the entrance of the United States into the war and upon the war aims of America, but also because of their incomparable style and diction. No condensations or omissions have been undertaken in any of the addresses.

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In Part II is presented what is by far the best analysis of the immediate antecedents and principal events of the war which has yet been prepared. fessor Harding has adopted a topical form for his study of the war, but he has so woven together the evidence, and accompanied it with such telling quotations that he has made a most interesting narrative. This outline has already been made the basis of study in hundreds of classes throughout the country, and it will soon, doubtless, be adopted on a still wider scale.

Mr. Hoskins, in his Syllabus, in Part III, goes back to an earlier date in order to get an adequate background for the present conflict. Beginning with the Middle Ages he analyzes the steps by which modern Europe has come into existence and the manner in which its institutions have developed. Particular attention is called to the problem questions given under each topic. These thought-provoking questions will stimulate any intelligent person into a new attitude toward historical events and personages.

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Next to a demand for information concerning the historical origins of the war has come that for an understanding of world geography. Places and districts hitherto unnoticed by even well-informed persons have in a day become of world-wide importance. German colonies in distant parts of the world have been seized by the Allies; battle-lines in Europe have shifted back and forth; and German armies have occupied great districts whose very names previously were hidden within the large bulk of the Russian state. Geography has helped in an understanding of the war by showing racial boundaries as well as political; it has brought us to realize the value of physical land and water features in the conduct of military campaigns; and of the economic background which has exercised such a deep influence upon German annexationists. Professors Harding and Lingelbach, in Part IV, have

prepared and described a series of maps bearing upon the military, economic, racial, and political aspects of the war. To these have been added a number of outline maps which may be used in depicting further military and political changes.

Professor Dutcher, in Part V, has prepared an extensive critical bibliography of the war. While the list of seven hundred titles may seem formidable to some, yet it is so closely sub-divided that the student can readily gain an appraisal of the books upon any phase of the war.

Part VI contains statutes and joint-resolutions of the Congress of the United States from April, 1917, to May, 1918. The aim has been to include those laws and parts of laws which show the manner in which the country has been legally reorganized to meet war conditions. It cannot be hoped that the selection of statutes will be satisfactory to all, but the list has been made as inclusive as space limitations would permit. No attempt has been made to include all the laws on a given subject, but rather to pick out typical statutes, from which the reader or student can gain an idea of the vastly important legislation of the Sixty-fifth Congress. It has been impossible, too, to print the full text of the longer statutes, some of which, like the Revenue Act of 1917, would occupy fifty of the large pages of the present work. The parts omitted have been indicated in the usual manner (...). The sections included are those which contain general principles of legislation; qualifying clauses and sections have in some cases been cut out. Persons desiring to consult the statutes for legal reasons rather than for general information or historical facts should read the official text published in the Statutes at Large " or the "slip-laws" of the United States.

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What has been said above concerning the laws, holds true also of the Executive Proclamations in Part VII. To save space the parts of proclamations which recite a statute or part of a statute have been omitted, as well as the usual form of subscription and seal by the President and Secretary.

The material in Parts II, IV, and V of this collection was prepared in co-operation with the National Board for Historical Service of Washington, D. C. It was first published in THE HISTORY TEACHER'S MAGAZINE for January, March, and April, 1918, and later reprinted in pamphlet form. Acknowledgment is cheerfully made of assistance in the preparation of Part IV received from Professor G. B. Roorbach, Mr. Randolph G. Adams, Messrs. Henry Holt and Co., the C. S. Hammond Co., and the Atlantic Monthly Press.

The several parts of this collection have been issued by the publishers in separate pamphlet form (except that Parts VI and VII are included in one pamphlet), and these separates may be obtained in single copies or in quantities for class use where the adoption of the entire collection is impracticable.

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The President's addresses should, in the case of each, be studied in their entirety. Each should be comprehended as a complete work of art. But in addition to this they should be studied in a series with the purpose to discover (1) the immediate reasons for the entrance of the United States into the war; (2) the ultimate purpose of our intervention; (3) the change from our old policy of isolation (Monroe Doctrine); (4) our wishes concerning the Allies; (5) a plan for a better organization of the world than existed before the war. The text of the addresses may also be studied in connection with the studycutlines given in Part II and Part III.

The syllabus prepared by Professor Harding is designed as the basis for a connected study of the war and its immediate causes. The successive sections should be assigned for study and discussion. Members of the class or group should look up additional information in the references accompanying the several chapters.

The outline prepared by Mr. Hoskins lends itself to a more extensive study of the conditions leading up to the war. It is designed particularly for high school and college classes in which time is available to study more in detail the historic development of the modern world. The outline should be assigned in brief sections, and pupils should be required to prepare for the exercise by reading in the textbooks and general works. Their reading may be carried on with a view to obtaining answers to the "problem-questions" which the author has inserted under each subtopic.

The geography section should be made the basis of careful study. Too often students and teachers are content to use a map simply as a means of reference to locate a specified place. In addition to such use, maps should, in class instruction, be made the basis for propounding and answering definite problems. Such problems may deal with simple facts of locations and distances; or they may take up more subtle questions of the relation of geography to military, political, and economical activities. Thus the map showing the Pangermanist plan of 1895 (page 93) may be contrasted with the races (on colored map opposite page 92) to be subjugated, or with the map of the recent territorial redistribution in Russia (page 98). The map of the German drive of March, 1918, shows the alternate attack upon the center and the flanks of the Allied position; it shows also the gradual slowing down of the German advance. A number of excellent geographical problems are presented by Professor Lingelbach on page 85.

The bibliography of war literature is inserted in this volume because it is believed that it will prove useful not only in designating books fo library purchase, but also because it gives an impartial valuation of each volume. Professor Dutcher's bibliography is the most complete work of this character which has appeared. With its careful subdivision into topics, it should be a continual help to the historical scholar.

The United States statutes and proclamations show the means by which a peaceful nation reorganized its military system, its trade and industries, and

its finance in order to devote all its energies to winning the war. Such material is somewhat difficult to use in school and college classes unless the assignments of topics and questions are most carefully made by the instructor. Occasionally the briefer statutes may be assigned entire for close study and analysis; but for the longer documents a more intensive method should be used. The following suggestions will illustrate how these and the other statutes may be so assigned to the class that the essential parts of the laws will not be overlooked by the careless reader.

From the text of the Selective Draft Act (page 137) answer the following questions:

What kinds of organizations and what numbers of each is the President authorized to raise by paragraphs 1-7 of Section 1 Which of these are to be raised by voluntary enlistment and which by selective draft?

What persons are liable to the draft? How are the drafted persons apportioned among the States? May a foreigner be drafted?

Contrast the bounty provision in Section 3 with the policy pursued in the Civil War. Which is the more democratic? Why?

Can you give satisfactory reasons why each of the classes of persons mentioned in Section 4 should be exempt?

Sketch the organization by which persons are registered for the draft, and the method by which exemptions are determined.

What official persons may the President call upon for assistance in the draft? What penalties are imposed for refusal or neglect to perform such duty?

What powers are given to the President to safeguard the morals of the army?

Compare the text of this Act with the proclamation of the President for the registration on June 5, 1917 (page 171).

The following topics and problems are based upon the Act of August 10, 1917 (page 145), giving the President power to control food and fuel:

Give in brief the purposes of the Act.

What agencies may the President use to enforce the Act? What limitations concerning contracts are imposed upon these persons and agencies? Why are these imposed? What acts are made unlawful by Section 4?

For what classes of acts may licenses be required under Section 5? What is the advantage of a license system? Who are exempt from the license system? Why so exempt? What punishment may be inflicted upon hoarders? What becomes of the articles hoarded?

What powers does the President possess to seize and to sell necessaries?

What control does he possess over the prices of necessaries, especially wheat?

What restriction does the Act impose upon the manufacture of distilled liquors? Does this affect breweries? When shall the provisions of this Act cease to have effect?

Outline the powers of the President over the fuel supply. State from your own knowledge or other sources how the food and fuel control has been exercised in your locality.

A similar treatment of the other statutes and of the Executive Proclamations will bring out the significant parts of each document. Only by such means can a class be led to use with profit legal documents of this character.

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