World War One
In 1914, following the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, Germany invaded Belgium. For the next 4 years, war wracked Europe as alliances were forged and severed.
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Making the World "Safe for Democracy""Each nation must decide for itself how it will meet it....Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion... The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion... We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them."
- President Woodrow Wilson, 65th Congress, Session 1, April 2nd, 1917 Definition of Democracy: An organization or situation in which everyone is treated equally and has equal rights. -Merriam-Webster |
America didn't join until 1917, but the impression was immediate:
Immigration stopped short when the war broke out. In 1914, all of a sudden, there were no longer boatloads of people who could be exploited and abused by businesses that were trying to make as much money as they could and pay their workers as little as possible. - Interview with Dr. Carrie Brown