1917 was a pivot year in the evolution of World War I: the American entrance into the war and the Russian revolution deeply influenced the war in general, while the ruinous defeat of Caporetto badly affected the Italian situation. The main consequences of these facts, though, were not military, but political: now that czarist Russia disappeared and the US entered the Western alliance, the war could be viewed as a confrontation between democracy and autocracy. A new front opened: the propaganda front, on which the Allies' enemies were not only the Central Empires, but also the new rising star of Soviet Russia. In particular, President Wilson rose to the rank of a world leader, the only one capable of stemming the catching slogans coming from the East, and a veritable myth of America and Wilson spred throughout Europe. Italy was the country where the American myth was most strongly felt, although it lasted only a year, namely until a rift opened between Italy and the United States at the peace conference. Italy was also the country where a revolution was considered possible, especially after the rout of Caporetto. In 1918 the contrasting myths of Wilson and Lenin filled the ideological void due to the incapacity of the Italian elitist leaders to run the newly-born mass society. As elsewhere, the American President's popularity depended not only on the modernity of his democratic message, but also on the vast propaganda campaign he launched across the country, using both humanitarian associations, as the American Red Cross or the Young Men’s Christian Association, and the Committee on Public Information (CPI), the first huge propaganda organization. Prominent American socialists also collaborated with the CPI. For some of them the war was the great divide separating the long years spent within the Socialist party in a constant effort to oppose American official policy from multifaceted collaboration with the government on war-related issues and in opposing the spreading of soviet revolution, particularly in Italy. The Socialist mission sent to Europe during the summer of 1918 is one the best examples of this collaboration. It included John Spargo, Algie Simons and Charles Edward Russell and visited England, France and Italy during July and August 1918. The mission was privately financed, had loose contacts with American diplomacy, but was given a constant support by the European branches of CPI. At its return to the States, the mission reported personally to Lansing, Creel and had a forty-minute conference with President Wilson and all of them praised their work. This mission, therefore, was another of those hybrid endeavors - half private, half official - which characterized the double-track diplomacy of President Wilson, particularly during the wartime.

Rossini, D. (2006). Wilsonian Diplomacy and the Peril of Revolution in Italy during World War I: the American Socialist Mission of August 1918. In PIERRE MELANDRI, SERGE RICARD (a cura di), Les États-Unis face aux révolutions. De la Révolution française à la victoire de Mao en Chine (pp. 161-180). PARIS : L'Harmattan.

Wilsonian Diplomacy and the Peril of Revolution in Italy during World War I: the American Socialist Mission of August 1918

ROSSINI, Daniela
2006-01-01

Abstract

1917 was a pivot year in the evolution of World War I: the American entrance into the war and the Russian revolution deeply influenced the war in general, while the ruinous defeat of Caporetto badly affected the Italian situation. The main consequences of these facts, though, were not military, but political: now that czarist Russia disappeared and the US entered the Western alliance, the war could be viewed as a confrontation between democracy and autocracy. A new front opened: the propaganda front, on which the Allies' enemies were not only the Central Empires, but also the new rising star of Soviet Russia. In particular, President Wilson rose to the rank of a world leader, the only one capable of stemming the catching slogans coming from the East, and a veritable myth of America and Wilson spred throughout Europe. Italy was the country where the American myth was most strongly felt, although it lasted only a year, namely until a rift opened between Italy and the United States at the peace conference. Italy was also the country where a revolution was considered possible, especially after the rout of Caporetto. In 1918 the contrasting myths of Wilson and Lenin filled the ideological void due to the incapacity of the Italian elitist leaders to run the newly-born mass society. As elsewhere, the American President's popularity depended not only on the modernity of his democratic message, but also on the vast propaganda campaign he launched across the country, using both humanitarian associations, as the American Red Cross or the Young Men’s Christian Association, and the Committee on Public Information (CPI), the first huge propaganda organization. Prominent American socialists also collaborated with the CPI. For some of them the war was the great divide separating the long years spent within the Socialist party in a constant effort to oppose American official policy from multifaceted collaboration with the government on war-related issues and in opposing the spreading of soviet revolution, particularly in Italy. The Socialist mission sent to Europe during the summer of 1918 is one the best examples of this collaboration. It included John Spargo, Algie Simons and Charles Edward Russell and visited England, France and Italy during July and August 1918. The mission was privately financed, had loose contacts with American diplomacy, but was given a constant support by the European branches of CPI. At its return to the States, the mission reported personally to Lansing, Creel and had a forty-minute conference with President Wilson and all of them praised their work. This mission, therefore, was another of those hybrid endeavors - half private, half official - which characterized the double-track diplomacy of President Wilson, particularly during the wartime.
2006
2-296-01277-9
[Abstract presente nel volume] 1917 a été une année pivot dans l'évolution de la Première Guerre mondiale. Désormais la guerre peut être perçue comme une confrontation entre la démocratie et l'autocratie et un nouveau front s'est ouvert, celui de la propagande où l'ennemi des nations démocratiques ne s'identifie plus seulement aux puissances centrales mais à l'Union Sovietique. Comme partout ailleurs, la popularité du président américain ne dépend pas uniquement de la modernité de son message démocratique mais de l'efficacité de la vaste campagne de propagande qu'il a entreprise. À l'occasion de celle-ci, il a bénéficié parfois de l'appui de ceux des socialistes qui se sont déclarés favorable à la guerre aux États-Unis. La mission de certains de ces derniers en Italie a l'été 1918 represente un des meilleurs exemples de cette collaboration. Elle s'inscrit dans la serie de ces entreprises hybrides - mi-privée mi-officielles - qui caracterisent la politique de Wilson dans ces années.
Rossini, D. (2006). Wilsonian Diplomacy and the Peril of Revolution in Italy during World War I: the American Socialist Mission of August 1918. In PIERRE MELANDRI, SERGE RICARD (a cura di), Les États-Unis face aux révolutions. De la Révolution française à la victoire de Mao en Chine (pp. 161-180). PARIS : L'Harmattan.
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11590/154413
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact