Your Honor, years ago I recognized my kinship with all living beings, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth.

I said then, and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element, I am of it. And while there is a soul in

prison, I am not free. Eugene Debs, statement at his sentencing hearing following his conviction

under the Espionage Act.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century. The The Episode 158, so thoroughly policed.

We're back in the United States today.

I have a few topics I'd like to raise related to the U.S.

entering the Great War, some of which I include for their own sakes, others because they relate to the larger question of how the war is affecting modern liberal democracy.

I call that the liberal crisis, which will be the focus of next week's episode.

For today, we'll stick to the United States.

We've already discussed on this podcast, the British Shell Shortage, Episode 110, and the British

conscription crisis, episode 116. When the United States entered the Great War, it found itself facing circumstances not so

different from what the United Kingdom faced in 1914. The U.S. had only a small standing army,

and it would take time to build it up to the size required to make a meaningful contribution

on the Western Front. And like the British government, the U.S. government

has traditionally eschewed government-controlled arms and munitions manufacturing in favor of purchases

on the open market. The U.S. had one big advantage, though. It could learn from the experience of

its alliance partners. As we saw in episode 142, the U.S.

government leapt right into conscription with a minimum of the debate, having learned from the

British experience. The British experience with shortages of munitions was also an object

lesson for Americans. The Wilson administration learned from that experience, and, infused with

Woodrow Wilson's new determination to win the war and win it as quickly as possible, set about

...