"Love and Death in the Great War” Andrew Huebner, Univ. of Alabama

Professor Huebner will discuss his new book, Love and Death in the Great War (Oxford, 2018). He argues that Woodrow Wilson's rationales for intervention such as "saving the world for democracy" were too abstract to motivate a reluctant citizenry. Other public officials quickly recognized that appeals to home, hearth, and nation were much more effective means of mobilization. American propaganda strained to reinforce traditional gender norms at a time when conservative authorities believed that broad social forces such as industrialization and women's rights posed serious threats to tradition. War promised to restore convention, stabilize gender roles, and sharpen male character.