KNOCK READING

Chapter 8

As you go through this chapter, ask yourself--why were Wilsonian progressives so confident that they could use the war to their political and programmatic advantage? In retrospect, of course, this confidence was misplaced--but can you imagine a different scenario?

p. 124--read the Lodge remarks closely: how wide was the gap between HCL and WW?

pp. 124-126--it's important to come to grips with the Senate's role in US foreign policy during this time. What exactly is the upper chamber doing--and how much influence does it have? Were institutional, partisan, or ideological concerns at the forefront of the Senate's response to WW's foreign policy?

pp. 126-129--was the difference between WW and the LEP any wider after the US entered the war than was the case before?

pp. 129-132--how can we explain the virulence--and breadth--of opposition to the war declaration

pp. 133-137--read closely. The CPI is one of these peculiar institutions that's tough to describe--was it progressive? or authoritarian? or both? And with measures like the Espionage Act, do you see more similarities or differences between WWI and our current domestic climate?

pp. 138-147: likewise needs a very close read. The question of war aims emerges as key during the war, culminating in the 14 Points address, arguably the single most important presidential speech on foreign policy in US history. Caucus question deals with this matter, regarding what you see as the heart of the speech.

Conclude this chapter with a thought--given what happens during the war regarding the debate over war aims and the crackdown on domestic dissent, was the League of Nations fight inevitable?

Chapter 11

Knock entitles this chapter the "stern covenanter"--do you see WW as behaving in a rather messianic fashion during this period?

192-201: how would you rate WW as a diplomat?

"New diplomacy," by the way, was first used in this context by the Princeton historian Arno Mayer (under whom Knock trained), and is essentially the equivalent of TK's progressive internationalism in the US. Mayer, however, contends that a transnational alliance of reformers existed, and spends a lot of time in his work looking at British internationalist groups.

pp. 201-204: where do colonial areas fit into WW's conception of the League? How should historians interpret the mandate proposal?

pp. 204-209: skimmable

pp. 210-226: also skimmable, although you need to come away from this chapter with a clear sense of what the central negotiating difficulties were regarding the League's creation.

pp. 227-245: to what extent were WW's domestic and international critics reflecting the same basic ideological perspective? (i.e., HCL and Clemenceau or Lloyd George); read the HCL and Gronna speeches before doing this chapter, to get a better sense of TK's description of the League fight.