UC Riverside

At first glance, the United States had little reason to be involved in the First World War. Its isolationism and its significant Irish- and German-American immigrant populations, who were unfriendly to Great Britain, should have kept the United States from involvement. How the United States government cast its lot with the Allies by 1917 will be the focus of this study.

Anglo-Saxonism is crucial to understanding the reason for the entry of the United States in the First World War. Anglo-Saxonism is the belief that the peoples of the British Isles and their descendants in the United States and the British Empire are inherently "superior" because of their qualities of courage, thrift, and most importantly, "self-government." Anglo-Saxonism originally revolved around the founding myths of the British people. Over the centuries, these narratives were appropriated by various interests to suit the needs of the time. The founders of the United States adapted the Anglo-Saxon myths by linking the ideals of American liberty to the ancient Anglo-Saxons who fought against their Norman oppressors. By the turn of the twentieth century, Anglo-Saxonism culminated with the injection of racial and pseudoscientific explanations for the supremacy of the United States and the British Empire.

By the outbreak of the First World War, the United States foreign policy establishment appropriated Anglo-Saxonism to suit Allied war aims. By endowing the United States and Great Britain with the qualities of "self-government" and liberty, the war became a struggle between "civilization", as represented by the Allied powers, and the forces of "autocracy" and "militarism", as represented by Germany. Even though the German people had previously been considered to be close relatives of the Anglo-Saxons, the militarism and reactionary ideology espoused by the Hohenzollern dynasty and Prussian aristocracy, disqualified them from the Anglo-Saxon family. Thus, the foreign policy establishment swayed American public opinion and convinced them of the need to go to war.

Primary sources such as correspondences, government documents, and periodical articles from the time will be utilized to understand the role of Anglo-Saxonism. Understanding Anglo-Saxonism can help us understand the role of culture in foreign policy.