Albert Ahlf

Dictators, Democracy, and American People Pg. 157-249 Reading Response. (204)

In the reading of Alpers (157-249), it is shown how the United States began to get

directly involved in the war through the means of preserving democracy according to US

politicians who were attempting to maintain imperial super-power. This sense of power was

threatened by the rise of dictatorial powers in Europe such as the Nazis and Hitler. Part of the

reason one could argue that the US entered WWI was because it wanted to maintain its

superpowerness and show everybody whos in charge so to speak.

American cultural producers at the time began to say that totalitarian states could only

survive if they conquered all democratic nations and waged war from home in order to survive.

During the 30s, the National Education Association in order to combat totalitarianism at home

initiated the Educational Policies Commission which sought to educate people about

democracy and promote citizenship which would supposedly save the nations democratic

way of life. In regards to the war, Alpers asks the question as to whether or not it is possible for

a democracy to remain democratic while going to war with a dictatorship. One could respond

by saying no because when militaristic action is taken in order to further an agenda or maintain

a position of power, diplomacy and democracy is naturally thrown out of the equation. One

cannot be democratic by definition and simultaneously use brute force as it is contradictory to

the very notion of liberty itself. If a country believes in the liberty, then they should not

interfere with foreign affairs and instead should just focus our their own personal liberty.
Senator Claude Pepper made a reference to this when he stated that militarism breads

militarism.

Many liberals and social scientists at this time, subscribed to the viewpoint that the

process of assimilation was crucial for preserving the structure of American Democracy. Even

this being the case, discrimination still was a reality in the military as shown in the short film,

This is the Army which represented mixed feelings towards the black troops in a different

way. During the war propaganda films of this time, whites and blacks were never shown on the

screen at the same time.

In the first fireside chat of FDR, president Roosevelt urged Americans to spread out

among the earth and to follow his direction in encircling the battle lines of the war. The

president in order to ensure trust from the American citizens at the time echoed a particular

theme. The theme stated that the American government has confidence in the people to hear

the worst without losing hope. Roosevelt then urged Americans to have faith that the

government is not hiding any important information from you unless it is information that will

assist the enemy.