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The Wilsonian Moment: Self Determination and the International Origins of Anticolonial Nationalism by Erez Manela
4.0
The Paris Peace Conference which concluded the First World War has long been examined by historians as a failure. These criticisms have primarily been directed at the inability of the European great powers to reach a stable settlement with Germany, thus paving way for the Second World War two decades later. In The Wilsonian Moment, Erez Manela notes another failure of the conference; the inability of the great powers to match Wilson’s rhetoric of self-determination with respects to the colonised peoples of the Earth.
In his introduction, Manela notes that the chaos of the World War resulted in two new conceptions of the world emerging, both of which rejected the pre-eminent belief in the power and importance of great empires. These two conceptions were epitomised by Lenin, who wished to radically alter the world system, and American president Woodrow Wilson, who spoke in grandiose terms of a league of nations, in which all peoples of the world would have equality. The weakness of the fledgling Soviet Union and the power of the victorious United States in the war meant that the Wilsonian ideas were by far the more popular among the peoples of the world in the immediate months following the war. The language of self-determination and national rule was so popular that it inspired disparate anti-colonial actors from all over the world to engage in an extraordinary “moment” of international dialogue and cooperation. This moment would last until the following spring, when it became apparent that Wilson had no intention of applying his ideology to the world’s colonised peoples.
The Wilsonian Moment is divided into three parts. The first of these is primarily interested in looking at Wilson himself, at how a racist American politician came to stand for the hopes of the oppressed peoples of the world. Manela tracks Wilson’s development from as early as the Spanish-American War in 1898, when the Princeton academic and essayist began formulating his world view and opinions regarding ‘non-white peoples’. This extended lens of analysis allows Manela to argue against prevailing historical opinion, which stated that the President gave little thought to the world outside of Europe. Rather, the president had a clear idea of the colonised world, but it was a world which he felt needed the tutoring hand of European rule (Wilson supported the US administration of the Philippines, for example). In his second chapter, “Fighting for the Mind of Mankind”, Manela tracks how he powerful Allied news-media spread the rhetoric which President Wilson used in the Great War all around the globe. This fascinating chapter helps explain how the Fourteen Points, ideas which were tailored for a Central-Eastern European audience, reached as far afield as East Asia and India. Advanced global communications had proved a boon for the allied war effort, but now had entirely unforeseen consequences.
The bulk of Manela’s book consists of Part II, which explores the way in which the colonised peoples responded to Wilson’s rhetoric, as the author puts it, “how anticolonial nationalism was internationalised” (61). In other words, this chapter looks at the adoption of the ideals of self-determination by nationalised who wished to challenge the global legitimacy of Empire, not just win limited autonomy for themselves. Manela wrote in the introduction of the need to walk a fine line between a work which was either too sweeping and shallow or too long and dense. To compromise between the two, he decides to look in depth at the effects of the Wilsonian movement on four national groups- Egyptians, Koreans, Indians and Chinese. All four of these peoples had long, developed cultural identities and powerful educated elites. These elites saw in Wilson a change to grant their people presence on the international stage, and all had representatives in Paris advocating their case. Importantly, Manela does not consider the leaders of these four nations as naïve figures duped by Wilson- rather, they are presented as sly operators, perfectly aware of the President’s shortcomings, but determined to use him for their causes.
The final part of the book examines the death of the Wilsonian dream, as it became apparent that self-determination for the victims of European Colonialism was not on the cards of the conference. Wilson comes across as a sympathetic, but weak, figure, whose earlier promises no longer held the same power which they once had. The failure of his to sell the vision of the League of Nations to the American people and congress is played out simultaneously to a wave of revolutions which sweeps though Korea, Egypt, China and India. By comparing these revolutions side by side, Manela shows how all were linked through the discourse they used and the ideals which they shared- as well as the anger that these ideas had not been realised. In the end, it seemed that Wilson had only made “a world safe for Empires”, as radicals turned towards Lenin (Mao spoke of the extreme sorrow he felt for Wilson at the conference with the “Thieves” of the other great powers) (137).
Overall, I regard The Wilsonian Moment as a strong example of a work of world history. The author skilfully integrates six different settings into an convincing narrative, as characters move from their home nations to the melting pot of the Paris conference. The physical act of moving from place to place is not the only global aspect of this study. Ideas themselves were diffused from colony to colony- Koreans in Manchester read about Wilson’s speeches in Cairo. The aims of the colonised elites were international in scope- the idea of an equal League of Nations was the most inspiring of all the Wilsonian ideals. I would have liked to have seen a greater look at the ordinary peoples of the four nations, but a focus on the elites is understandable both in terms of writing a shorter piece and for their important role as the diffusers of the Wilsonian idea.
In his introduction, Manela notes that the chaos of the World War resulted in two new conceptions of the world emerging, both of which rejected the pre-eminent belief in the power and importance of great empires. These two conceptions were epitomised by Lenin, who wished to radically alter the world system, and American president Woodrow Wilson, who spoke in grandiose terms of a league of nations, in which all peoples of the world would have equality. The weakness of the fledgling Soviet Union and the power of the victorious United States in the war meant that the Wilsonian ideas were by far the more popular among the peoples of the world in the immediate months following the war. The language of self-determination and national rule was so popular that it inspired disparate anti-colonial actors from all over the world to engage in an extraordinary “moment” of international dialogue and cooperation. This moment would last until the following spring, when it became apparent that Wilson had no intention of applying his ideology to the world’s colonised peoples.
The Wilsonian Moment is divided into three parts. The first of these is primarily interested in looking at Wilson himself, at how a racist American politician came to stand for the hopes of the oppressed peoples of the world. Manela tracks Wilson’s development from as early as the Spanish-American War in 1898, when the Princeton academic and essayist began formulating his world view and opinions regarding ‘non-white peoples’. This extended lens of analysis allows Manela to argue against prevailing historical opinion, which stated that the President gave little thought to the world outside of Europe. Rather, the president had a clear idea of the colonised world, but it was a world which he felt needed the tutoring hand of European rule (Wilson supported the US administration of the Philippines, for example). In his second chapter, “Fighting for the Mind of Mankind”, Manela tracks how he powerful Allied news-media spread the rhetoric which President Wilson used in the Great War all around the globe. This fascinating chapter helps explain how the Fourteen Points, ideas which were tailored for a Central-Eastern European audience, reached as far afield as East Asia and India. Advanced global communications had proved a boon for the allied war effort, but now had entirely unforeseen consequences.
The bulk of Manela’s book consists of Part II, which explores the way in which the colonised peoples responded to Wilson’s rhetoric, as the author puts it, “how anticolonial nationalism was internationalised” (61). In other words, this chapter looks at the adoption of the ideals of self-determination by nationalised who wished to challenge the global legitimacy of Empire, not just win limited autonomy for themselves. Manela wrote in the introduction of the need to walk a fine line between a work which was either too sweeping and shallow or too long and dense. To compromise between the two, he decides to look in depth at the effects of the Wilsonian movement on four national groups- Egyptians, Koreans, Indians and Chinese. All four of these peoples had long, developed cultural identities and powerful educated elites. These elites saw in Wilson a change to grant their people presence on the international stage, and all had representatives in Paris advocating their case. Importantly, Manela does not consider the leaders of these four nations as naïve figures duped by Wilson- rather, they are presented as sly operators, perfectly aware of the President’s shortcomings, but determined to use him for their causes.
The final part of the book examines the death of the Wilsonian dream, as it became apparent that self-determination for the victims of European Colonialism was not on the cards of the conference. Wilson comes across as a sympathetic, but weak, figure, whose earlier promises no longer held the same power which they once had. The failure of his to sell the vision of the League of Nations to the American people and congress is played out simultaneously to a wave of revolutions which sweeps though Korea, Egypt, China and India. By comparing these revolutions side by side, Manela shows how all were linked through the discourse they used and the ideals which they shared- as well as the anger that these ideas had not been realised. In the end, it seemed that Wilson had only made “a world safe for Empires”, as radicals turned towards Lenin (Mao spoke of the extreme sorrow he felt for Wilson at the conference with the “Thieves” of the other great powers) (137).
Overall, I regard The Wilsonian Moment as a strong example of a work of world history. The author skilfully integrates six different settings into an convincing narrative, as characters move from their home nations to the melting pot of the Paris conference. The physical act of moving from place to place is not the only global aspect of this study. Ideas themselves were diffused from colony to colony- Koreans in Manchester read about Wilson’s speeches in Cairo. The aims of the colonised elites were international in scope- the idea of an equal League of Nations was the most inspiring of all the Wilsonian ideals. I would have liked to have seen a greater look at the ordinary peoples of the four nations, but a focus on the elites is understandable both in terms of writing a shorter piece and for their important role as the diffusers of the Wilsonian idea.
Power and Protest: Global Revolution and the Rise of Detente by Jeremi Suri
4.0
Chapter 5 and 6 contain the meat of this compelling argument.
Society and Democracy in Germany by Ralf Dahrendorf
4.0
This is a book very rooted in its time, but all the more interesting for it.
West Germany and the Global Sixties by Timothy Scott Brown
5.0
West Germany and the Global Sixties is an account of the rebellions of a series of avant-garde activist groups against the established authorities and norms of 1960’s Germany. Brown’s account is build upon the belief that the 68 rebellion represented a “great convergence” between a cultural/ lifestyle rebellion and a Marxist political one, as well as a “great divergence”, as these groups split and splintered within themselves. a protest against the mass consumer society which had defined the previous decade.
Brown’s chapters are thematic first and foremost, but do follow a roughly chronological fashion. Titles include such topics as “time” (the search for historical precedents for the New Left and the attempt to turn away from the German past) and “death” (the turn towards terrorism by a small faction of the New Left) but the greatest focus on the book is on “space”. The chapter on space and the global sixties is not only the longest, but discussions on space reappear in later chapters too. In many ways, Brown’s ideas of convergence and divergence are built first and foremost around the ideas of overlapping, shared spaces (such as the club scene in Berlin), and later, the separation of space as symbolised by the flight of some activists to the rural communes.
Brown’s approach is to perform a close analysis of specific small sub-groups which he believes to have influenced and directed wider movements, an example being the relationship between the SDS and the radical political group “Subversive Aktion”. Whereas the SDS was demonised by the mainstream press as a dissident organisation, most members were far from revolutionary. Brown focuses on the beliefs and inspirations of those who were revolutionary in order to understand how mass demonstrations, such as the International Vietnam Congress in West Berlin, were able to take place. Thus we read detailed accounts of the antics of Berlin’s Kommune I, the travels of Cologne’s Rolf Dieter Brinkmann and the innovations of Munich women’s Aktionsrat. In the process, the story of the “typical” German man or woman’s 1968 is lost, aside from the chapter on “sound”, new music being a shared experience between activist elites and the wider mass of young poor and middle class citizens.
An important aspect of the beliefs of the small activist groups was their perception of themselves as situated in a wider global wave, and their subsequent search throughout other parts of the world for solutions to specifically German problems. Brown refers to this as the transaction of the global and the local. He stresses that the idea of being in a world-wide movement was a matter not only of principles but of practicality. Of the examples mentioned above, Brinkmann was heavily influenced by the London countercultural scene (itself a by-product of American trends), and transferred it to his home city. The Munich women read much American literature, and followed (sometimes participating in) the campaign to legalise abortion in France. Brown examines the cultural creations of the activists, such as their artwork, to highlight how they saw themselves as a small cog in a greater global movement, and examines their tangible connections to show how they used the global to help in their local struggles.
Lastly, Brown’s approach does not allow for a flexible understanding of the institutions of sixties Germany, which are only discussed when responding to the actions of the activists, e.g. on the issue of squatters in Chapter VI “Power”. This lens of the institutions as antagonists, rather than actors in their own right, limits the extent to which we can understand the changing nature of the sixties protests in Germany. Events are seen to be driving by the activist’s own beliefs and strategies, rather than in tandem with an ever-changing governmental policy.
Brown’s chapters are thematic first and foremost, but do follow a roughly chronological fashion. Titles include such topics as “time” (the search for historical precedents for the New Left and the attempt to turn away from the German past) and “death” (the turn towards terrorism by a small faction of the New Left) but the greatest focus on the book is on “space”. The chapter on space and the global sixties is not only the longest, but discussions on space reappear in later chapters too. In many ways, Brown’s ideas of convergence and divergence are built first and foremost around the ideas of overlapping, shared spaces (such as the club scene in Berlin), and later, the separation of space as symbolised by the flight of some activists to the rural communes.
Brown’s approach is to perform a close analysis of specific small sub-groups which he believes to have influenced and directed wider movements, an example being the relationship between the SDS and the radical political group “Subversive Aktion”. Whereas the SDS was demonised by the mainstream press as a dissident organisation, most members were far from revolutionary. Brown focuses on the beliefs and inspirations of those who were revolutionary in order to understand how mass demonstrations, such as the International Vietnam Congress in West Berlin, were able to take place. Thus we read detailed accounts of the antics of Berlin’s Kommune I, the travels of Cologne’s Rolf Dieter Brinkmann and the innovations of Munich women’s Aktionsrat. In the process, the story of the “typical” German man or woman’s 1968 is lost, aside from the chapter on “sound”, new music being a shared experience between activist elites and the wider mass of young poor and middle class citizens.
An important aspect of the beliefs of the small activist groups was their perception of themselves as situated in a wider global wave, and their subsequent search throughout other parts of the world for solutions to specifically German problems. Brown refers to this as the transaction of the global and the local. He stresses that the idea of being in a world-wide movement was a matter not only of principles but of practicality. Of the examples mentioned above, Brinkmann was heavily influenced by the London countercultural scene (itself a by-product of American trends), and transferred it to his home city. The Munich women read much American literature, and followed (sometimes participating in) the campaign to legalise abortion in France. Brown examines the cultural creations of the activists, such as their artwork, to highlight how they saw themselves as a small cog in a greater global movement, and examines their tangible connections to show how they used the global to help in their local struggles.
Lastly, Brown’s approach does not allow for a flexible understanding of the institutions of sixties Germany, which are only discussed when responding to the actions of the activists, e.g. on the issue of squatters in Chapter VI “Power”. This lens of the institutions as antagonists, rather than actors in their own right, limits the extent to which we can understand the changing nature of the sixties protests in Germany. Events are seen to be driving by the activist’s own beliefs and strategies, rather than in tandem with an ever-changing governmental policy.