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- Title
War Aims as Aids to Victory: A Lesson of the Last Settlement.
- Authors
Hermens, F. A.
- Abstract
The article discusses about U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's declaration of war upon the Imperial Government of Germany on April 2, 1917. His speech before Congress demonstrated that he was as much aware of the possibilities of peace as of the necessities of war. Democracy was strongly exposed to the "psychology of the crowd" when it existed in the form of "direct" democracy. The popular assembly is, indeed, the most ready breeding ground for the passions of the crowd and for its direction by irresponsible leadership. The most disastrous mistakes Athenian democracy, for example, were made in the popular assembly. All modern democratic countries, by force of circumstances, have followed the American example in that representative assemblies have been the chief instruments popular rule. Their numbers were large enough to take in a considerable variety of opinion, but too small to become an easy prey of passion. Furthermore, their members were political leaders in their own right rather than mere followers, and the classical literature on modern parliaments is full of references to the fact that the mere orator never becomes an influential parliamentary leader.
- Subjects
UNITED States; WAR; PRESIDENTS of the United States; WILSON, Woodrow, 1856-1924; PEACE; DEMOCRACY
- Publication
American Journal of Economics & Sociology, 1943, Vol 2, Issue 3, p325
- ISSN
0002-9246
- Publication type
Article