Date of Award

Summer 8-2013

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

First Advisor

H. Robert Baker

Second Advisor

Joe Perry

Third Advisor

Larry Youngs

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the culture of coercive voluntarism in Georgia during the First World War using studies of legislation and vigilance, the press, and the Georgia Council of Defense. Each of the themes studied demonstrates how organizations attempted to coerce support of the US war effort in Georgia. The study focuses on Georgia as a single state rather than simply as part of the South, as most other studies have done. The purpose is to challenge studies that have emphasized resistance only, which presents an incomplete picture of Georgia’s domestic scene during the war. In fact, many elements within Georgia—at the state, local, and citizen level—actively supported the war, often with the same level of intention, if not the same results, as did other areas of the country. Georgia attempted to comply with federal imperatives while preserving its rights as a state.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.57709/4299386

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