The greatest crusade: Mission, religion, and conflict in American foreign relations, 1898--1945

This dissertation explores the American belief in a historic national mission and the uses of mission and religion within the context of conflict from 1898 to 1945. Tracing the origins of this thought back to colonial times, continuity is established from the earliest settlements to the period specified. The uses of religious themes, language, and symbols by policy makers and the general public, and the extent to which they understood the American mission in larger, universal ways is a key element in this study. It is this religious context that separates the idea of mission in America from that in other countries. More than simple wartime rhetoric or public opinion bating, the themes of mission and religion were part of a national belief system that transcended the immediate crises. This mission mentality in the country's interaction with the world, especially in wartime, is a fundamental principle of American thinking, and a key to understanding foreign relations behavior in the time period specified. Attention focuses on the Spanish-American War, Intervention in Mexico, World War I, attempts at peace in the interwar period, and World War II. Primary source material centers of the national dialogue between political leaders and citizens and the ways national values and goals are interpreted and validated. Speeches, sermons, war posters, songs, newspaper and magazine articles, letters, memoirs, pamphlets and government records support the argument that understanding the ideology of mission and religion is key to understanding American behavior within the context of conflict.