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Academic Insights for the Thinking World

  • Author: Marilyn Shevin-Coetzee

America’s neglected conflict: The First World War

By Frans Coetzee and Marilyn Shevin-Coetzee

Ask an American what comes to mind about the First World War and the response is likely to be “not very much,” and certainly less than about World War II. Perhaps that is to be expected, given the different circumstances under which the United States entered the two wars. In 1941 the choice was inescapable after the searing experience of Pearl Harbor.

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Does war cause xenophobia?

By Marilyn Shevin-Coetzee

Does war cause xenophobia? Or does xenophobia cause war? That’s a “chicken and egg” sort of question. The fact is, fear of “the other” had already prevailed in pre-World War I European society—even in more liberal polities such as Britain—later manifesting itself in various ways throughout the conflict.

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