In this
chapter on the U.S. involvement in World War I, Zinn continues a theme that he began in writing
about the Civil War: despite the way history books have been written, wars have not been popular
with or enthusiastically supported by the average person. In fact, he argues, wars
disproportionately serve the ruling classes. Wars allow the wealthy to get wealthier by selling
arms and supplies, and they give the ruling elite an excuse to clamp down on the rights of the
average person.
Zinn outlines the sheer carnage of World War I and the vast
numbers of lives wasted so that one side or the other could gain a tiny bit of territory in
France. He then turns to the reason the U.S. entered the war on the side of England: to protect
the financial investments of its wealthiest citizens. Zinn writes:
in 1915, [when] Wilson lifted the ban on private bank loans to the Allies, Morgan
could now begin lending money in such great amounts as to both make great profit and tie
American finance...
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