Page 10 - Leisure Living Holiday 2015

Wilson’s Proclamation
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By 1916 he was more distraught. “The whole face of the world has been darkened by war,” he wrote. “In the midst of our peace and happiness, our thoughts dwell with painful disquiet upon the struggles and sufferings of the nations at war and of the peoples upon whom war has brought disas- ter without choice or possibility of escape on their part. We cannot think of our own happiness with- out also thinking of their pitiful distress.”
He encouraged his fellow Americans to contrib- ute “out of their abundance to the relief of the suf- fering which war has brought in its train.”
Then, in April 1917, after Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare, Wilson – the man who had won reelection with the slogan: “He kept us out of the war” – asked Congress to de- clare war on Germany, proclaiming, “The world must be made safe for democracy.”
In his 1917 Thanksgiving Proclamation, Wil- son’s tone changed – no longer advocating neu- trality, this was a pep talk for war. Giving thanks to “Almighty God for His many blessings and mercies to us as a nation,” Wilson said, was a cus- tom “we can follow now even in the midst of the tragedy of a world shaken by war and immeasur- able disaster...because even amidst the darkness that has gathered about us we can see the great blessings God has bestowed upon us, blessings that are better than mere peace of mind and pros- perity of enterprise.
“We have been given the opportunity to serve mankind as we once served ourselves in the great
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day of our Declaration of Independence, by tak- ing up arms against a tyranny that threatened to master and debase men everywhere and joining with other free peoples in demanding for all the nations of the world what we then demanded and obtained for ourselves.”
America’s involvement in the war – by compari- son with the other warring nations – was relative- ly short. Our arrival on the continent in July 1917 turned the tide of the stalemate, and on Novem- ber 11, 1918, Germany surrendered.
Thanksgiving 1918 was just days later, and the euphoria of war’s end was still fresh. “This year we have special and moving cause to be grateful and to rejoice,” Wilson wrote. “God has in His good pleasure given us peace. It has not come as a mere cessation of arms, a mere relief from the strain and tragedy of war. It has come as a great triumph of right.
“Complete victory has brought us, not peace alone, but the confident promise of a new day as well in which justice shall replace force and jealous intrigue among the nations. Our gallant armies have participated in a triumph which is not marred or stained by any purpose of selfish aggression. In a righteous cause they have won immortal glory and have nobly served their na- tion in serving mankind. God has indeed been gracious.”
It would be nice if the story ended on that up- beat note, but we know the final outcome wasn’t as Wilson had hoped – a little over two decades lat- er, Europe would be engulfed in war once again. Nevertheless, we do well to remember that a hun- dred years ago Americans persevered through horrific times – and still found reason to count their blessings.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
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