Wilson, Volume III: The Struggle for Neutrality, 1914-1915

Wilson #3

by Arthur S. Link

The third volume of Mr. Link's biography of Woodrow Wilson covers the period between the immediate background of the outbreak of the First World War and the sending to Great Britain of the note of October 21, 1915, which marked the end of Wilson's struggle to lay solid foundations for American neutrality.

The main theme of this volume is an account of the way President Wilson and his advisers met the problems raised by the onslaught of war in Europe and then went on to meet the new challenges arising from British and German attempts to control neutral commerce on the high seas through unprecedented maritime measures. In addition, Volume 3 adds significant new material to the story of American involvement in Mexico, the Caribbean, and the Far East.

A less rigid and stern picture of Wilson emerges--the picture of a man struggling patiently and cautiously to avoid entanglement in the European war, to work out a reasonable adjustment to British sea power, and to meet the German challenge of submarine warfare in a moderate, restrained, and cautious manner.

Mr. Link has again examined every pertinent document, not only on the American side, but also for the German and British; he has had access to new and hitherto unused British materials.

Genres: History

752 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Arthur Stanley Link was a longtime historian specializing in Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era. Link taught for most his career at Princeton University, with the exception of an 11-year interval he spent at Northwestern University. The author of 30 books, he is most notable for writing an incomplete multi-volume biography of Wilson and editing the 69-volume Papers of Woodrow Wilson.