164 SPECIALPROVIDENCEgrowmorestable,morepartofanorder.Wilsonianslook-withsome
justice-totheevolutionoftheAtlanticcommunityinthetwentieth
centuryasa vindicationofthesetheories.Waramongthesesocietieswas
commonplacebeforetheybecamedemocracies.Nowwaramongthemis
almostunthinkable,andtheyhaveallgrownveryrich.
As a corollary to theirsupportofdemocracy around the world,
Wilsonians-again under missionary influence-became determined
opponentsofcolonialism.TheBritishrajwasevidentlynotdemocratic;
thelessenlightenedruleofothercolonialempireswasevenlesstolerable.
Wilsonianopinion,whichhadflirtedbrieflywiththeimperialistoption
attheturnofthetwentiethcentury,soonjoinedthechoruscallingfor
theUnitedStatestogiveupitsowncolonies.
Wilsonianbeliefsleadtotheprinciplethatthe supportofdemocracy
abroadisnotonlya moraldutyfortheUnitedStatesbuta practical
imperativeaswell.ThisbelieffirstappearedinAmericanpoliticsatthe
timeoftheFrenchRevolution,anditreappearedwitheverygreatEuro-
peanrevolutionarymovementofthenineteenthcentury.Whatwewould
nowcallWilsonianvoicescalledforinterventionintheLatinAmeri-
can,Greek,Polish,Hungarian,andCubanwarsforindependence.In
1848-49thenavywentsofarastopickuprepublicanrefugeesafterthe
collapseoftheRomanrepublic.WilsonianssupportedAmericaninter-
ventionsinHawaiianpoliticsasthatkingdomslowlydied,butWilsoni-
answere unabletotriggerAmericanarmedinterventionina foreign
warforindependenceuntiltheinterventioninCubain 1898.Inthe
twentiethcenturygrowingAmericanpowergavemorescopeforWilson-
ianinterventions,and Americanforces engagedin "democratic"and
"humanitarian"interventionswithincreasingregularity.
AnimportantfactorinthegrowthofWilsoniandeterminationto
spreaddemocracy wasthe startlingsuccessofAmericanpost-World
WarII policyinGermany,Italy,andJapan.Althoughallthesecountries
hadtriedparliamentarysystemsinthepast,noneoftheseformerAxis
powershadeverknownrealstabilityunderdemocraticrule.Theexperi-
mentsindemocraticgovernancethatbeganafterWorldWarIIstarted
underveryunfavorablecircumstances.Allthecountrieshadbeendevas-
tatedbythewar;Italywasdividedbetweenanenergeticandmilitant
CommunistPartyanda somewhatobscurantistChristianright.Initially,
veryfewpoliticiansinJapansincerelysupportedtheAmericandemo-
craticexperiment.InGermany,wheremosthistoriansblamedthecol-
lapseoftheWeimarRepublicontheconsequencesoftheharshTreatyof