Special Providence_ American Foreign Policy and How It Changed World - Walter Russell Mead

"VindicatorOnlyofHerOwn" 207

anactiveroleinresistingHitler.AtleastuntilNevilleChamberlain's
Munichfollyin1938,JeffersonianshopedandbelievedthatFranceand
Britaincouldcontaina greatlyweakenedGermany,andthatdisarma··
mentagreementscouldlimittheabilityofJapanandotherrevisionist
powerstochallengetheexistingworldorder.Unfortunatelytheabject
failureoftheBritishandFrenchgovernmentstostopHitlercreatedan
untenablesituationinEurope,whileJapanprovedmoreaggressive,and
Chinamorefeeble,thaninformedAmericanopinionhadsupposed.
Thefailure ofBritainand Franceto takeeffectiveactionagainst
HitlerintheI930SwasinnowaythefaultoftheUnitedStates.Military
expertsalmostunanimouslyagreethatuntilthecessionofthestrategic
SudetenlandintheMunichaccords,a showofresistancefromBritain
andFrancewouldquicklyandeasilyhaveforcedGermanytobackdown
andledto,a militarycoupagainstHitler.
Jeffersonians,accustomedfromtheRevolutionforwardtothinkof
bothBritainandFranceas effectiveandaggressive imperialpowers,
failedtounderstandthedegreetowhichWorldWarI haddestroyedthe
moralcapacityofbothcountriestoactlikegreatpowers.Theirassess-
mentwaswrong,butitwas notfoolishornaive.(Suchchargescould
moreproperlybeleveledatU.S.policyinthePacific,wherethewide-
spreadAmericantendencytooverestimatetheabilityofChinatodefend
itselfagainstJapaneseaggressionwasrootedinWilsonianratherthan
Jeffersonianillusions.)
Jeffersoniansandmanyothershopedandbelieveduntilmuchtoolate
thattheinternationalbalanceofpowerwouldtakecareofitselfwithout
directAmericanintervention.Surely,theyreasoned,BritainandFrance
wouldcrushHitlerbeforehebecamea realdangertothem.Oncethat
pointwaspassed,theyassumedagain,withallofhistoryandreasonon
their side, that Britain and France wouldswallow theirideological
hatredoftheSovietUniontomakecommoncauseagainstrevisionist
Germany.Afterall,CatholicFrancehadmadeanalliancewiththeTurks
againstCatholicAustria.
SadlyandironicallytheJeffersonianswereundonebytheirfaiththat
theEuropeanpowerswouldrecognizeandactontheirownself-interest.
Theycouldnotbelievethatthehistoric greatpowersofthemodern
worldwouldsitpassivelybyandwatchthedestructionoftheEuropean
powerbalanceonwhichtheydepended.
Jeffersonianscouldanddidarguerationally,upuntilthe summerof
1939,thata coalitionofEuropeanpowerspursuingtheirownbestinter-
estscouldstopGermanywithoutAmericanhelp.Itwasonlyafterthe