A SHORT HISTORY OF RIGHT WING DESTRUCTION PART 5

The years 1900-1920 saw a hodgepodge of disasters and a few accomplishments.  The biggest event of the two decades was World War I.  It was the first true world war and got called "the war to end all wars" by some.  That proved illusory, of course.  It was only the beginning of the bloodshed that would characterize the 20th century.

Technology continued to develop and it had its good and dark sides.  For instance, the Wright Brothers built the first successful heavier-than-air aircraft.  Airplanes would later be used in World War I to inflict death and destruction.

The "Titanic," considered a marvel of ship building technology, sank on its maiden voyage.

In the United States we had the Triangle Shirtwaist fire on March 25, 1911.  The owners, like good conservatives, had locked the doors to the workplace and workers could not escape when a fire broke out.  Victims of the fire included children, who worked at the company.  We know the conservative history in decrying laws requiring workplace safety and we know that conservatives would love to allow child labor.

President Woodrow Wilson worked toward the establishment of the League of Nations, but the United States did not join the League because of opposition by Republicans in the Senate.  You wonder now if the League had included the United States and if the League had possessed any real power if World War II might have been averted.

We had the Communist Revolution in Russia.  It resulted in the deaths of Czar Nicholas II and his family and the installation of a totalitarian government that acted as a good foil for militarists in the United States for the next few decades.

More to follow