Texas and Texans in the Great War (review)

Ralph Wooster acknowledges in the preface of Texas and Texans in the Great War that there have been dozens of studies of different aspects of Texans' involvement in World War I. However, no scholar has yet offered a comprehensive overview of this important period in the state's history. Wooster, noted for his previous treatments of Texas during the Civil War and World War II, has offered a well-written overview of the period, although this work is by no means an exhaustive treatment of the subject, nor was it meant to be.

Encompassing six chapters, the book rightly begins with an overview of the state during the first two decades of the twentieth century, pointing out Texas's generally southern and conservative nature and predominantly rural way of life and reliance on agriculture, especially cotton. Next, Wooster examines the context in which the United States entered World War I, again accurately depicting the unique position of the state as it related to its troubled border with Mexico during the Mexican Revolution as well as the influence of the United States Army in the region. Wooster should be lauded for his broad treatment of Texas politics that includes an assessment of the Texas Congressional delegation, the two Texas war governors, James Ferguson and William P. Hobby, and the influential Texans who served in President Woodrow Wilson's cabinet such as Edward House and Thomas Watt Gregory. Further chapters recount in detail the rise of training camps in Texas, the roles of women and minorities, the institution of a selective draft (although there is no mention of draft opposition), discrimination against German Americans, and typical life on the home front. The author also describes the ways national movements, such as prohibition and woman's suffrage, gained political leverage during the war.

Wooster devotes one chapter to exploring the combat service of Texans. Unfortunately, this is the least satisfying portion of the book because it cannot do more than touch on the service of Texans in the military and enumerate service members who earned medals for acts of bravery. In his conclusion, Wooster points out that World War I changed Texas in several ways, notably by the passage of prohibition and woman's suffrage. On the other hand, he argues that although the Hispanic community benefited from the war, the African American community did not. He also points to the development of industry as another positive result of the war. Finally, Wooster argues that the war ushered in a change in politics as members of the "old guard," such as Joseph Bailey, gave way to the new generation including Sam Rayburn and John Nance Garner. In summing up the role of Texas and Texans in World War I, Wooster echoes historian Walter Buenger in saying that for the first time since the Civil War, Texans "thought of themselves as Americans rather than southerners," and that World War I brought Texas into the "mainstream of American life" (168).

Wooster should be commended for putting together the first comprehensive look at Texas in World War I. Not only did he touch on all of the important issues of the period, but he compiled an exceptional chronology and splendid bibliography that should be the starting point for any serious study of the period. This is a solid work that provides an excellent introduction to the subject, and although it might not be the definitive study of this period of Texas history, Professor Wooster has shown us the way.