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4 Toward the Arabic Crisis January–August 1915 In 1921 West Point graduate Philip Dru, stationed at Fort Magruder, Texas, near the Rio Grande, became lost in the desert and suffered a sunstroke . Discharged from the army, he learned that a secret plutocratic oligarchy had gained control of the United States. Once the American people discovered the plot, civil war broke out, in which Dru successfully led an insurrectionary army. After the war, he ruled America, not as president but as “administrator.” In reality a dictator, Dru fostered a host of domestic reforms that created greater equality and revolutionized the structure of the American government. Just as important, he prevented a coalition of Germany, Japan, and England from forming an anti-American alliance, for their combined military power would have enabled them to invade the United States itself. As a result of a major shift in ministry within the British government, the embryonic coalition dissolved. Now administrator Dru could work with London to alter political alignments throughout the entire world, in the process advancing peace and freedom everywhere. Dru gave Germany freedom to control southeastern Europe and Asia Minor and to spearhead economic development in Latin America. He authorized Japan and China to divide Asia into spheres of influence , thereby checking the expansion of Russia. The Philippines became a Japanese protectorate while opening trade to all comers. The United States dominated the entire Caribbean and assumed Britain’s role in Canada. Because the nations of Central America were engaging in destructive revolution , Dru defeated them at the Battle of La Tuna, fifty miles north of Mexico City, and turned them into U.S. protectorates. When he deemed his work 93 94 Nothing Less Than War done, Dru surrendered his powers and left his nation, sailing away with his beloved wife Gloria to a far-off Slavic land.1 Thus ran the plot of a novel, Philip Dru, Administrator, published anonymously in 1912. It was written by Colonel Edward Mandell House, who in 1917 confided to his diary: “Philip Dru expresses my thought and aspirations , and at every opportunity, I have tried to press rulers, public men and those influencing public opinion in that direction. Perhaps the most valuable work I have done in this direction has been in influencing the president.”2 There is no evidence that Wilson ever read, much less gained any insights, from this work, although he took it with him on a trip to Bermuda. If House never entertained illusions about becoming the reincarnation of Philip Dru, he still sought to advance some of the agenda of the “administrator .” Like Dru, the colonel would help to reorder the world so as to advance the causes of peace and justice. In May 1913, he journeyed to Europe, where he met with British leaders. He stressed the need for a “working understanding ” with Britain, something that could lead to “some sort of coöperative understanding with the great European Powers that might help to preserve the peace of the world.” In order to reduce international tensions, and in particular to weaken the intense German-British naval rivalry, he advanced a scheme that would have given Germany a sphere of influence in Asia Minor and Persia and a freer commercial hand in the Latin American republics.3 His fictional hero could not have expressed himself better, although Wilson had no foreknowledge of House’s scheme. The colonel returned home in July with his grandiose goal unfulfilled. Sailing to Europe again late in May 1914, House met with Foreign Secretary Grey and Kaiser Wilhelm II. The emperor was impressed with the colonel’s military rank, not realizing it was strictly honorary. Speaking to Wilhelm on June 1, House stressed that a naval accord between Britain, Germany, and the United States could preserve world peace. It could also check the Asiatic peoples, an argument more to the Kaiser’s liking. Although the assassination of Francis Ferdinand at Sarajevo had not yet taken place, the colonel feared that “some spark might be fanned into a blaze.” After conferring with Germany’s naval chief, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, House cautioned Wilson concerning the atmosphere in Berlin: “The situation is extraordinary. It is jingoism run stark mad.” In a blatantly self-serving comment , he suggested that only “some one acting for you can bring about a different understanding.” Upon visiting France, the colonel maintained that its leaders no longer dreamed of revenge, much less the recovery of Alsace [18.223.172.252] Project MUSE...

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