The Great War Comes to Wisconsin: Sacrifice, Patriotism, and Free Speech in a Time of Crisis by Richard L. Pifer and Marjorie Hannon Pifer (review)

The recent centennial of World War I saw renewed popular interest in the conflict as newspapers and magazines regularly noted anniversaries of significant events that have all but passed from living memory. Richard Pifer's The Great War Comes to Wisconsin is, therefore, a timely contribution to the field, one that is based upon solid research but that will appeal to a popular audience. "Homefront studies" are well-trodden ground, but Pifer's focus on one state distinguishes the book from larger and grander narratives, such as David M. Kennedy's Over Here: The First World War and American Society (1980) or Ellis W. Hawley's The Great War and the Search for a Modern Order: A History of the American People and Their Institutions, 1917–1933 (1992). Instead of building an overarching narrative that interprets the war as the manifestation of a modernizing state, Pifer focuses on how the war affected the daily lives of the people of Wisconsin. Writing state-based history presents a significant challenge. An author must describe both what is unique about the place that merits scholarly attention yet must also describe what is representative about the place that exemplifies larger national themes. Pifer strikes a balance between these two competing demands, and his adept handling of several important characteristics of the state prevents the book from degenerating into a parochial, celebratory tale. He writes about both Wisconsin history and American history in Wisconsin.

Pifer brings immense experience to this work. As a longtime archivist at the Wisconsin Historical Society, he examined similar themes in his A City at War: Milwaukee Labor during World War II (2002). Pifer begins his study of World War I with a chapter of historical context. This snapshot of "Wisconsin in 1914" shows a state with an economy that included extractive, agricultural, and industrial facets and a diverse workforce made up of native-born citizens and immigrants alike. In this sense, Wisconsin resembled other midwestern states. Likewise, chapter two describes the transformation of Wisconsin society; Wisconsinites' initial confidence that the war would be over quickly and would have little effect on people's daily lives gave way to a striking zeal for preparedness that mirrored national attitudes. More engagement with the scholarly literature would have helped to clarify what was "typical" of Wisconsin's experience at this point. Subsequent chapters address other aspects of the war. Chapter 3 focuses on the experiences of soldiers by examining the Thirty-Second Division, created in 1917 by combining Wisconsin's National Guardsmen and draftees with those from Michigan. Pifer uses letters, diaries, and memoirs to reflect the typical experience of soldiers in the war. Likewise, Pifer makes extensive use of state newspaper and archival sources to illustrate how the war affected those at home. He focuses on a few variously sized communities—

Milwaukee, Madison, Eau Claire, Green Bay, and La Crosse—and efforts to support the war through voluntary rationing, bond drives, and relief efforts are implied to be similar to those in other states. This effective use of first-hand accounts is the book's greatest strength, and Pifer reveals the thoughtful—and surprisingly contemporary—voices of those who found themselves caught up in the war.

Pifer does clearly indicate some aspects of the war experience that distinguished Wisconsin from the rest of the country. First, a sizable proportion of the population was of German or Scandinavian background, which meant that many favored the central powers in the conflict and would later become reluctant supporters of the U.S. war effort. Secondly, reformers had split the dominant Republican Party into fiercely competitive progressive and conservative factions. The leader of the progressives, Robert M. La Follette would become nationally infamous after he filibustered the Armed Ship Bill in March 1917 and after he led congressional...