Item Detail
-
30597
-
1
-
21
-
English
-
Drawing the Sword of War against War: B. H. Roberts, World War I, and the Quest for Peace
-
Utah Historical Quarterly
-
Spring 2019
-
87
-
2
-
Champaign, IL
-
University of Illinois Press
-
100-115
-
On the eve of American entry into World War I, B. H. Roberts was a well-known general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(LDS), Democratic politician, writer, and popular speaker. In the years after the outbreak of war in Europe, he spoke out often on the need for world
peace, as well as the policy of American neutrality toward the belligerent
nations. His views tended to reflect those of most Americans, as well as the
LDS hierarchy at the time. By the spring of 1917, however, Roberts firmly
supported the United States’ entry into the conflict, to the extent that he
volunteered to serve as a chaplain. The transformation of his views and
the arguments he made in support of American involvement were indicative of a similar change in attitude among other Utahns as well, including those of his ecclesiastical colleagues. Indeed, as was always the case,
Roberts’s views and actions were intertwined with those of the church in
which he served. Fundamentally, as his views evolved, Roberts believed
war was necessary only when it reflected God’s will and achieved God’s
righteous purposes. As a result, an examination of Roberts’s arguments not
only provides one more lens to view the climate that existed in Utah in
wartime but also serves as evidence of the immediacy—and importance—
of the Great War itself to residents of the Beehive State.1 Moreover, once
the conflict was over, Roberts emerged as an important advocate of postwar reconciliation—again based on his view of God’s will—and reflecting
changes in the view of many Americans.
[from author] -
A History of the B.H. Roberts Family
Chastisement of the Nations, 1914-45
Defender of the Faith : The B. H. Roberts Story
Discourses of B. H. Roberts of the First Council of the Seventy
Exhibiting Mormonism : The Latter-day Saints and the 1893 Chicago World's Fair
Mormonism's Blacksmith Orator : B. H. Roberts at the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions
Mormons and the World's Fair 1893 : A Study of Religious and Cultural Agency and Transformation
Our Cradles Were in Germany : Utah’s German-American Community and World War I
Our Cradles Were in Germany : Utah's German American Community and World War I
Personal Faith and Public Policy : Some Timely Observations on the League of Nations Controversy in Utah
Sheaves, Bucklers, and the State : Mormon Leaders Respond to the Dilemmas of War
The Autobiography of B. H. Roberts
The B. H. Roberts Case of 1898-1900
The Mormon Church and the Spanish-American War : An End to Selective Pacifism
Utah and the Great War : The Beehive State and the World War I Experience
Utah and World War I
Utah and World War II
Utah State Elections, 1895-1899
Utah’s War Machine : The Utah Council of Defense, 1917–1919
When Buffalo Bill Came to Utah
Window of Faith : Latter-day Saint Perspectives on World History