83 Quotes by Arthur Herman

Like many high-minded people, Wilson, when faced with opposition that he considered evil but which refused to yield to his arguments, felt no compunction about simply crossing his arms and refusing to play the game.

What Wilson aspired to be, to be hailed as the savior of his people and the light of humanity, Lenin had already achieved, but through unbelievable brutality and ruthlessness, and in a broken, starving country.

Joffre himself had done nothing to change his strategy, which was attack, attack, attack, regardless of the losses or, incredibly, without any substantive sign of success. Instead, Joffre had watched impassively as the French casualties mounted.

Secret diplomacy is a necessary tool for a propertied minority which is compelled to deceive the majority in order to subject it to its interests,” he continued. “Imperialism, with its dark plans of conquest and its robber alliances and deals, developed the system of secret diplomacy.

Soldiers disturbed by the Znamenskaya Square massacre had sat up all night debating what to do if ordered to fire on civilians again. On the morning of March 12, they voted to disobey such an order. One regiment after another joined the vote; soon, soldiers were pouring out into the streets to join the demonstrators. It was the largest military mutiny in history.

By the winter of 1916, German civilians were starving, even starving to death. Unless the war ended very soon, Germany faced catastrophe even if not a single Allied soldier advanced another step.

The time had come for no more czars. Russia was on the verge of violent revolution; only a complete break from the past, Kerensky insisted, would persuade the masses that a new, more just future was dawning, and that the forces of despotism were now yielding to the forces of freedom.

Thanks to Erasmus, the new trend of the 1500s was away from universities and toward an entirely revolutionary idea: homeschooling.

In my view the end of the war will be unforeseeable because – despite all that can be said to the contrary – the power and resources of the United States are very great.”36.