Neutrality by Absence: Overseas Americans at the Beginning of World War I

In the early days of August 1914, millions of young men across Europe volunteered for or were conscripted into their nation's armed forces.Fifty years of rising nationalism bore fruit in the form of the largest military mobilization in human history.At the same time, and in the same place, a very different kind of mobilization also took place.Shocked and worried by the outbreak of hostilities, tens of thousands of US nationals living, working, and vacationing overseas sought a return to the United States as the first age of globalization came to a sudden end. 1 The journey home to the United States would not be as easy as the outward voyage.Even before the introduction of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1915, the fracturing of global financial and transportation systems made it immensely difficult to secure and pay for transit.The US federal government worked with a series of volunteer organizations in Europe to unblock this logjam.A combination of federal and privately-owned gold was shipped across the Atlantic on armored naval cruisers to enable the return passage of US nationals on civilian ocean liners.Wealthy travelers accustomed to the fineries of first class grumbled at being crammed into steerage but gradually accepted the severity of the situation.Americans fled neutral and belligerent countries alike.By the end of September over 100,000 people had returned to the United States.Matched only by an equivalent operation in 1939 and a diffuse but similar-sized effort undertaken during the beginnings of the COVID-19