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Please write a précis of the book America's Great War: World War I and the American Experience by Robert H. Zieger.

This book is about the American experience during World War I, which, Zieger writes, "reflected the diverse strands of the progressivism that dominated public discourse during the first two decades of the century" (page 2). Progressives viewed the war as a way to promote what the author calls "social action" (page 2), including shoring up traditional social values, citizenship, and patriotism.


However, the war's conclusion frustrated the desires of Progressives, as it was marked by the government's attempt to quell dissent and the restriction of immigration. In addition, the war's movement to promote innovative labor relations and social welfare programs also ended in 1918, and race relations worsened after the war. Women, who received the right to vote shortly after the war and who carried on war-time work, did not generally advance their war-time gains following the war.


The book traces the development of American attitudes towards the war, from a state of ambivalence and a sense that the war was a European problem, to American entanglement in the war. He also examines the ways in which the government mobilized its military and economy to fight the war. 


In addition, what the author calls the "National Security State," which he defines as the government's use of coercion to achieve military goals, was born during the war. The author also considers the contradictions of the war, including its movement to assimilate many different types of Americans from different backgrounds into the army, while, at the same time, the military continued to practice racism.

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