the war began, our nation was said to be “unprepared.”  Insofar as this was true—­and it was true in many particulars—­it was because in the times of peace before the war we had not thought enough about the dependence of our national strength and safety upon all these factors in our national life working together.  And so, in the times of peace after the war, if the purposes for which our nation fought are to be fulfilled, we must continue to profit by this lesson which the war has taught us.

Recall your discussion of national interdependence in connection with your study of Chapter ii.

Report on some of the important scientific and commercial developments resulting from the war; as, for example: 

The development of the commercial use of the airplane.

The development of new food supplies.

The production of fertilizer from the nitrogen of the air.

The development of new industries in the United States.

Changes in methods of farming.

What are some changes in education that are likely to result from the war?

Show how the strike of coal miners in 1919 affected the life of the nation.

THE “SUPREME TEST” OF THE NATION

The “working together” of all these interdependent parts is the important thing.  “The supreme test of the nation has come,” said President Wilson.  “We must all speak, act, and serve together.” [Footnote:  Message to the American People, April 15, 1919].

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It is not an army that we must shape and train for war ... it is a Nation.  To this end our people must draw close in one compact front against a common foe.  But this cannot be if each man pursues a private purpose.  The Nation needs all men, but it needs each man, not in the field that will most pleasure him, but in the endeavor that will best serve the common good. ...  The whole Nation must be a team, in which each man must play the part for which he is best fitted. [Footnote:  Conscription Proclamation, May 18, 1917.]

THE NATION AS A TEAM

We had some suggestion on page 72 of how such national team work became a fact.  “Do your bit!” was the watch-word.  It was splendid to see how personal interests gave way before the desire to serve the nation.  It is a thrilling story how the racial elements in our population forgot their differences of race and language and remembered only that they were American; how employers and employees laid aside their differences; how farmers and businessmen, manufacturers and mechanics, miners and woodsmen, inventors and teachers, women in the home and children in the schools, doctors and nurses, and every other class and group subordinated their personal interests to the one national purpose of winning the war in order that “the world might become a decent place in which to live.”