Clarence Streit's Union Now and the Idea of an Anglo-American Union: A Movement Away From Imperialism to a World State?

This thesis is concerned with proposals that aimed at transforming or reforming the English-speaking world so that it could continue to dominate the world in the future. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, these ideas emerged from the discourse of Anglo-Saxonism that represented the Anglo-Saxon ‘race’ as the most developed ‘race’ in the world which could, therefore, ‘legitimately’ rule the world. In the later 20th century, an Atlantic discourse developed, which appeared to address further nations in the group of world leaders. However, it seems to rely on similar discursive elements as Anglo-Saxonism, which only includes the English-speaking world. The construction of the respective discourses is examined in late 19th/early 20th century writings by authors broadly associated with the British Empire as well as in Union Now, a 1939 book by U.S.-American Clarence K. Streit. The latter part presents the focus of this thesis. Streit developed a new concept of a world order in which a world state – the Atlantic Union – was to be established. In a first step, it should only be founded by a nucleus of the 15 ‘leading’ democracies in the world and should subsequently be expanded. In addition to the connection between Anglo-Saxonism and Atlanticism which is investigated in Streit's writings, his network and prominence are analyzed, as are the resolutions Streit's supporters introduced into the U.S. Congress and Streit's stance on imperialism.

Level thesis:degree_level

thesis.doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher

Universität Passau

Year

2020

Author dc:creator

• Czech, Susanne

Contributors dc:contributor

• Fitz, Karsten
• Depkat, Volker

• Clarence Streit
• Union Now
• Atlantic Union
• Anglo-Saxonism
• Atlanticism

Statement dc:rights

• Creative Commons - CC BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International

Repository record source_url

https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-uni-passau/frontdoor/index/index/docId/920

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:kobv.de-opus4-uni-passau:920