ABSTRACT
Like U.S. president Woodrow Wilson, and unlike the European politicians, diplomats, generals, and admirals who created World War I, John Redmond viewed it as a contest between good and evil. He believed that German and Hapsburg authoritarianism, militarism, irresponsible imperialism, and disregard for small states menaced Western civilization. Redmond told Irish nationalists that they had an obligation to help Britain and France preserve liberal democracy and the freedom of small countries such as Belgium. He said that an Irish sacrifice for international justice would persuade Britain to concede all-Ireland Home Rule when peace came. Sinn Féiners, Irish-Irelanders, and the IRB disputed Redmond. They could not see Britain, the oppressor of Ireland, as the champion of democracy or the rights of small countries. They pleaded with Irishmen not to shed their blood or risk their lives for the power and glory of the British empire.
