This provocative new study traces the origins of the modern military-industrial complex to the Progressive ideology of the late nineteenth end early twentieth centuries. Borden examines the crucial changes that occurred in World War I and its aftermath, when the progressives deliberately broadened the functions and philosphoy of the military, with profound consequences for the social, political, and economic life of the nation.

Switching from pacifism to preparedness during World War I, the Progressives transformed the army--hitherto an exclusivist frontier force--into a potent...