The Anatomy of a Patriotic Society

Abstract Founding an association like the Army League demanded careful planning and coordination; maintaining it over a period of time as an influential association was another matter. The Army League’s commitment to securing a larger and more efficient army was apparent in the relentless crusade it waged for the passage of the 1912 and 1913 army bills. Its effectiveness as an association, however, cannot be judged solely by the adoption of these measures. To survive it had to balance the attainment of its goals with the maintenance of a relatively consistent degree of participation and interest in those goals. Accordingly, associations such as the Army League sought to establish a broad and durable network of branches as the medium of popular participation, and to supplement ideological appeals with a variety of social or economic incentives.