Spirit of 1917


The Spirit of 1917 was the alleged jubilation in the United States of America following their entry into World War I. It involved nostalgia for the feelings of the Spirit of '76.
Monsignor Joseph Tonello, an Italian Roman Catholic priest and musician who had settled in the US in the 19th century published the musical composition Spirit of 1917 in that year. In the introduction he explained that the piece was inspired by the "terrible condition of humanity in Europe" and the "resolution of the American people to stop misery and carnage and bring honorable peace and prosperity to the world".
The Spirit of 1917 was also evoked by Caliban News, a publication circulated 9 July 1917 to promote the Boston production of Caliban by the Yellow Sands, a patriotic "community masque" by Percy MacKaye. The Spirit of 1917 was said to be that of the "Caliban Community", the term used by the promoters to describe participants in the masque.

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