There is a great deal of political instability in Europe in 1914. When Betsy arrives in London, in July, it is palpable. Betsy loves London, and in short order has joined a crowd of young people (“the Crew”) that remind her of her own Crowd at home. Comfortable, enjoying London’s urban pleasures, Betsy is shocked when suddenly there is only talk of war.

Austria-Hungary has just declared war on Serbia, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. Betsy hears that Germany will soon join as an ally of Austria. Along with Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire (the Central Powers), they will fight against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Canada, Japan and the United States (the Allied Powers) in what will be referred to as the Great War, and later, World War I. The war will see massive amounts of carnage and destruction due to newly developed military technologies. Following four years of war, the Allied Powers would claim defeat, but only at the expense of the lives of more than 16 million soldiers and civilians. In the modern digital age, of course, weaponry is even more potentially lethal, especially on a mass scale.

Almost overnight, life in London takes on a very different tenor. Recrreational expeditions are neither planned nor discussed. The city is full of soldiers, and American citizens aiming to exit Europe. Betsy feels lucky to be witnessing history first-hand. Her friends suggest that she head home, but she is reluctant to leave the excitement, the turmoil, even the singing in the streets. For this, Betsy thinks, “is what the start of a war looks like!” (p. 307, Harper Trophy paperback edition, 1996)

But Betsy’s father summons her home. And getting home is easier said than done. It seems every passage to America is fully booked. With good fortune, she runs into the same Mr. Brown who had assisted her with travel logistics in the early portion of her trip. (When she learns his full name, he turns out to be a well-known power broker about whom Betsy had been reading in the papers for years!) With equally good fortune, she sees a message from Joe to her in the newspaper’s Agony Column, asking her to return home. She cables him her ocean liner’s return date and location, and asks him to pick her up there. The great war is on, but Betsy and Joe’s war is over (p. 321, Harper Trophy paperback edition, 1996), and they will reunite, marry, and embark on their life together in Betsy’s Wedding.

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For more on the start of World War I, see: https://www.history.com/articles/world-war-i-history

With the assistance of a Mr. Brown, who had recognized Betsy from the S.S. Columbic, Betsy finds her way to Munich, where she will spend most of her time in Europe. Betsy’s days are loaded with activities, both planned (for she has made a list to get the most out of every day) and unplanned. There are concerts, libraries, art galleries, meals, and constant opportunities to take notes on the culture. And of course, there is always her writing. Betsy tries to recreate her Crowd with new friends Tilda and Helena, without much success. She comes to appreciate their differences, though, including differences in social status.

In Venice, Betsy meets and is intrigued by the handsome Marco Regali. Together, they explore canals, palaces, and churches, and inside five days, Marco claims that he is in love with her. Betsy feels strongly for Marco, and even wonders whether she is in love with him, but in the end, the relationship actually illuminates her stronger feelings for Joe. When Betsy leaves town, she and Marco correspond for a while, but eventually Betsy puts an end to it and faces her feelings for Joe squarely.

A pathway back to Joe, however slight, is opened when Betsy runs into Mrs. Main-Whittaker, the famous author she met on the Columbic, in Paris. Mrs. Main-Whittaker remembers Betsy. She treats her and Betsy’s traveling companion on the ocean liner, Miss Wilson (with whom Betsy has also been reunited), to a luxurious day of activities, including a glamorous Parisian fashion show.

Mrs. Main-Whittaker also remembers Joe, who had written fine articles about her, and declares him very talented. Talking shop with Betsy, Mrs. Main-Whittaker mentions a newspaper column, the Agony Column, which contains people’s personal messages to one another. These can result in plenty of story ideas, she tells Betsy. Betsy is honored to be treated as a fellow writer, and now has some info to share with Joe in a letter, which she boldly writes and sends.

Traveling through Europe during this era was relatively a easy proposition. Borders were open and countries were welcoming of visitors. This would soon change with the advent of World War I. Transatlantic ocean travel would decline in popularity, almost immediately. Unfettered migration worldwide would go into sharp decline and undergo much regulation, and to this day, it has never again been so simple and seamless.

Betsy’s next stop is London, where harsh realities will intrude on her trip.

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On migration pre- and post-1914, see:

Betsy enrolls at the University of Minnesota in 1910. Interestingly, it was not that uncommon for women to enroll in college at that time. Men and women of that era went to college in roughly equal numbers. Male enrollments reached a high point in the late 1940s, as GIs returned from World War II. Overall enrollment numbers continued to rise to the current day, and as increasing numbers of young women began to expect to participate in the workforce, female enrollments began to outpace male enrollments.

In her freshman year, Betsy suffers a serious attack of appendicitis, and spends much of that year in California, recuperating at her grandmother’s home. She does lots of writing and her stories begin to sell. “I found myself out there,” Betsy later decides (p. 15, Harper Trophy paperback edition, 1996). But she misses out on almost an entire year of college, and when she returns to the U the next year, she is still considered a freshman.

Officially a freshman, while Joe and her other friends are sophomores, the year goes by quickly. Betsy is writing for the school magazine and serving as Women’s Editor of the school newspaper. One of her stories seems especially good, and one of the college’s more famous and well known professors writes her a letter of encouragement. Betsy’s interest in math and science, never strong, suffers as her writing improves.

The next year, Joe receives a scholarship and transfers to Harvard, and Betsy loses interest in academics altogether. She also begins a relationship with fellow student Bob Barhydt, which begins as an innocent flirtation but becomes somewhat more exclusive, as several photos in the school yearbook document. Joe sees these pictures, and his letters to Betsy grow “cold as ice” (p. 17, Harper Trophy paperback edition, 1996). Joe spends no time with Betsy that summer. It seems his love is now ice cold as well.

Betsy’s father sees Betsy’s unhappiness and how little she is getting out of college. He and Betsy have a frank talk in which he expresses to her that while he generally advises that a person finish what they start, it is also good to know when to make a break from something that isn’t working, and go in a different direction. He is talking about education, not Joe, but for Betsy, his words may represent an opportunity to heal her heart.

There are many paths to education, Mr. Ray declares. He presents Betsy with a breathtaking offer: she could drop out of school and take a trip overseas similar to the one that Julia had taken. It would be a broadening experience for a writer, he says. Betsy, who has always wanted to travel (although with Tacy — who is now married and unavailable!), is gratified. She agrees to go, accompanied, initially, by professor friends of Mr. Ray’s brother, who are brother and sister. Betsy suggests that she spend significant periods of time in just a few cities, rather than traveling around constantly. It would be good experience, she thinks, for a writer to become deeply immersed in a few new cultures.

As the plan takes shape, Betsy’s time in college comes to an end, and her venture into the Great World begins.

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On gendered college enrollment trends, see: https://eml.berkeley.edu/~saez/course131/gkk_jep.pdf

Betsy leaves for Europe on the ocean liner S.S. Columbic, which will take her and her traveling companions, the Wilsons, to Genoa, where she will transfer to Munich. Immediately she becomes homesick and heartsick, for she catches a glimpse of Joe covering the ship’s departure for the newspaper, though they do not cross paths. She will be reminded of Joe constantly on her travels; it is obvious that she is still very much in love with him.

Betsy disguises her sadness as seasickness and spends a day or so in her cabin, in bed, miserable. But soon her instinct for companionship and adventure beckons, and she avails herself of ship events (dinners, dances, strolls on deck) and excursions (Madeira, the Azores, Algiers). Before long she has met Taylor and Rosa, actual ladies’ maids, like the ones she has written about; the ebullient Mr. O’Farrell, who looks like her favorite singer Chauncey Olcott; a great new friend from Toronto named Maida; and the famous author Mrs. Main-Whittaker.

The early 1900s represented a kind of golden age of translatlantic ocean travel. Ocean liners were spacious, loaded with amenities, and could accommodate over 1,000 travelers. Most trips overseas took a little less than a week. By the 1950s, ocean liners became rare due to the rise of air travel, and the now super-popular cruise ship industry was born.

Dinner conversations on the ocean liner range from art to music to a women’s right to vote. Mr. O’Farrell is shocked that sweet Betsy considers herself a suffragette. “We’re having a suffrage parade in Minneapolis this spring,” she says. “I’d be marching if I were there.”

“But you’re not a militant?” O’Farrell responds. Betsy isn’t sure that she would characterize herself such. But she knows that she would never back down when presented with such a challenge as voting rights. “I would be if I had to be,” she declares (p. 73, Harper Trophy paperback edition, 1996).

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On the ocean liner as a primary means of transportation, see: https://transportgeography.org/contents/chapter1/emergence-of-mechanized-transportation-systems/liner-transatlantic-crossing-time/

For an interesting depiction of life on a translatlantic ocean liner in Betsy’s era, see: https://www.ggarchives.com/OceanTravel/TravelGuide/31-WhatToExpectOnYourVoyage.html