In 1914, the river banks of the Marne and the fields of Tannenberg suddenly flooded with the blood of thousands upon thousands of brave French, British, German, Serbian, Austrian, Hungarian, Russian, Canadian, Italian, and... need I go on? Americans, hailing from all regions of Europe, looked with dread towards the conflict that engulfed their previous homeland.
Germany
At the time, nearly a tenth of the nation's population had German heritage making it a significant political and social force in the United States. When the war broke out, firebrands and young German Americans send telegrams to the German-American embassy asking to be sent back to fight for the Fatherland. Jewish immigrants in Cincinnati discussed the idea of raising a militia to fight for the Kaiser against the Russians who had authorized mass violence against Russian Jewish populations in the late 1800's. Those that remained heavily ardently disagreed with the bias of American arms shipping to the Allies and called for complete neutrality. Many Germans could not support the autocracy of the Kaiser or the massacre of civilians in Belgium, but did not like the hypocrisy of the American government in its conduct of foreign affairs. Alongside Irish Americans, mad at the British for denying political liberties, German Americans pushed for complete American neutrality, a kind that was not followed. After the destruction of the Lusitania, German-Americans joined Irish-Americans in massive peace protests in New York City and the Midwest. [1][2][3]
Regardless of this, thousands of Americans feared infiltration and the enemy within the continent leading to drastic laws such as the Espionage Act, many targets of which were ethnic Germans. Reminiscent of the anti-French fervor of the Quasi war in 1796 and the anti-British fervor through most of American history up until the mid 1880's, the anti-German fervor was rampant, violent, and thorough. In Iowa, the German language was banned and around the nation, German was removed from high schools, even in predominant German regions. Cases of violence and fervent wartime suspicion was cast upon vast populations of German Americans. Juries were also affected with these same sentiments and let many accused run free. [1][2]
What did not help was the consistent rumor, and existence, though limited, of a German spy ring that sabotaged the American industry. Although the espionage network was limited and its attacks on the whole unsuccessful, anti-German hysteria kept ramping up. Adding to this was the German recall, and American expulsion of, the German military attaché to the United States, Franz von Papen. Accused of planning attacks upon the United States, specifically the detonation of the Welland Canal in Canada (very close to the American border). Americans were told to report any suspicious activity and the Committee of Public Information funded a massive propaganda campaign against Germans, now branded the Hun. [4][5][6]
The final blow to German culture was the mass renaming of everything German while the fires of Europe raged on. Berlin, Maine was renamed to Marne, Maine alongside many other streets and cities across America. Bismarck Street became Fourth Street, Berlin to Pershing, and Kaiser St. to Gresham St. Germans, fearing for safety and wanting to fit in, changed their names. Schmidts became Smiths, Rau to Rowe, and Wilhelms to Williams. The effects of this are still seen today through the Anglicized names that exist all across America today. [2]
With the war over, American nativism returned in its normal, non-state of war form as seen through massive immigration reductions and restrictions (Although Germany was not as affected by these as other nations). Of course, relaxed anti-German sentiment will not last as a larger conflict with Germany, Italy, and Japan a mere 22 years later will dwarf the paranoia of WW1 Americans had against their own citizens.
[1]http://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/ethnic_minorities_at_war_usa
[2]https://www15.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/germ-ww1.html
[3]http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newcentury/5764
[4]http://www.npr.org/2014/02/25/282439233/during-world-war-i-germany-unleashed-terrorist-cell-in-America
[5]http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/papen.htm
[6]http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/dumba_bernstorff.htm
This is a well-researched post and I like your connection to the discrimination occurring all over again in WW2. It is sad that this type of discrimination is a recurring trend in history, as well as propaganda employing scare tactics that induced paranoia of immigrants and others who did not seem to "belong."
ReplyDeletemore about propaganda:
https://www.historians.org/about-aha-and-membership/aha-history-and-archives/gi-roundtable-series/pamphlets/what-is-propaganda/the-story-of-propaganda
It's very interesting to see the extent to which Americans, in times of fear, would go to exclude any presence of an enemy. The spy ring scare also reminds me of the Communist fear during the McCarthy era in the Cold War; the problem of going to radical ends to demonize others seems in this way uniquely American, even though America is consisted of a melting pot of all immigrants.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading all the interesting facts that you included in your post. It is very interesting to see to what extent American would at times hate a particular group of people, and unfortunately the Germans were not the only ones that suffered discrimination in times of war. We can also study the case of the Japanese in America during World War II. Many would suffer cases of discrimination, racism, and at times would be denied access to public places. Therefore, I think that in your post you could also include a small comparison between the experiences that different groups of people have had in America. For example, you could compare the situation of the Germans in America during the Great War to the situation of the Japanese in America during World War II. In addition, you could also compare the concepts of nationalism and nativism, and how these concepts differ from one another.
ReplyDeleteLink: http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/japanese-american-relocation