However, when politicians and officials decided to use the situation to advance their careers, they were often able to incite a community to hatred against anyone who appeared to dissent – just as Joseph McCarthy did thirty years later. German-American workers); other employers no longer promoted anyone with a German name.[26]. In doing so, they were often responding to ultimatums such as this: “Our love for America should not tolerate anything which is German ahead of anything which is American and we will not tolerate it. Such enthusiastic “war fever” was prevalent among all immigrant groups, but since people of German origin made up a high percentage of the American population, they came under heightened public scrutiny. American banks recalled money from Europe, and cancelled the loans that made it possible for Germany to pay reparations. Most of their fellow Americans shared this attitude, along with President Woodrow Wilson, who immediately declared the country's neutrality. On the whole, the treatment of German-Americans during the war varied from region to region and depended on their numbers and on the behavior of local politicians and attorney generals. German-Americans wielded strong economic and cultural influence in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Cincinnati, with the latter three forming the so-called German triangle. Numerous German-American entrepreneurs felt compelled to change the names of their companies to prove their loyalty. Bigger companies were often asked to make office space available so that members of patriotic organizations could work directly on their premises and keep an eye on employees. For some patriotic societies, German music was particularly perilous since it stirred the emotions of listeners; for others, it was a perfect tool for German propaganda: “German music, as a whole, is dangerous, in that it preaches the same philosophy, or rather sophistry, as most of the German literature. It was rumored that spies were poisoning food, and that German-Americans were secretly hording arms. The spies were all captured and hung. German Americans are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. War Hysteria & the Persecution of German-Americans. The first significant numbers arrived in the 1680s in New York and Pennsylvania.Some eight million German immigrants have entered the United States since that point. They farmed in the Midwest, but also became urban workers. Under Kaiser (or Emperor) Wilhelm II, Germany had developed a militaristic reputation, and, to make matters worse, the United States and Germany had already been embroiled in a confrontation over the Philippines in 1898. Faction: The German ArmyThe First World WarGermany was recognised as having the most efficient army in the world. The situation for German-Americans worsened immediately. (Stanford University, 1937), 33-34. With an estimated size of approximately 44.2 million in 2018, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the United States Census Bureau in its American Community Survey. Fort Douglas in Utah was used for approximately 500 prisoners of war, but soon also included more than 800 “alien enemies” and about 200 American conscientious objectors. As World War I raged across the European continent, German immigrants in the United States faced scrutiny and suspicion over who they would support: their homeland or their newly adopted nation. Business owners had to hand over their books and customer lists for inspection. Americans would immediately return fire, bring a punishing rain of artillery or air power on top of whatever they were fighting, and move to counterattack as soon as the rain of death ended. In their defense, German officials maintained that the crew had been warned not to sail into a war zone, and they accused the ship of carrying war contraband for the British (which was indeed true). Additionally, German societies, musical organizations, and theaters were shuttered and the German-language press in America was forced to shut down. Despite their differences, most Germans had one thing in common – a love for and an ongoing commitment to the German language. . The most notorious case of mob action was the lynching of Robert Prager in Illinois in April 1918. Some engaged in political work, or joined labor unions or business organizations; others preferred their churches and the social networks that sprang up around them. The situation was only made worse by newspapers and government officials, both of which fed the public’s paranoia. German Americans account for about one third of the total ethnic German population in the world. These self-proclaimed patriotic organizations also started campaigns to Americanize the United States nominally. Credit: Chicago History Museum/Archive Photos/Getty Images, June 1915, London, England. The same was true for most cultural societies. Many American companies had sold their shares in German businesses once war between the two countries had been declared. [10] The fear of spies grew when Americans were warned to be watchful of their neighbors of German descent and to report any suspicious person to the authorities. [28] “Sauerkraut Disguised So Patriotic Folks Can Eat It,” Chicago Sunday Tribune, April 7, 1918. In 1915, 25% of all high school students in the US studied German. were brought to Fort Oglethorpe in Georgia – about 1,400 for the duration of the war. Even though they were being attacked for alleged disloyalty from both Democrats and Republicans, German-Americans voted as they always had – not as an ethnic bloc, as some politicians had hoped, but in accordance with their previous political allegiances, just like the rest of the country. US citizens of German descent in WW1 were often treated with hostility and not trusted.