German-Americans During the Great War

GERMAN-AMERICANS DURING THE GREAT WAR

Desire for Neutrality      

              More than two years before millions of American men, like John Lewis Tate, registered for the draft on June 5, 1917 leaders of the German-American community began to work to maintain American neutrality. Before the Great War began, Kuno Francke, a German immigrant (1884) and professor at Harvard University initially made it his entire professional career trying to help Americans understand German culture and to improve relations between the two nations.¹ A major factor that created differences between Americans and Germans was “the American emphasis on the importance and value of the individual was not understood by Germans, nor could Americans grasp a German’s sense of duty and obligation for the state.”² 

                In January 1915 leaders of the German-American community called a “Neutrality Conference.” The main goal being to support President Woodrow Wilson’s call for American neutrality. Up until the convening of the conference, Francke was recognized as the most respected leader of German-Americans however, he withdrew his support for the conference, not attending as he feared American reaction to the German-American agenda:

• Implementation of a direct cable line between the U.S. and Germany;
• Complete freedom of the seas for American shipping, except for contraband (defined by international agreement and not British statute);
• Complete ban on exports of arms and munitions;
• Creation of an American Merchant Marine;
• Political support for only those who advocate an “America First” policy.³ 

                Many Americans seemed to agree. Before the war most states passed legislation that supported teaching foreign languages. In 1917, states began to pass laws banning instruction in German.⁴ Some counties and states expressed the desire to “make the German language ‘extinct.’”⁵ The Lutheran Church was not exempt from American reaction as with the formation of the American Lutheran Education Association passed a resolution that banned church services in the German language.⁶ 

Internment

               During World War II, the infamous internment of Japanese-Americans was a prominent part of the war effort. However, a lesser-known internment of German-Americans during ‘the Great War,’ approved by President Wilson, began in 1917. Progressive reformer Raymond Fosdick and former U.S. Attorney General George Wickersham were put in charge of interning the “nation’s entire population of German enemy aliens.”⁷ Ultimately, over 6000 German “enemy aliens” were interned in four detention camps around the United States (this compares to over 120,000 Japanese-Americans in the 1940s), North Georgia was home to two of the camps (Fort Oglethorpe and Fort McPherson).⁸ 

                Despite efforts to use the American court system to protect their civil liberties, German- Americans found little refuge in the nation’s legal structures. Often, German-Americans “had no way of knowing where they stood in the eyes of the local communities that enforced laws (against some of their behavior).⁹