World War I - The American Reaction

Wartime Repression:

early 1918 the CPI campaign: inflamatory

advertisements - called on patriots to report on
neighbors, coworkers, and ethnics suspected of
subverting the war effort.
called on all immigrants, especially those from
central, southern, and Eastern Europe, to pledge
themselves to 100 percent Americanism and to
repudiate all ties to their homeland, native
language, and ethnic customs.
aroused hostility to Germans by spreading lurid
tales of German atrocities and encouraging the
public to see movies such as The Prussian Cur and
The Beast of Berlin.

World War I - The American Reaction

The Prussian Cur, 1918

The Beast of Berlin, 1918

CPI Posters

"Liberty sandwiches"
avoided reference to
the German city of
Hamburg.

WW I Posters

World War I - The American Reaction

Justice Department arrested thousands of German and

Austrian immigrants whom it suspected of subversive
activities
Congress passed the Trading with the Enemy Act
requiring foreign-language publications to submit all
war-related stories to post office censors for approval.
German American words were renamed
German Americans became the objects of popular
hatred: performances of Beethovens symphonies were
banned; libraries removed works of German literature
from their shelves; Patriotic school boards in Lima, Ohio,
and elsewhere burned the German books in their
districts

World War I - The American Reaction

German Americans risked being fired from

work, losing their businesses, being assaulted
in the street
The anti-German campaign escalated into a
general anti-immigrant crusade. Congress
passed the Immigration Restriction Act of
1917 (over Wilsons veto): all adult
immigrants who failed a reading test would
be denied admission to the United States.

American Modernity Summary

Productivity and Prosperity

Mass Culture
Political Conservatism
Political Conflicts
The Great Depression
The New Deal