“To Hell with the Kaiser!” proclaimed Fort Wayne News Sentinel on September 28, 1918. Almost three years earlier, on Columbus Day 1915, former Theodore Roosevelt asserted a similar message to German-Americans: “There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American and nothing else.” “They are working to destroy the efficiency and morale of our fighting men,” continued Tulsa World on August 4, 1918; “Vote for those who will not only advocate beating the German Huns into insensibility, but who are pledged to see to that the American Huns receive the same treatment.” Despite the common use of the word “Huns” to describe German-Americans, other articles claimed that this label was an understatement, that this term could not exemplify the extent of the Germans’ malice. As Aberdeen Daily News asserted on January 16, 1918, “Atilla was an angel of mercy compared to Kaiser and his soldiers.” The reputations of these “Huns” quickly dropped and soon became a figure of antagonism and mistrust. “The moment you permit [a German] to think that he can sign anything with you, he will boast, get hellishly conceited, and stick you in the back as he has done for over 2,000 years,” ranted the Grand Forks Daily Herald on October 23, 1918. A few days later, on November 1, 1918, the Miami Herald gave a similar warning, stating, “German agents are avid in gathering scraps of news… collecting thousands of fragments and patiently piecing together a whole which spells death to our soldiers.” Olympia Daily on September 25, 1918 further proclaimed, “Germans practice virtually every form of treachery and piracy of which the mind can conceive and made the word vandal one of the most descriptive in our language.” Soon, anything related to Germany was targeted by society. “Small boys ‘sicked’ bulldogs, terriers, hounds, and every other canine breed on the poor Fritzies until at last they have been virtually driven off the streets of Cincinnati” reported the Morrow County Republicans on October 10, 1918.
Set-up, explanation of theme, and thesis?
Since the Colonial Era, America had welcomed German immigrants and admired their work ethic and successes. However, a wave of anti-German sentiment broke out in 1917, resulting in strong negative feeling toward German and German-Americans. American perceptions of Germany became even worse in the years when American joined the World War in 1914. During the early years of the war, A
