During World War I, many German-Americans were broadly accused of being sympathetic to the German Empire without regard to their individual loyalties. Former president Theodore Roosevelt was one of the most significant voices in this national suspicion, denouncing "hyphenated Americanism" and insisting that dual loyalties were impossible to maintain in times of conflict. This wartime xenophobia spread throughout the United States in the form of community scorn and organized state and government repression.
Anti-German Fervor
Anti-German fervor during World War I resulted in the renaming of food that was of German origin simply sounded German. Sauerkraut became liberty cabbage, frankfurters were called hot dogs, and Salisbury Steak was given a less gastronomically pleasing but more Americanized label: meat loaf. Streets and even some municipalities with German monikers changed, such as the renaming of the Michigan town of Berlin to Marne in honor of those who fought in the Allied victory at the First Battle of Marne.
In early September, Congress passed a bill requiring all German-language newspapers published in the United States to print English translations of any commentary about U.S. government policies and international relations or the state or conduct of the war. The same rule was applied regarding any other nation with which Germany was at war.
While thousands of German immigrants were forced to buy war bonds to prove their loyalty to the United States, they were rewarded with widespread xenophobia from national organizations as well as their neighbors. The Red Cross barred individuals with German last names from joining, for fear of sabotage. The Cincinnati Public Library was asked to withdraw all German books from its shelves. In much darker examples of bigotry fueled by the war, German-born Robert Prager was dragged from a Collinsville, Illinois, jail and lynched by a mob who suspected him of spying, while a Minnesota minister was tarred and feathered when he was overheard praying in German with a dying woman.
Language was a major fear factor driving the anti-German hatred and manifested itself in legislation that attempted to isolate foreign-language practitioners. In the 1918 Babel Proclamation, the governor of Iowa prohibited all foreign languages in schools and public places. Nebraska barred instruction in any language except English, although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the ban illegal in the 1923 case of Meyer v. Nebraska. The response by German-Americans was often to "Americanize" their names (e.g. changing Schmidt to Smith, or Müller to Miller) and limit their use of the German language in public places, especially churches.
Civilian Regulation and Internment
In anticipation of support for Germany among immigrants, President Wilson issued two sets of regulations, on April 6 and November 16, 1917, imposing restrictions on German-born male residents over the age of 14, including natives of Germany who had taken citizenship in countries other than the United States. Approximately 250,000 men were required to register at their local post offices and carry registration cards at all times, as well as report any changes of address or employment; the regulations were extended to women in April 1918.
The U.S. government investigated thousands of people under these regulations and eventually arrested approximately 6,300 “aliens.” Allegations included spying for Germany or endorsing the German war effort. Internees were held at two camps splitting the eastern and western United States along the Mississippi River: Fort Oglethorpe in Georgia and Fort Douglas in Utah. While most internees were released in June 1919, some remained in custody through March and April 1920.
Military Internees
While Germany was at war with France and Britain beginning in August 1914, America had not yet joined the conflict. Yet there were several German military vessels in U.S. ports that were ordered to leave or be detained. The crews of these ships were first held as alien internees and later as prisoners of war.
When war broke out in Europe hundreds of men on two German cruisers, the Prinz Eitel Friedrich and the Kronprinz Wilhelm, were unwilling to face the might of the British Navy in the Atlantic and instead lived for several years on their ships in various Virginia ports and frequently enjoyed shore leave. Eventually they were given a strip of land in the Norfolk Navy Yard in Norfolk, Virginia, on which to erect accommodations.
In October 1916, the ships and their personnel were moved to the Philadelphia Navy Yard along with the structures, which became known locally as the "German Village." Yet the village was still located at a secure U.S. military facility surrounded by barbed wire. In the spring of 1917, nine detainees escaped, prompting U.S. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels to transfer the other 750 residents of the village to secure units at Fort McPherson in Georgia and Fort Oglethorpe, separated from the civilian internees there.
In December 1914, the German gunboat Cormoran attempted to refuel and restock its provision at the American island territory of Guam. Denied the full amount of fuel needed, the German captain optioned to remain in Guam along with the crewmen as alien detainees. Most of the crew lived on board due to a lack of housing and relations remained friendly, even though the German seamen outnumbered the island’s contingent of U.S. Marines.
As a result of German U-boat attacks on American shipping, the U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Germany in February 1917. U.S. authorities in Guam imposed greater restrictions on the German detainees as relations between America and Germany worsened. Following the U.S. declaration of war against Germany in April 1917, Americans demanded "the immediate and unconditional surrender of the ship and personnel." The captain and crew destroyed the Cormoran with an explosion that took several German lives. The surviving 353 German sailors were shipped to the U.S. mainland as POWs on April 29, 1917.