One branch of my family emigrated from Hannover in the late 1860s and
another branch from Prussia in the late 1880s. My grandfather served in the
Illinois National Guard during WWI.
The stories my family shared regarding WWI were primarily of the
discrimination against German-Americans. I remember stories of businesses lost, and
suicides. I was also told that there were a couple of cases of German Lutheran
schools being burned. My mother related that her aunt advised her "Never marry
a man with a German last name."
My Dad grew up in a very ethnic German neighborhood in Chicago. I remember,
when I was a kid, whenever the English came up in a conversation, it got a
very negative reaction from my Dad. I never understood why. Later, when I
learned more history, I understood (not necessarily agreed with) the genesis of his
strong dislike of the English.
I find it hard to dislike the English. After all it was the Northern
Europeans, read Sachsens, that drove the Romans out of England and populated
it. All of the first Kings of England were Sachsens not to mention the
George's. It is said when the Sachsen drove the Romans back away from the
coast the northern part of Europe was almost emptied of people going to
England. So I guess we did not just make America great we had a big hand in
building the foundation of England. I wonder if the people of German blood
living in England during the wars were persecuted like they were in the USA.
The English Royalty of today has German blood.
Princes Diana's aunt said during Diana's funeral that we should not feel
sorry the Queen and her family because they were just Germans. I can't
recall her name but she is a well known writer of paper back novels. I had
one of them in German at the time she made that stupid statement. I was in
need of some paper at that time so I put it to good use.
Jim
LOL. Interesting take (only don't mention this to the Irish). Also if you don't cool it about the Queen, expect Rena to show up with both guns blazing. You don't want that.
I think it is important to emphasize that while some German Americans were persecuted during this time, the majority were not. The negative fall-out from the the American government going to battle against the Kaiser was almost to be expected. Propaganda is always cranked up at such times, and for reasons governments' always deem in their best interest: It makes the inevitable bloodshed that's about to follow easier to accept.
I think it might be safer to say you simply didn't play up your German ethnicity any more than you needed to at that time, as opposed to fearing from any sort of organized persecutions or mob reprisals across the land. Incidents that ran contrary to this were never in large numbers. So while there was definitely a feeling of intimidation and a handful of trouble spots along the way, particularly for newly settled Germans, it'd be a reach to call it out and out "persecution".
Some of the examples Kevin cited earlier of some of the repercussions from the heightened anti-German propaganda of the time - businesses lost, increases in suicides, name changes, etc. - were less the result of any direct persecution, and more from the alienation these people felt from society on the whole, a society that felt it somehow fitting or appropriate since they were now going to battle with the racial cousins of these people.
I tell you, I wouldn't have wanted to be ENGLISH (or at least pro-ENGLAND) at the time of the American Revolution. Nor would have carrying an English accent boded well during the War Of 1812. Same thing; only the ethnic group feeling the heat changes.
The anti-German sentiment surrounding WW1 produced something of great value for genealogists. All aliens or all German aliens (I don't recall the details) were required to complete a special registration form supplied by the U.S. government. It required all of the usual identification indicia of the registrant and included fingerprints and a picture. IT ALSO REQUIRED FULL DETAILS RESPECTING THE REGISTRANT'S FAMILY. My Great Grandfather's sister, who was the wife of a farmer in Kansas had to complete one and I have a copy.
I am told there was considerable hostility to these forms from the German-American community and the government eventually discontinued their collection and destroyed the ones they had but not all states (apparently they were kept by the states) destroyed them. Kansas genealogists were lucky and I am told that some other states also failed to comply. If you can access a form for your relative it is a gold mine of information - it even provides their arrival date in the U.S. and the ship's name, which in the case of my relative was wrong. I obtained my relative's form from a Federal records repository in Kansas City (I think).
The anti-German sentiment surrounding WW1 produced something of great value for genealogists. All aliens or all German aliens (I don't recall the details) were required to complete a special registration form supplied by the U.S. government. It required all of the usual identification indicia of the registrant and included fingerprints and a picture. IT ALSO REQUIRED FULL DETAILS RESPECTING THE REGISTRANT'S FAMILY. My Great Grandfather's sister, who was the wife of a farmer in Kansas had to complete one and I have a copy.
If I remember correctly, the documents from Kansas are the only ones still available.