There was a sizable community of Germans living in the US at the time, so its certainly possible that this intended to differentiate the Wicked Foreigners from our Righteous Domestics. But also, a lot of German communities and families changed their names and abandoned their cultural touchstones to avoid looking too German during the first war. So, idk.
This was sandwiched between the Chinese Immigration (Exclusion) Acts of 1885 and 1923, so there was definitely an abundance of anti-East Asian sentiment, particularly out west.
But also, a lot of German communities and families changed their names and abandoned their cultural touchstones to avoid looking too German during the first war. So, idk.
Including, hilariously, the British royal family - in July of 1917. They were hedging their bets on who would win the war.
I cbf looking now, but the keiser compared the german fighting spirit to that of the hun during the later part of the 19th century, scramble for Africa propaganda about how good germans will be at conquest
shouldn’t be hard to find the origin with a quick search but this is my recollection from the last time I looked
IIRC napoleon was surprisingly common, also genghis khan or attila the hun
Very popular in WW1 to call the German army a nation of Huns.
Was this to other them in an orientalist way? I’m familiar with the Germans being referred to as Huns during WW1, but never gave it much thought.
There was a sizable community of Germans living in the US at the time, so its certainly possible that this intended to differentiate the Wicked Foreigners from our Righteous Domestics. But also, a lot of German communities and families changed their names and abandoned their cultural touchstones to avoid looking too German during the first war. So, idk.
This was sandwiched between the Chinese Immigration (Exclusion) Acts of 1885 and 1923, so there was definitely an abundance of anti-East Asian sentiment, particularly out west.
I remember hearing that Americans were calling sauerkraut “liberty cabbage” back then lol
I wouldn’t have believed that if I hadn’t lived through the “freedom fries” days.
Including, hilariously, the British royal family - in July of 1917. They were hedging their bets on who would win the war.
I cbf looking now, but the keiser compared the german fighting spirit to that of the hun during the later part of the 19th century, scramble for Africa propaganda about how good germans will be at conquest
shouldn’t be hard to find the origin with a quick search but this is my recollection from the last time I looked