It appears the press used his statement of the Huns to communicate how savage the Germans were. He used “huns” once in an official speech and then the press continued it?
Here is a little WWI history that had some impact on our attitudes toward Germans in WWII? It is important to understand how our attitudes develop. Reading the following site France was viewed as the real enemy for many in Britian during WWI and some remnants for WWII?, carry over from Napoleon?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-German_sentiment
During World War I, German Americans were sometimes accused of being too sympathetic to Germany. Former president Theodore Roosevelt denounced “hyphenated Americanism”, insisting that dual loyalties were impossible in wartime. A small minority came out for Germany, or ridiculed the British (as did H. L. Mencken). Similarly, Harvard psychology professor Hugo Münsterberg dropped his efforts to mediate between America and Germany, and threw his efforts behind the German cause.[13]
The Justice Department attempted to prepare a list of all German aliens, counting approximately 480,000 of them, more than 4,000 of whom were imprisoned in 1917-18. The allegations included spying for Germany, or endorsing the German war effort.[14] Thousands were forced to buy war bonds to show their loyalty.[15] The Red Cross barred individuals with German last names from joining in fear of sabotage. One person was killed by a mob; in Collinsville, Illinois, German-born Robert Prager was dragged from jail as a suspected spy and lynched.[16]
An old black and white comic strip. Two characters are talking about a clown that was bought for a birthday present. One character smashes the doll because it was made in Germany.
A 1917 comic strip in which the character smashes a clown doll present because it was made in Germany.
Anti-German sentiment was stoked by the success of German saboteurs in the 1916 bombing of Black Tom island; the operation had been directed and financed by German intelligence officers under diplomatic cover.[17]
When the United States entered the war in 1917, some German Americans were looked upon with suspicion and attacked regarding their loyalty. Some aliens were convicted and imprisoned on charges of sedition, for refusing to swear allegiance to the United States war effort.[18]
In Chicago, Frederick Stock was forced to step down as conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra until he finalized his naturalization papers. Orchestras replaced music by German composer Wagner with French composer Berlioz.
The town, Berlin, Michigan, was changed to Marne, Michigan (honoring those who fought in the Battle of Marne).
German street names in many cities were changed. German and Berlin streets in Cincinnati became English and Woodward.[19] In Chicago Lubeck, Frankfort, and Hamburg streets were renamed Dickens, Charleston, and Shakespeare.[20][21] In New Orleans, Berlin Street was renamed for General Pershing, head of the American Expeditionary Force.[22]
Businesses changed their names. In Chicago, German Hospital became Grant Hospital.[20] In New York, the giant Germania Life Insurance Company became Guardian.[23]
Many schools stopped teaching German language classes.[19] The City College of New York continued teaching German courses, but reduced the number of credits students could receive for them.[24] Books published in German were removed from libraries or even burned.[19][25] In Cincinnati, the public library was asked to withdraw all German books from its shelves.[26] In Iowa, in the 1918 Babel Proclamation, the governor prohibited all foreign languages in schools and public places. Nebraska banned instruction in any language except English, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the ban illegal in 1923 (Meyer v. Nebraska).[27]
Vocabulary changed. Sauerkraut came to be called “liberty cabbage”,[22] German measles became “liberty measles”, hamburgers became “liberty sandwiches”[22] and dachshunds became “liberty pups”.[28]
The response of German Americans to these tactics was often to Americanize names (e.g. Schmidt to Smith, Müller to Miller) and to limit the use of the German language in public places, especially churches.[29
You’d think German measles would remain “German measles,” since measles are bad.
All of my ancestors were "German-Americans", some of more recent arrival than others (the first came around 1700).
None that I know of suffered persecution as a result of the First World War.
Many grew up speaking German (well, Pennsylvania-Dutch) at home, and English out in the world.
Their children learned English at home, and some modified their names, long before the First World War.
It's important to remember that Americans of German descent are second in numbers only to Americans of English descent, and many (including my ancestors) were involved in founding & defending our republic.
Also, there's no comparison of the treatment of German-Americans (or Italian-Americans) to that of Japanese-Americans who were rounded up wholesale, regardless of reasonable suspicions or not.
Germans or Italians were only arrested on probable cause.
“Vocabulary changed. Sauerkraut came to be called “liberty cabbage”,[22] German measles became “liberty measles”, hamburgers became “liberty sandwiches”[22] and dachshunds became “liberty pups”.[28]”
And I thought “Freedom Fries” was stupid, but apparently there’s a past history of this kind of ridiculousness.