The diabolical ingenuity of the German propaganda was subsequently
laid bare, and it is known today that nearly every German club,
church, school, and newspaper from about 1895 onward was being
secretly marshaled into a powerful Teutonic homogeneity of sentiment
and public opinion. The Kaiser boasted of his political influence
through the German vote. The German-American League, incorporated by
Congress, had its branches in many States. Millions of dollars were
spent by the Imperial German Government to corrupt the millions of
German birth in America. These disclosures, when they were ultimately
made, produced in the United States a sharp and profound reaction
against everything Teutonic. The former indifference completely
vanished and hyphen-hunting became a popular pastime. The charter of
the German-American League was revoked by Congress. City after city
took German from its school curriculum. Teutonic names of towns and
streets were erased--half a dozen Berlins vanished overnight--and in
their places appeared the names of French, British, and American
heroes.

But though the names might be erased, the German element remained. It
had become incorporated into the national bone and sinew, contributing
its thoroughness, stolidity, and solidity to the American stock. The
power of liberal political institutions in America has been revealed,
and thousands upon thousands of the sons and grandsons of German
immigrants crossed the seas in 1917 and 1918 to bear aloft the starry
standard upon the fields of Flanders against the arrogance and
brutality of the neo-Prussians.


FOOTNOTES: