Ohio History Journal

OHIO'S GERMAN-LANGUAGE PRESS AND THE PEACE

NEGOTIATIONS.

 

 

BY CARL WITTKE.

Instructor in American History, Ohio State University.

Long before the conclusion of the armistice, all of Ohio's

German-language newspapers that had survived the trials and

stress of the first years of the war, had completed their strategic

retreat from a position of open pro-Germanism to one of un-

swerving loyalty to the cause of America. At the beginning

of the war it was perhaps to be expected that the editors of

German dailies in this country should express a real sympathy

for the cause of their old Fatherland and swell with pride at

the news of the victories of German arms. Treacherous Eng-

land was denounced as the villain primarily responsible for the

great world catastrophe in which the young giant Germany was

compelled to do battle to break the strangle-hold of a world of

envious foes. When the United States finally entered the war,

the position of the German-American newspaper was extremely

perilous, and it became necessary to beat a quick retreat from

a position that was now not only untenable, but positively trea-

sonable. In spite of what must have been a terrible conflict of

emotions in the hearts of the editors and owners, every Ohio

paper succeeded in shifting its editorial policy, and finally arrived

at the point where the American reasons for entering the war

were accepted as just reasons, and the feats of the American

doughboy lauded to the sky, in studied emulation of the methods

of the English press. It is not for us to judge the motives that

caused such a radical change in policy. In part they must have

been economic, for every German paper found its circulation

lists shrinking, its income rapidly diminishing because of organ-

ized boycotts against advertisers who dared to use the columns

Vol. XXIX-4.            (49)

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50        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

of the German press, and increasing difficulty in delivering the

papers through the mails or by carriers. Paper after paper

suspended publication; others greatly reduced the size of their

issues. But on the other hand, there may have taken place in

the hearts and minds of many German newspaper men a real

conversion to a new point of view, and there is much evidence

that many a citizen of German extraction was bitterly disillu-

sioned by the work of our Committee on Public Information,

reports of German war practices and the blundering methods of

the old regime in Germany. At any rate, almost immediately

after the United States became a party to the struggle against

the Central Powers, Ohio's German papers left very little to

be desired as far as their public support of the war was con-

cerned, and all could point with pride to letters of thanks and

approval from men high in the government, who publicly tes-

tified to their loyal and hearty support of all loan drives and

other features of the war program.1

With the signing of the armistice, it became possible, and

safe, to discuss more frankly the war aims of the various

powers, the purpose of the whole struggle and the terms upon

which peace should be concluded. The war hysteria from which

a great part of the public suffered as long as the fighting con-

tinued, began to subside. It will be a long time before our

German newspapers regain their former influence and pros-

perity, if ever, and the German editors will have to speak

guardedly on all questions in any way related to the war,

simply from  motives of self-preservation.  Nevertheless, the

times are improving; English periodicals and newspapers are

constantly giving vent to their feelings about the proposed

peace in terms not always complimentary to the present ad-

ministration; why cannot a German scribe begin to call his soul

his own again and express his real views on the issues of the

day? There are not a great many important German-language

papers left in Ohio, but those that have weathered the storm

 

1See the article by the present writer on "Ohio's German-Language

Press and the War" in the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly,

Volume XXVIII. No. 1, pp. 82-96. (January, 1919.)

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Ohio's German-Language Press, Etc.            51

 

are speaking more and more freely as the gradual cooling of

the passions of war leaves their positions more secure.²

When the armistice was signed, every Ohio paper rejoiced

that the brutal struggle was ended.     Many had long before

November, 1918, realized that America's entry in the war meant

Germany's ultimate defeat, and all agreed that the German

decision to engage in unrestricted submarine warfare had been

the fatal mistake that eventually turned the tide of battle by

forcing the United States into the conflict. The Gross Daytoner

Zeitung held the monarchy and the Pan-Germans responsible

for all the ills of the German people, and entirely agreed with

President Wilson in his demand, made during the exchange of

notes just before the cessation of hostilities, that the German

government must furnish real guarantees that the old order is

gone forever.3    The Toledo    Express pronounced    President

Wilson's address at the opening of the Fourth Liberty Loan

drive in October, 1918, as a new charter of freedom and justice

for all people, and heartily endorsed the plan to form a League

of Nations in order to give effective expression to these high

ideals in the life of the world.⁴  The Henry County Demokrat

of November 13, 1918, contains a joyous announcement of the

coming of peace, and believes a new era in world relations is

dawning.5   The Cincinnati Volksblatt, one of the oldest and

most influential German papers in Ohio, rejoiced that the Ger-

man people had at last come to realize that they had been ruled

by madmen, and hoped that "What 1848 did not accomplish,

1918 will".6 The Kaiser, the Crown Prince and the Junkers all

received their share of denunciation, especially the former who

 

2The Toledo Express, in its issue of August 28, 1918, cites statistics

to show what has happened to the German-language press in America

during the war. According to Ayer's Newspaper Directory, there were

499 German papers in 1917. In 1919, there were 344. Ten have become

English papers; some appear part English and part German; of the 344

only 29 are dailies. Many of the others are lodge or trade journals, with

little influence and a very limited circulation.

3 Gross Daytoner Zeitung, October 11 and 28, 1918.

4 Toledo Express, October 3, 1918.

5See also Henry County Demokrat, December 25, 1918.

6Cincinnati Volksblatt, November 22, 1919.

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52        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

was suspected of having carried off all state papers that might

be used to establish the guilt of the old governing oligarchy.⁷

The armistice terms probably seemed a bit severe to some, but all

realized that Germany must yield. One paper, rightly supposing

that the terms of the armistice forecast the probable peace

terms, shrewdly suggested some of the knotty problems the

peace delegates would find it very difficult to solve, but prac-

tically all agreed that the allies would be more lenient with the

new German Republic, and that a peace of justice, based on

President Wilson's Fourteen Points would be established for

all nations.⁸

Most of Ohio's German papers showed a real sympathy for

the German Revolutionists and the new German Republic. At

the same time, they were also greatly alarmed by the prospect

of a "Red" or Bolshevist Germany, in which the ultra-radicals

would be in control. The Akron Germania of November 15,

1918, contains a long editorial on Bolshevism, "An Interna-

tional Menace". The Toledo Express fears a reign of terror as

an aftermath of the deposition of the Kaiser,⁹ and the editor of

the Cincinnati Volksblatt calls Liebknecht Germany's greatest

foe.10 The same paper realizes that Germany is on probation,

that she must fulfill the conditions of the armistice faithfully,

maintain order within her boundaries, and prevent the repub-

lican government from being superseded by the soviet form.11

The Cincinnati. Freie Presse advocates a mild policy toward

Germany, so that her government may be used as a bulwark to

protect western Europe from the Russian menace.¹² The Gross

Daytoner Zeitung believes that Germany, freed from the bur-

dens of militarism, may yet arise from the ruins - "if she can

 

7See Cincinnati Volksblatt, December 6, 1918.

8 See Cincinnati Volksblatt, November 2, 4, 12, 1919; also Wachter

und Anzeiger, (Cleveland), November 11, 1918.

Toledo Express, November 14, 1918.

10Cincinnati Volksblatt, December 9, 1918.

11 Cincinnati Volksblatt, November 14, December 21, 1918; January

13, October 1, 1919.

12 Cincinnati Freie Presse, January 13, 1919.

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Ohio's German-Language Press, Etc.            53

 

only find men like those great Americans who led our country

through the critical years from  1783 to 1789."¹³

When President Wilson embarked for Europe to take per-

sonal charge of his peace program, he carried with him the

blessings and prayers of America's German-language press.

With an almost childlike faith in the president as the greatest

single force for righteousness in the modern world, the editors

were all supremely confident that he could force that idealism,

to which he had given expression in passionate language that

had raised the great world struggle from a mere war to a holy

crusade for righteousness and justice among the peoples of the

earth, upon the sordid, selfish statesmen of the old world; trans-

late his wonderful words into deeds, and so become the saviour

of a despairing, suffering humanity. No German editor had

any constitutional scruples because the president's trip to Eu-

rope was unprecedented. The trip was regarded as absolutely

necessary, for the President went to Europe as the champion of

American ideals, to see to it that these American boys "shall

not have died in vain".14 Equal confidence was put in the silent

Texan, Colonel House.¹⁵ This time, if never before, every Ger-

man newspaper could sincerely and whole-heartedly send out

the call to its readers to "Stand by the President".16    The

Cincinnati Volksblatt was glad     that the   Senate  Foreign

Relations Committee had rejected Senator Cummins' resolution

to send a committee of Senators to Paris,¹⁷ and when Senator

Lodge began to criticise the action of the President, the Akron

Germania accused him of trying to embarrass the administra-

tion, and concluded that he didn't represent the American people

any way.¹⁸ No editor was so optimistic as to expect that Mr.

Wilson would have little difficulty with the diplomats of the

 

13Gross Daytoner Zeitung, November 18, 1918.

14 See Cincinnati Volksblatt, November 20, 1918; Wachter und An-

zeiger, December 3, 1918; Akron Germania, December 6, 1918; Cincinnati

Abend Presse, January 4, 1919

15 See Gross Daytoner Zeitung, October 31, 1918.

16 See Cincinnati Freie Presse, December 26, 1918; Toledo Express,

January 2, 1919.

17 Cincinnati Volksblatt, December 7, 1918.

18Akron Germania, December 27, 1918.

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54        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

other powers represented at the peace table. The Cincinnati

Freie Presse recognized the fact that the United States was the

only unselfish power at Versailles, and that there would be much

friction between the allies. Nevertheless, Wilson would prob-

ably win out, for he came to make a permanent peace, based

on justice and not power, and then planned to crown his work

with the League of Nations.¹⁹ In a long and passionate edito-

rial, the Cleveland Wachter und Anzeiger represented President

Wilson as a crusader, standing alone and willing to risk every-

thing in order to gain his ideals. The editor approved of the

President's decision to play "a lone hand" at the conference,

and concluded with a statement that if he does not reach his

goal, it will not be because he has played the game poorly.²⁰

The comment of still another editor at the time of Mr. Wilson's

first return trip to America is interesting in the light of later

developments. The President, according to this editor, lands in

Boston "tired, and disappointed" in the statesmen of the world,

but determined to fight on. He brings the Covenant for a

League of Nations. His next visit to Paris will be devoted to

carrying out the Fourteen Points. France is opposed, because

she wants a peace of force and not justice, but the iron will of

Woodrow Wilson will win in the end, and compel the other

nations to live up to their agreements.²¹ The Akron Germania

took the Republican opposition in Congress to task for their

opposition to the proposed League, because by such domestic

opposition they encouraged the chauvinists and imperialists at

the peace conference who oppose Mr. Wilson's principles of

justice.²²  In spite of a few misgivings, and a keen realization

of the hostility to the Wilsonian program by certain interests

represented at the Peace Conference, faith in the President was

still boundless- faith in his ability to force through his pro-

gram on his second visit to Paris.²³

 

19 Cincinnati Freie Presse, December 5, 1918; see also Gross Day-

toner Zeitung, December 23, 1918; Akron Germania, February 24, 1919.

20 Wachter und Anzeiger, February 5, 1919.

21 Cincinnati Abend Presse, February 24, 1919.

²²Akron Germania, March 10, 1919.

23 Cincinnati Freie Presse, March 12, 1919.

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Ohio's German-Language Press, Etc.         55

 

Then came the long period of waiting -the anxious months

when the details of the peace were being worked out behind

closed doors. The newspapers were filled with the wildest ru-

mors, stories of friction between the various associated powers,

reports that the conference was about to adjourn, reports that

the terms of the treaty would soon be published, etc. There

was nothing better for the newspapers to do than to speculate

on the probable outcome of all these secret negotiations. Ohio's

German-language newspapers busied themselves in this interval

-and long after - with a discussion of what would constitute

a Wilsonian peace of justice, and more specifically, how the

Fourteen Points should be applied to the specific problems con-

fronting the delegates at Versailles.  Need one be surprised

because the Fourteen Points were interpreted with the future

welfare of Germany constantly in mind? This was especially

true of the principle of self-determination.  Anticipating the

probable terms of the treaty, the Cincinnati Abend Presse has-

tens to argue that Danzig is a real German city,²⁴ and that a

fair plebiscite in the eastern parts of Prussia would undoubtedly

result unfavorably for Polish schemes of annexation and ex-

pansion.²⁵  Another editorial contends that Schleswig-Holstein

has always been German, and had never been "torn away" from

Denmark.²⁶  One prominent daily quotes at length from the

article that appeared in the New York Danish paper, "Nordl-

yet," contending that Denmark does not even want all of her

lost provinces restored.²⁷ Even the Alsace-Lorraine problem

was made the subject of much argument and discussion. The

Cleveland Wachter und Anzeiger of December 5, ¹⁹¹⁸, prints

statistics compiled in 1910 which show that the overwhelming

majority of the population speak the German language. Another

common argument is that the wonderful economic development

and prosperity of Alsace-Lorraine is attributable entirely to the

wise and beneficent measures enacted under the German regime.

One paper contends that the French emigres of 1871, were they

 

24 Cincinnati Abend Presse, November 22, 1918.

25 Cincinnati Abend Presse, January 1, 1919.

26 Cincinnati Abend Presse, November 28, 1918.

27 Wachter und Anzeiger, December 23, 1918.

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56        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

to return, would fail to recognize their old homeland, so mar-

velously has it been improved during the last generation.²⁸  An-

other paper pleads for the right of self-determination for the

Germans in Bohemia,²⁹ and there is much sentiment in favor of

the addition of German Austria to the new German Republic.30

When the peace conference finally ordered a change in the new

German Constitution to prevent the future admission of Ger-

man-speaking Austria, the Gross Daytoner Zeitung, in the lan-

guage of the New York Nation, calls it the "last nail in the

coffin of self-determination".³¹ The little island of Germans in

Transylvania who have preserved their language and culture

for centuries against the nationalizing policy of the Magyars,

had the Siebenburgisch-Amerikanisches Volksblatt, a weekly

published in Cleveland, to champion their plea for self-deter-

mination. The paper objected violently against the annexation

of Transylvania by Rumania, organized mass meetings to pro-

test, and sent a memorandum to the President reciting the his-

tory of the Transylvanians and protesting, in the name of

democracy and the sacred rights of oppressed nationalities,

against annexation to "reactionary, patriarchal, Rumania".³²  It

is not surprising to find frequent references to the Irish problem

in this connection, for here the principle of self-determination

could be applied to embarrass the nation that was always re-

garded as Germany's arch-enemy.³3

Immediately after the cessation of hostilities there began a

campaign to arouse the humanitarian sentiments of America in

behalf of beaten, crushed and ruined Germany. Many an article

calls attention to President Wilson's original distinction between

a war against the German autocracy and a war against the Ger-

 

28Gross Daytoner Zeitung, December 11, 1918.

29 See Cincinnati Abend Press, December 10, 1918, and Gross Day-

toner Zeitung of the same date.

30 See Cincinnati Freie Presse, March 7, 1919.

31 Gross Daytoner Zeitung, October 9, 1919

32 See Siebenburgisch-Amerikanisches Volksblatt, November 21, 28,

1918; December 5, 1918; January 9, 1919; January 30, 1919; also Cincin-

nati Abend Presse, November 25, 1918.

33 See especially the article welcoming Edward de Valera, "President

of the Irish Republic," to Akron, in the Akron Germania, October 6, 1919.

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Ohio's German-Language Press, Etc.             57

 

man people, and points out that the time has now arrived to live

up to the high ideals we professed at the beginning of the

struggle. The Cincinnati Freie Presse, with unlimited faith in

President Wilson, is confident that he will exert himself to the

utmost to obtain a peace that will bind up the wounds of war

and wipe out the hatred engendered by four years of conflict.³⁴

The blockade is considered particularly inhumane and unwar-

ranted after the close of the war. An economic boycott of

Germany after the war is denounced as absurd and unjustifi-

able.³⁵  The Cincinnati Volksblatt, two days after the armistice,

believed that the blockade would be lifted at once, as a matter

of justice, and to help preserve a stable government in Ger-

many.³⁶ Another paper of the same date carries a pitiful plea

to America to show mercy for ruined Germany, and to protect

her against the ambition of France to procure the rich lands

on the left bank of the Rhine.³⁷ Examples might be greatly

multiplied. They all appeal to the "Menschlichkeitsgefuhl" of

the great, generous American people.³⁸  December 17, 1918, the

Cleveland Wachter und Anzeiger contained a long article on

what to demand and what to avoid and oppose during the peace

negotiations. The editor believes that the Liberals of the entire

world are looking to Wilson for leadership. There must be no

exorbitant reparations or indemnities, no hanging of the Kaiser.

Peace cannot be made in accordance with the earlier views of

the allied leaders. The negotiators must look to the future,

rather than to the past; to the creation of a new world order,

rather than revenge or punishment. In the struggle to bring

about this new world order, every nation must yield something.³⁹

34 Cincinnati Freie Presse, November 12, 1918.

35 See Wachter und Anzeiger, December 4 and 28, 1918.

38 Cincinnati Volksblatt, November 13, 1918.

37Akron Germania, November 13, 1918.

38 See Gross Daytoner Zeitung, November 14, 1918; Wachter und An-

zeiger, November 15, 1918; Sandusky Demokrat, November 15, 1918.

39 See Wachter und Anzeiger, December 17, 1918; also Cincinnati

Freie Presse, December 13, 1918; and April 15, 1919; also Wachter und

Anzeiger, January 14, 1919. The Cleveland Wachter und Anzeiger fre-

quently reprints English articles on the international situation from such

periodicals as the New York Nation, the New Republic, the London Na-

tion, etc., and its editorial policy is to a large extent in accord with that

of these liberal publications.

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58        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

When America entered the war in 1917, the editors of

German newspapers in America were gradually converted from

their old pro-German point of view to a new policy of unlimited

public support of the American war program. That did not

mean however that they took to their bosoms as companions in

arms the powers associated with this government in the prose-

cution of the war. From the viewpoint of Ohio's German

papers, it was a matter of the first importance to preserve the

distinction between an "ally" and powers with which we were

only temporarily "associated". The fact that the American sol-

dier was fighting alongside the English Tommy and the poilu

on the western front did very little to change the attitude of the

editors toward "perfidious Albion" and "revengeful France".

No doubt many of them, in their heart of hearts, felt that the

United States was simply pulling the chestnuts out of the fire

for nations that had been unable, before our help came, to cope

with the German military machine. This feeling must have

been carried well into the period when we were actually at war,

although policy demanded a discreet silence on this point at

least as long as the fighting continued. It is therefore not sur-

prising to find criticisms of the powers associated with us

making their appearance again in the columns of the German

newspapers as soon as the fighting had come officially to a close.

The critics are more outspoken as time goes on, and especially

bitter when the peace terms were finally published. It may be

worth while to call attention to some examples of this attitude

and practice, before discussing the reception of the peace treaty

itself.

November 18, 1918, the Cincinnati Freie Presse observes

that the treatment of the Jews by the Rumanians and Poles

evidently proves that all peoples, even though they may be asso-

ciated with the allied cause, do not yet understand the real

meaning of democracy.⁴⁰ Another paper sarcastically remarks

that "Where Polish troops move in, peace leaves", - hardly a

good omen !l4  The Gross Daytoner Zeitung speaks of Polish

atrocities in Posen; and the Pogroms in Bohemia are a subject

 

⁴⁰Cincinnati Freie Presse, November 18, 1918.

41 Cincinnati Abend Presse, January 15, 1919.

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Ohio's German-Language Press, Etc.                   59

 

for much comment.⁴²   The Abend Presse calls attention to the

Rumanian policy toward the Germans in Transylvania which

has as its purpose the prohibition of the use of the German

language.⁴³ A few months later, however, another paper comes

to the conclusion that the Rumanian regime is not so bad as it

was at first represented to be.⁴⁴  The Cincinnati Freie Presse

has nothing good to say of Gabriel D'Annunzio's "Roman

Peace";45 and the general attitude toward Italy is unfriendly.

The feeling toward France is by no means cordial.         The

Wachter und Anzeiger denounces Foch's "Rhine Frontier" ;⁴⁶

a Cincinnati paper publishes a quotation to show that the

French have underestimated our assistance in the war, and have

showed themselves very ungrateful;47 and the Akron Germania

has a long editorial denouncing the conduct of the French sol-

diers in the Rhine district toward the German women.⁴⁸ None

of the papers were enthusiastic over the visit of the Belgian

royal couple. When it was reported that King Albert had pre-

sented the President with a volume of La Libre Belgique, the

one newspaper the Germans could not suppress, the Cincinnati

Abend Presse was unkind enough to suggest that Mr. Wilson

reciprocate with a volume of American newspapers of a few

years ago, in which they discussed the Congo atrocities, during

the regime of Albert's uncle, Leopold II.⁴⁹   The Japanese-

"the Huns of the East"--receive their full measure of criti-

cism, especially because of Japan's machinations in China and

Korea.⁵⁰  The Cincinnati Abend Presse comments on Japan's

autocratic form of government, and several of the papers hint

 

42 Gross Daytoner Zeitung, March 21, 1919; Cincinnati Freic Presse,

December 25, 1918.

43 Cincinnati Abend Presse, July 26, 1919.

44 Wachter und Anzeiger, November 14, 1919.

45 Cincinnati Freie Presse, February 1, 1919.

46 See Wachter und Anzeiger, February 1, 1919; see also editorial in

the issue of August 14, 1919.

47 Cincinnati Abend Presse, October 11, 1919

48Akron Germania, October 15, 1919.

49 Cincinnati Abend Presse, October 11, 1919.

50 Cincinnati Abend Presse, April 21, 1919; Cincinnati Freie Presse,

June 23, 1919; Gross Daytoner Zeitung, March 10 and 20, 1918

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60        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

rather broadly at the Yellow Peril which the United States may

soon have to face.⁵¹

It was for England, however, that the sharpest attacks were

reserved. From the point of view of the German editor, her

methods of building up her empire made her particularly vul-

nerable. The reader cannot help feeling the keen delight with

which the editor fashions the shafts of wit and sarcasm to be

let loose upon Germany's arch-enemy.     Dozens of editorials

could be cited attacking England for her policy toward Ireland,

and pleading for independence and the right of self-determina-

tion for the new   Irish Republic.⁵²  An article on England's

regime in India concludes with the observation that the English

will hardly be able to furnish the judges who are to sit in trial

upon the German militarists.⁵3  The Cincinnati Abend Presse

believes in granting the right of self-determination to the Boers

of the old Orange Free State.⁵⁴     In commenting on Lloyd

George's desire to bring the Kaiser to trial, the same paper

observes that the British Premier must have forgotten that

Kitchener brought back the title of "The Butcher" from his

adventures in the Soudan and in South Africa, that British

airmen hit a funeral procession in Freiburg, and that it was a

French professor who made the first poison gas bomb.⁵⁵ The

Gross Daytoner Zeitung is even more bitter. In discussing a

parade of floats to be held on July 4 in Washington, the editor

stops to wonder how England will be represented. "By her

prison ships, in which she tortured American patriots? Or by

the execution of Nathan Hale? Or with her allies, the Indians,

 

51Cincinnati Abend Presse, May 10, 1919; Cincinnati Freie Presse,

March 12, 1919

52Sandusky Demokrat, December 27, 1918; April 15, 1919; Articles

in Wachter und Anzeiger, December 24, 1918 and March 28, 1919, on the

Irish Question from "The Public"; and "Ireland and The Test" from the

Boston Pilot; also Gross Daytoner Zeitung, August 16, 1919, on first page,

an article, "England's Knute fiber Irland," from the Deutsche Tageszeitung.

53Gross Daytoner Zeitung, August 13, 1919.

54 Cincinnati Abend Presse, June 12, 1919.

56 Cincinnati Abend Presse, July 7, 1919; also Gross Daytoner Zei-

tung, August 9, 1919,

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Ohio's German-Language Press, Etc.           61

whom she incited against the American soldiers for liberty?"56

There are also frequent warnings against the British propaganda

at work in America. Professor Roland G. Usher is taken to

task for his attempt to develop Anglo-Americanism by his dis-

cussions of the American Revolution,⁵⁷ and the Cincinnati Freie

Presse of November 17, 1919, warns against the influence of

this organized British propaganda upon our schools, and espe-

cially upon our textbooks in history. Professor Albert Bushnell

Hart is especially criticised for devoting pages in his new book

to showing how well the American colonists were being treated

at the time of the Revolution.⁵⁸ Much space is devoted to

England's alleged plans for the conquest and domination of

Asia. Says one editor, "England will be the adviser of Persia

in the future. So was the fox the adviser of the goose. The

goose is long since dead."⁵⁹ The Siebenburgisch-Amerikanisches

Volksblatt calls England the stage director of the world, with

puppets everywhere to do her bidding, and believes that the

League of Nations will be under the same British influence.⁶⁰

The editor of the Akron Germania gives vent to his feelings in

an editorial on "Making the world safe for England".⁶1 None

of the papers permit America's war services to be belittled by

either the French or the English, and frequently dwell at length

on how America saved England and the other powers.⁶²   News

of friction between the various allied powers seems to be very

welcome.⁶³ Undoubtedly there were many German-Americans

who held Sir Edward Grey responsible in a large measure for

the outbreak of the war, and so it is not surprising to find that

 

56 Gross Daytoner Zeitung, July 2, 1919.

57Ibid., December 13, 1918.

58 Cincinnati Freie Presse, September 11, 1919.

59Ibid., August 19 and July 26, 1919.

60 Siebenburgisch-Amerikansiches Volksblatt, November 27, 1919.

61Akron Germania, October 20, 1919; see also November 24, 1919.

62 See Cincinnati Freie Presse, December 6, 1919; also Abend Presse,

January 17, 1919.

63See Wachter und Anzeiger, November 6, 1919.

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62         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

no paper took kindly to the appointment of the former Foreign

Secretary as British Ambassador to the United States.⁶⁴

There is one rather prominent German Socialist weekly in

Ohio, published in Cleveland. During the war, this paper, the

"Echo", found itself frequently in trouble with the government

authorities and various patriotic organizations. Its policy was

anti-war, for the orthodox Socialist reasons. It was not neces-

sarily pro-German on that account, indeed many of its numbers

contained vigorous attacks upon the old German government and

the military clique. The "Echo" was happy when the news of the

disintegration of Austria-Hungary reached America, and hoped

that the German people would speedily follow the example of

their Austrian brethren and end feudalism and monarchy for-

ever.⁶⁵  November 2, the editor hoped that President Wilson

would not be satisfied with a limited monarchy in Germany, but

that all the crowned heads of Europe would be driven from their

thrones, and the paper even intimates that the cruel warfare,

which the Socialists had consistently opposed, might not have

been in vain after all.⁶⁶ The Revolution in Germany was viewed

as a real blessing, although the editor was somewhat suspicious

of the socialistic views of Scheidemann.⁶⁷ The fate of Dr. Lieb-

 

64 See Cincinnati Abend Presse, August 28, 1919; Wachter und An-

zeiger, October 17, 1919. The Wachter und Anzeiger of November 20,

1919, prints a story that has filtered through from Europe and is so amus-

ing that it may deserve retelling here. The Wachter und Anzeiger does

not specifically state that the story is true - though it seems to be a cor-

rect report. It is reprinted from a European source. The incident oc-

curred during the visit of President and Mrs. Wilson in Italy. It is re-

ported that on that occasion, a golden wolf, with a little Romulus and

Remus, was presented as a gift to "a certain lady." "That certain lady"

responded to the presentation speech somewhat as follows: "I thank you

most heartily for this beautiful work of art, this symbol of eternal love,

Romeo and Juliet." Whereupon - so the story goes-"a certain ambas-

sador" coughed so loudly as to drown out the rest of her words. An

English officer who was present, carried the story to England, from

whence it spread very rapidly. Then the editor adds, with perhaps un-

conscious humor,--only an Englishman could be low enough to spread

such a story.

65Echo, October 26, 1918.

66Ibid., November 2, 1918.

67 Ibid., December 21, 1918.

• 14
 

Ohio's German-Language Press, Etc.           63

knecht and Rosa Luxemburg was greatly deplored, and from that

time on the Echo began to fear that the new German government

might not be a real government of the working classes.⁶⁸ An

earnest plea was made to listen to the voice of labor at the peace

conference,⁶⁹ but the editor soon came to the conclusion that the

peace would be a capitalistic peace of bargaining, in which the

weaker group of capitalists would yield to the stronger, with

the result a mere patch-work, containing the germs of future

wars.⁷⁰ A few months later, the Echo felt certain that a League

of Nations was coming, because it was necessary to save capital-

ism, and that it would be a league of bankers, diplomats, traders,

and manufacturers.⁷¹ The true league must therefore be post-

poned until there could be a revolt of all the workers, and the

destruction of capital's power forever.⁷²

It is difficult to summarize the attitude of Ohio's German-

language newspapers toward the proposed League of Nations.

The German papers differ among themselves on this point, much

like the English dailies. Furthermore, several of the papers

have changed their attitude during the long struggle over the

ratification of the Covenant, and some that were heartily in favor

of a League when first proposed, became hostile to the League of

Nations that was finally brought back from Paris.

The Cincinnati Volksblatt was perhaps the most enthusiastic

supporter of the project, and at the outset favored a league to

arbitrate all questions, not even excluding questions of national

safety.⁷³ It rejected as absurd all objections raised to the consti-

tutionality of such a Covenant, insisted that disarmament was

the paramount issue, and contended that only a league of nations

could furnish the hundred years of peace which the world needed

to emerge from its misery.⁷⁴ The same paper accepted as correct

the argument that the league would really apply the Monroe

Doctrine to the world, and maintained that such a league would

 

68 Ibid., January 25, 1919.

69Ibid., November 30, 1918.

70 Ibid., December 21, 1918.

⁷¹Echo, March 8, 1919.

⁷²Echo, April 12, 1919.

73 Cincinnati Volksblatt, January 15, 1919.

74 Ibid., February 20 and 25, 1919.

• 15
 

64        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

have prevented the war in 191475. The editor agitated for ratifi-

cation of the Covenant without amendment; believed that nations

should be compelled to accept mandates by decree of the League;

and refused to be disturbed by the argument that England had

more votes than the United States in the assembly.76 The stump-

ing tours of Senators Reed, Borah, Poindexter, and Johnson,

against the League were heartily condemned because they em-

barrassed the President and endangered the entire peace settle-

ment.⁷⁷ In June, 1919, the Volksblatt suggested a popular refer-

endum on the question of joining the League, arguing that there

was less risk in joining than in remaining out.⁷⁸  By August,

1919, this paper admitted that ratification could not be secured

without moderate reservations, but gave no indication that it had

changed its general attitude in regard to the necessity of a

League.⁷⁹

The Defiance Herald and the Siebenburgisch-Amerikan-

isches Volksblatt apparently approved of the League.⁸⁰ The Cin-

cinnati Freie Presse was a little more skeptical in regard to the

proposed Covenant, but favorable to it, on the whole, although

pleading for some international police force to give vigor to the

decrees of the League Council.⁸1 March 1, 1919, the editor ad-

vocated the admission of Germany to the League.⁸² By July,

1919, the Freie Presse was giving considerable space to articles

dealing with the defects of the League,⁸³ and by September, while

still believing that the Covenant would be accepted by the Senate

with reservations, held that it would not be a misfortune if it

failed altogether.⁸⁴ The Toledo Express, deplored what it called

Senator Lodge's partisan tactics, but was very doubtful about

 

75 Ibid., February 28, 1919.

Ibid., March 3, 7 and 12, 1919.

77 Cincinnati Volksblatt, March 17, 22, 27, 28, 29; April 1, 1919.

78Ibid., June 5, 24; July 8, 1919.

Ibid., August 14, 1919.

⁸⁰Defiance Herold, October 2, 1919; Siebenburgisch-Amerikanisches

Volksblatt, December 26, 1918.

81 Cincinnati Freie Presse, December 28, 31, 1918.

82 Ibid., March 1, 1919.

83 Ibid., July 16, 1919.

84Ibid., September 17, 1919.

• 16
 

Ohio's German-Language Press, Etc.           65

 

the efficacy of certain provisions of the Covenant.⁸⁵ The Gross

Daytoner Zeitung was even more skeptical, attached considerable

importance to the objections to the League raised by Charles E.

Hughes, Senators Reed, Borah and others, and deplored the fact

that the President did not answer these objections specifically.⁸⁶

August 20, 1919, the editor declared the League an alliance of

the five great powers of the world to keep Germany on her

knees, and not a real League of Nations.⁸⁷    The Cleveland

Wachter und Anzeiger made a similar shift in its position. In

November, 1918, the paper printed a long article by H. G. Wells,

from the New Republic, advocating a League of Nations,⁸⁸ and

the following March declared that no one was opposed to the

principles of the League except Tories, Junkers, Bolshevists and

"Non-German Prussians" of every country.⁸⁹ By July, the editor

was coming to the conclusion that there was nothing of Wilson's

peace program to be found in either the peace treaty or in the

Covenant for a League of Nations.⁹⁰ In discussing Mr. Wilson's

distinction between "moral and legal obligations" under Article X

of the League, the editor had a chance to refer once more to an

issue raised while the United States was still a neutral. An

editorial points out how very often moral obligations fail to

transcend legal obligations, and cities, as an illustration very

much to the point, our sale of munitions to the allies before 19I7.

The editor insists that the sale of munitions of war was legal,

but not moral.⁹¹ In October, 191₉, the League is represented as

another armed coalition, composed of a minority of the powers

of the earth, to guard the war booty and to preserve the status

quo.⁹²

When the provisions of the peace treaty finally began to

filter through the censorship, the contrast between President

85Toledo Express, February 20; March 13, 1919.

86 See Gross Daytoner Zeitung, December 27, 1918; January 27, March

8, April 1, March 31, July 12, 1919.

87Ibid., August 20, 1919.

88 Wachter und Anzeiger, November 28, 1918.

89 Ibid., March 24, 1919.

90 Ibid., July 18, 1919.

91 Ibid., August 21, 1919.

92 Ibid., October 11, 1919.

Vol. XXIX- 5.

• 17
 

66        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

Wilson's words and the concrete results of the Peace Confer-

ence was a shock and an almost unmeasurable disappointment

for those German-American editors who had trusted so blindly

in the efficacy of the Fourteen Points to inaugurate a new world

order in which even the new German Republic might begin with

a fairly clean slate and might even escape, to some degree at

least, the punishment for the sins of the preceding government.

Editorial comment on the war and its results becomes more and

more cynical after this, and reflects at times a state of mind

born of utter despair for the future of the old fatherland. Nev-

ertheless, all the papers are substantially agreed on one point-

Germany must drink the cup of woe to the dregs; from that

there is no escape. A few of the editors admit that she herself

is responsible for her present misfortunes. On the whole, there

is little optimism in regard to the future. Once more - so runs

the comment of the cynics - the highest ideals, expressed in

the most beautiful terms, and apparently in good faith, have

been crushed by the forces of materialism, and the old order

and its Machtpolitik has triumphed again.

As late as April, 1919, when President Wilson so dramat-

ically cabled for the "George Washington" and seemed about to

bolt the conference, there was still hope that the settlement

would be forced on the basis of the Fourteen Points. Any other

peace was regarded as a violation of a most sacred promise,

given to a beaten and helpless foe.⁹³ Every paper lamented the

fact that the censorship in Paris made it impossible to judge

who was guilty of retarding the work of the conference, in its

efforts to arrive at a just and speedy peace.⁹⁴ The Akron Ger-

mania sarcastically reminded its readers that the world had

fought, among other things, for publicity, truth, liberty, and

"open covenants, openly arrived at".⁹⁵ Generally, the blame for

the delay and the hostility to the Wilsonian program was charged

93See Cincinnati Volksblatt, April 11, 1919; Wachter und Anzeiger,

April 14 1919; Cincinnati Freie Presse, April 9, 1919; Toledo Express,

April 24, 1919.

94See Cincinnati Freie Presse, April 7; Gross Daytoner Zeitung,

April 5, 1919; Wachter und Anzeiger, December 13, 1918; Akron Ger-

mania, February 17, 1919.

95Akron Germania, May 19, 1919.

• 18
 

Ohio's German-Language Press, Etc.           67

to France. Clemenceau was considered an old school diplomat,

and an exponent of the policy of Louis XIV,⁹⁶ and the Wachter

und Anzeiger gave a prominent place in one of its issues to an

appeal, taken from the New Republic, urging the French to

abandon their imperialistic aims, especially in the Saar region,

for the sake of a permanent peace.⁹⁷ One editor observed that

if the peace conference really wished to grant all the territorial

demands made upon it, it might find it wise to create another

world.⁹⁸ The Cincinnati Freie Presse calls attention to the fact

that the blockade, maintained after the armistice, had been

responsible for the death of 800,000  infants in Germany, and

that in comparison with this efficiency, the work of Herod,

organizer of the murder of the babes of Bethlehem, must indeed

be considered very amateurish.⁹⁹

May 12, 1919, the Gross Daytoner Zeitung denounced the

peace as an imperialistic peace, based on superior force, and

constructed on the principle that to the victors belong the spoils,

and designed to take revenge for the treaty of 1871 and the

treaty of Brest-Litovsk. And yet - the editor adds - Germany

would have done the same if she had won. The same paper

laments the end of "the free, German Rhine", but is certain it

will never become a French stream.¹⁰⁰ The Volksblatt approved

of the dismantling of the forts at Kiel and Heligoland, but

urged that the same steps be taken with regard to all other

strategic straits and waterways.¹⁰¹ One editor calls the peace a

Napoleonic Peace of Tilsit, and the Wachter und Anzeiger re-

prints, from  Viereck's The American     Monthly, an article

applying the peace terms to the United States, showing what

territory would have to be surrendered, the reduction in our

army and navy and merchant marine, etc., and concluding with

the observation that every American would cry out at once, after

 

96See Cincinnati Abend Presse, June 10; Gross Daytoner Zeitung,

February 15, 1919.

97 Wachter und Anzeiger, January 21, 1919.

98 Cincinnati Abend Presse, February 22, 1919.

99 Cincinnati Freie Presse, May 31, 1919.

100 Gross Daytoner Zeitung, March 22, 1919.

101 Cincinnati Volksblatt, March 19, 1919.

• 19
 

68        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

such a peace, "We have been tricked." 102 Some editors believed

the Fourteen Points were bartered away to get the League of

Nations Covenant.1⁰³  The editor of the Cincinnati Freie Presse

wittily remarks that Germany can consider herself very fortu-

nate that the allies forgot to impose national prohibition.¹⁰⁴  The

loss of the coal fields of Upper Silesia and in the Saar Valley

is regarded as especially disastrous,¹05 and the financial terms so

severe that they kill the goose that is expected to lay the golden

eggs.¹⁰⁶ The Shantung clause was of course seized upon with

glee because it seemed to be a particularly bad spot in the treaty.

The Cincinnati Freie Presse, quoting the New York Evening

Sun, says on this point, -"Anatomy is a curious thing. We

cut China's throat in order to save the heart of the world."¹⁰⁷

Almost every paper comments on the failure of the Peace Con-

ference to do anything with the important problem of the free-

dom of the seas.¹⁰⁸   Many other citations could be made to

illustrate the general dissatisfaction with almost every article

of the treaty. It is maintained that the principle of self-deter-

mination has not been consistently applied,109 that the provision

on mandatories is simply to camouflage annexations,110 that the

demand for the surrender of German live-stock to the French

and the Belgians is particularly inhumane, etc.111

Even the Alsace-Lorraine settlement is not regarded as

final. The editor of the Gross Daytoner Zeitung maintains that

these provinces will ultimately be free and independent states.112

 

102 Wachter und Anzeiger, June 7, 1919.

103 See Gross Daytoner Zeitung, May 14, 1919.

104 Cincinnati Freie Presse, May 30, 1919.

105Cincinni Volksblatt, May 8, 1919.

106 Wachter und Anzeiger, May 23, 1919.

107 Cincinnati Freie Presse, September 20, 1919; see also Cincinnati

Volksblatt, June 25, 1919; Wachter und Anzeiger, May 15, 1919; Cincin-

nati Abend Presse, July 8, 1919.

108 See Cincinnati Abend Presse, May 7, 1919; July 3, 1919.

109 Gross Daytoner Zeitung, May 12, 1919.

110 Ibid., June 30, 1919.

111Echo, June 28, 1919; see also May 17, 1919.

112 Gross Daytoner Zeitung, November 12, 1919.

• 20
 

Ohio's German-Language Press, Etc.               69

 

Every paper reprints in full, articles from prominent American

and English liberal periodicals criticising the peace.¹¹³

One or two papers are confident that Germany can right her-

self, and therefore believe that the best policy for the Germans to

follow is to accept the treaty at once, and begin the work of re-

constructing Germany, and perhaps later, the world, along new

and better lines. The Toledo Express thinks the German economic

structure has a chance to survive even the tremendous reparations

to be exacted by the peace settlement.¹¹⁴                                 There is also just a

little hope in the League of Nations.l¹⁵                                      The Akron Germania

urges the German people to profit by their bitter experiences, and

arise as a freer and more respected people. The editor points

out that the diplomats of Germany never understood the psychol-

ogy of other nations, and that therefore an entirely new course

must be taken by German diplomacy in the future.¹¹⁶ October

15, 1919, the same editor was carried away, in a moment of

optimism, to print a couplet from Fliegende Blatter,

"Frisch auf ans Werk! Was immer wir verloren,

Aus deutscher Arbeit wird es neu geboren."117

 

And now, what of President Wilson, and his work at the

Peace Conference? As has been already indicated, the Presi-

dent began his arduous labors with the good will and heartiest

support of the German press in America. It accepted his peace

 

113See for example, in Wachter und Anzeiger, September 27, 1919,

"The Disillusionment of Jerome K. Jerome;" in the same paper for Au-

gust 11, 1919, Charles Nagel's criticism of the peace treaty; and in the

issue of June 14, 1919, "Liberal English Protests;" May 30 and 31, 1919,

Felix Adler's "The Treaty's Moral Failure," from the Nation; in the Ak-

ron Germania, "The Great Betrayal;" in the Cincinnati Abend Presse,

July 3, 1919, General Smuts' public statement upon his refusal to sign the

treaty; August 11, 1919, Arthur Henderson on the Peace Treaty, from the

New Republic; and in the Cincinnait Freie Presse, June 14, 1919, "The

Betrayal" from the London Nation; and on May 28, 1919, Dr. Bullitt's

resignation from the American Peace Commission. See also Cincinnati

Freie Presse, October 4, 1919.

114 Toledo Express, May 22, 1919.

115 Ibid., July 3, 1919.

116 Akron, Germania, June 30, 1919.

117 Akron Germania, October 15, 1919.

• 21
 

70         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

program as the greatest program for the advancement of justice

and peace in international relations that had been evolved through

all the centuries. When the controversy over Fiume arose, Presi-

dent Wilson's stand against Italy was enthusiastically endorsed,

and Italy and her friends as bitterly denounced.¹¹⁸ President

Wilson's decision to stop intervention in Russia, and to open ne-

gotiations with all the factions in that sorely troubled country,

had been hailed as his first triumph over the old-world diplomats

and the forces of reaction.119 Such preliminary skirmishes and

triumphs as these were followed by the news of the President's

apparent surrender and defeat in the peace treaty itself.

The first reaction was perhaps to be charitable and blame

Mr. Wilson's failures on the machinations of the imperialists

by whom he was greatly outnumbered at the Peace Table, and

with whom he had constantly to battle, and usually single-handed.

Clemenceau stands out in all this criticism as the arch-conspirator

against a Wilsonian peace of justice.¹²⁰   In March, 1919, the

Wachter und Anzeiger admits that Mr. Wilson made many mis-

takes and tried too often to play a lone hand in the negoti-

ations, but nevertheless, the editor insists, he always worked sin-

cerely and earnestly for the interests of the masses of the people

everywhere.¹²1 A month later, another paper points out how

astoundingly elastic President Wilson's rigid program has become

at Paris, and warns the President to make a determined fight

for his principles before it is too late-"if he wants to bring

back an honorable name."¹²²    In May, 1919, the Wachter und

 

118 See Toledo Express, May 1, 1919; Cincinnati Abend Presse, May 8,

1919; Wachter und Anzeiger, April 29, 1919; Cincinnati Freie Presse,

April 25, 1919; Gross Daytoner Zeitung, April 24, 25; May 6, 1919.

119 Cincinnati Abend Presse, January 24, 1919. Only the Cincinnati

Volksblatt (see April 23, 1919), was at all favorable to the recognition of

Kolchak and his Omsk government. The other papers advocated non-

intervention, and were especially unfriendly to Kolchak. See Cincinnati

Freie Presse, May 15, June 3, August 6, 1919; Wachter und Anzeiger,

July 14, 1919

120 See Cincinnati Abend Presse, January 14, 1919.

121 Wachter und Anzeiger, March 17, 1919.

122Sandusky Demokrat, April 18, 1919; quoting the Illinois Staats-

zeitung.

• 22
 

Ohio's German-Language Press, Etc.             71

Anzeiger compares the peace treaty with the "Vae victis" of

Brennus to the Romans, but nevertheless, makes an effort to

defend the President. The editor believes the Germans prob-

ably will blame Mr. Wilson for not insisting sufficiently upon

his Fourteen Points, but adds that it is the unfavorable result

of the Congressional elections in this country that must be held

responsible. Wilson's hands have been tied by the new Congress;

the Allies realized the situation and used it against him at the

Peace Conference. The editor is certain that the peace would

have been even worse had it not been for the mitigating influence

of President Wilson.123 The Gross Daytoner Zeitung is not so

charitable, and wonders whether the President has deliberately

broken his promise to the Central Powers, or whether he found

it impossible to keep it, or whether he simply changed his mind ?124

Several papers now begin the practice of quoting from the Presi-

dent's speeches made in 1914, 1915 and 1916. Significant pass-

ages on international relations are cited without comment, ob-

viously to call attention to the inconsistency of the peace treaty

with the President's earlier views.¹²⁵   The Cincinnati Freie

Presse is certain that President Wilson is not satisfied with the

peace treaty, but lacks either the power or the energy to change

it.1²⁶ The Cincinnati Volksblatt comes to the conclusion that

neither Mr. Wilson nor Secretary Lansing understand even the

rudiments of European diplomacy.¹²⁷  As time goes on, the com-

ments become more critical and bitter. One paper declares the

peace a positive curse for all humanity;128 the Gross Daytoner

Zeitung hints the administration must be under British in-

fluence;129 and quite frequently the editors take issue with the

 

123 Wachter und Anzeiger, May 8, 1919. The Cincinnati Abend

Presse, of the same date, expresses practically the same view.

124 Gross Daytoner Zeitung, May 8 and 16, 1919.

125 See Cincinnati Freie Presse, May 17, 1919; Gross Daytoner Zei-

tung, May 29, and September 17, 1919.

126 Cincinnati Freie Presse, May 24, 1919.

127 July 14, 1919.

128 Cincinnati Abend Presse, July 12, 1919.

129 Gross Daytoner Zeitung, July 15, 1919.

• 23
 

72        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

President, after his return to America, and especially with the

arguments he advances to explain the treaty provisions and his

action at the Peace Conference.¹³⁰ In August, 1919, the Wachter

und Anzeiger speaks of the Versailles Peace as the settlement

born of hatred and revenge, and now definitely declares the Pres-

ident responsible for the unsatisfactory provisions in the peace

treaty.131 The Austrian peace terms elicited little comment, per-

haps because their nature could be forecast from a study of the

conditions imposed upon Germany. The few paragraphs that are

devoted to the Austrian Peace pronounce it even worse than the

German treaty.l³²

The proposed separate alliance between England, the United

States and France, to protect the latter against unprovoked at-

tacks by Germany was denounced from the very beginning as

unnecessary, contrary to the spirit of the League of Nations, and

a dangerous entangling alliance.¹³³ The Gross Daytoner Zei-

tung declared that the proposal was due to the bad conscience of

the French, who know a German war of revenge will come and

will avenge the unjust proceedings and robberies of German

territories at Versailles.l34  The Sandusky Demokrat devotes a

long editorial to a criticism of the French Alliance, and then goes

on to attack the present tendency of Americans to deify the

French. The writer argues that we never owed France a debt

of gratitude for her aid during our Revolution, for she acted

on purely selfish motives on that occasion, and then recounts

all the friction we have had with the French government in

the past, especially during the administrations of Washington,

John Adams, Madison, and Andrew Jackson, and during the

Civil War. The editor is willing to defer his final judgment of

 

130 Ibid., July 15, and 17, 1919; see also Cincinnati Abend Presse, July

15, 1919.

131August 19, 1919. The Echo of August 9, 1919, says -"Germany

lost the war, but Prussian militarism conquered the world."

132 See Cincinnati Freie Presse, May 31, June 3 and 22, 1919.

133 See Cincinnati Volksblatt, July 5, 1919; Wachter und Anzeiger,

July 18, 25; Cincinnati Abend Presse, May 13; Siebenburgisch-Amerikan-

isches Volksblatt, June 19, 1919.

134 September 19, 1919.

• 24
 

Ohio's German-Language Press, Etc.               73

 

French life and character until our soldier boys have all re-

turned.¹³⁵

The German newspapers at first took comparatively little in-

terest in the contest in the United States Senate over ratification

of the treaty. Almost all of them agreed that Germany would sign

the treaty, because she had practically no other course left open

to her. To reject the treaty might mean the triumph of the com-

munists in Germany, the overthrow of the Republic, a reign of

terror by the Bolshevists, or what was still worse, starvation for

the entire German nation.¹³⁶ Only the Akron Germania believed

that the German threat not to sign was anything more than a

diplomatic bluff.¹³⁷ Most of the editors urged the United States

Senate to waste no time in debate, and to ratify the treaty,

League and all, so that the normal relations and intercourse of

peace times might be restored as speedily as possible.¹³⁸  At first

there was much impatience with the dilatory tactics of various

Senators, believed for the most part to be interested simply

in embarrassing the administration for political reasons.     As

the debates progressed however, many of the editors began to

take some real interest in -the proposed amendments and reser-

vations.¹³⁹  President Wilson's "swinging round the circle" to

create sentiment for the treaty was regarded as a complete fail-

ure, and several papers criticised the President rather sharply

for raising the old cry of "Pro-Germanism" against those who

 

135 Sandusky Demokrat, April 29, 1919. The Wachter und Anzeiger

of August 12, 1919, makes Pershing's famous remark at the grave of La-

fayette-"Lafayette, we are here"-the reason for quoting a paragraph

from the pen of Arthur Brisbane in the New York American. "But, dear

Lafayette, we do not intend to stay here forever, or come back every five

minutes, when the whistle sounds. We live in America, and have busi-

ness there. When you had finished your work on this side, you went

home and stayed there. * * * We're glad to have been able to pay the

debt with interest. But now we're through. Good-bye."

136 See Wachter und Anzeiger, May 7; Siebenburgisch-Amerikanisches

Volksblatt, May 8, 1919; Toledo Express, May 15, 1919.

137 Akron Germania, April 2, 1919.

138 Cincinnati Volksblatt, May 9, May 26, and October 28, 1919.

139 See Gross Daytoner Zeitung, October 30; Cincinnati Abend Presse,

August 22, September 19; Wachter und Anzeiger, August 30, 1919.

• 25
 

74        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

differed with him.¹⁴⁰ By September 1919, the Toledo Express

was ready to endorse the report of the Senate Foreign Relations

Committee on both the treaty and the League, for it "breathed

the true American spirit."¹⁴¹  By November, the Cincinnati

Freie Presse had come to approve of the Senate's course in

adding reservations to the treaty, a process which it called

"Americanizing the peace";142 and the Volksblatt, at first in

favor of immediate ratification, had come to believe that the

people do not regard the League as at all important, and that

they care nothing about the reservations or the language of the

treaty.¹⁴³ When the Senate adjourned without having ratified

the treaty, none of the editors were much disturbed. The rejec-

tion of the treaty was regarded as hardly anything more than a

serious personal defeat for the President, for which his own

headstrong methods were held solely responsible.¹⁴⁴

While all this discussion of the outcome of the war and the

nature of the peace was going on, Ohio's German-language press

was devoting its attention, with at least equal energy, to building

up its pre-war influence and prestige, and regaining the ground

that had been lost as a result of the many unpleasant incidents

that had occurred during the war. A German-language news-

paper, in order to exist and prosper, must always be interested in

promoting the work of German clubs, lodges, singing societies,

etc., and in keeping up the interest of the German-Americans of

the community in German music, German drama, and most of

all, in the German language and literature. If "Das Deutsch-

tum" becomes Anglicised, the influence of the German press

disappears, and the circulation lists begin to shrink.  During

the war, almost all German singing societies and lodges

suspended their activities, or else turned to the use of Eng-

lish songs and English rituals. German theatres were closed,

German music was ruled from our concert programs in a

140 See Cincinnati Volksblatt, August 28, September 8, September 11;

Gross Daytoner Zeitung, September 9, September 12; Wachter und An-

zeiger, September 13, 1919.

141 Toledo Express, September 18, 1919.

142November 14, 1919.

143 Cincinnati Volksblatt, November 24, 1919.

144 Wachter und Anzeiger, November 20, 1919.

• 26
 

Ohio's German-Language Press, Etc.           75

 

moment of hysteria, and there was for a time much evidence

to show that the German newspapers in Ohio were doomed

also. Dozens suspended publication, never to resume. How

long those that still appear can live, can not be forecast

with any degree of certainty.    Now  that the war is over,

their advertising is growing rapidly again, and perhaps their

circulation lists also, so that they may survive for a number of

years. At any rate, it is good strategy for the present day editor

of a German daily to devote much space and effort to the attempt

to recover some of the influence lost during the war, to strive to

raise the average American's regard for his neighbor of German

blood, and in every possible way, to try to dispel the hatred for

all things German which the war brought with it. One method

to follow, in carrying out this program, is to disprove the atrocity

tales about the German armies. Another is to cite examples of

the virtues of the German character and the failings of our

Allies. Still another is to urge all of German blood to revive

their organizations, by which they have preserved, in an English-

speaking community, their language, their theatre and their

music, and also, of course, their newspapers. The efforts of

the German-language papers in this direction are fully as inter-

esting, and perhaps as important, as their reaction to the war

and the peace.

The campaign for a regenerated, and more respected Ger-

man element in the United States was begun with a vigorous

effort in support of the Victory Loan in the spring of 191₉. The

German papers were full of large advertisements and long

appeals to those of German blood to buy bonds.¹⁴⁵ Then came

a series of articles to demonstrate how stories of German atroc-

ities originated, and to prove that many of them are gross

exaggerations.¹⁴⁶ An article in the Gross Daytoner Zeitung main-

tains that the stories of the ruthless destruction of the Rheims

 

145 See Toledo Express, April 3; Cincinnati Freie Presse, April 4, May

9; Cincinnati Volksblatt, April 14, April 23; Henry County Demokrat,

April 9; Akron Germania, April 14; Wachter und Anzeiger, April 16, 1919.

146 See Wachter und Anzeiger, April 8, April 9, May 31, November

10, 1919; Cincinnati Abend Presse, May 29, 1919; Gross Daytoner Zeitung,

October 31, 1919

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76        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

Cathedral, so assiduously spread in this country, are without

foundation, and that its beauties can very easily be restored.¹⁴⁷

The Cincinnati Freie Presse asserts that many of the stories cir-

culated about the Germans and German-Americans were the

basest lies and propaganda,l⁴⁸ and the Akron Germania, to divert

public attention a bit, points out that seven hundred Turkish

women and children have been killed by Greek soldiers.¹⁴⁹ The

Wachter und Anzeiger makes a great deal of a report by Pro-

fessor G. M. Priest of Princeton, to whom all mail for Europe

was sent for examination. The report reveals that of 335,884

letters from America to the Central Powers, only 502 could be

classed as treasonable or in any way "suspicious". This showing

the editor regards as remarkable when one remembers the great

number of unnaturalized Germans living in the United States,

and he concludes that the report must silence forever all talk of

an organized "German propaganda" in this country.l⁵⁰     Many

editors have a special grievance against the moving picture the-

atres because they still continue to show films dealing with the

barbarous deeds of the "Hun", and thus keep the public in-

flamed.¹⁵1 The Toledo Express tries to prove that the German

naval program had been for coast protection only and that the

German Admiralty never contemplated an aggressive war against

any sea power,¹⁵² while still another paper, citing Field Marshal

Lord French's book, "1914", argues that England had a secret

agreement with France in regard to the landing of British troops

in Europe, several years before the war actually broke out.¹⁵³

One of the most effective methods of the German editor to

disabuse the minds of his readers of the war-time views of

German character, is to publish long descriptive letters from

 

147 Gross Daytoner Zeitung, October 31, 1919.

148 August 20, 1919.

149 Akron Germania, November 21, 1919.

150 Wachter und Anzeiger, November 28, 1919.

151 Toledo Express, October 9, 1919.

152 Toledo Express, December 5, 1919.

153 Wachter und Anzeiger, September 16, 1919. The same paper again

publishes long cables from Germany, sent by Karl H. von Wiegand; and

the Cincinnati Freie Presse, July 23, 1919, indulges, with rather doubtful

wisdom, in a glorification of von Hindenburg.

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Ohio's German-Language Press, Etc.             77

 

American soldiers who are with the army of occupation in Ger-

many. These letters frequently comment upon the cleanliness

of the Germans (in contrast with the French), the motherliness

of the good German Hausfrau, and the kindness and cordiality

of the former German soldiers toward their American conquer-

ors.¹⁵⁴ The Cincinnati Abend Presse, contains an account of the

celebration of Christmas by Germans and Americans in Ger-

many, and on another occasion discusses the cordial relations

which have sprung up between the American doughboy and the

German girls along the Rhine.¹⁵⁵   Frequently one finds quota-

tions from the press of Germany, praising the conduct of the

American Army of Occupation, and also many references to the

stories of captured American soldiers who have been kindly

treated by their German captors.¹⁵⁶

Every American of German blood or extraction is urged to

continue the fight for the preservation of the German language

in America,¹⁵⁷ for its cultural value and for sentimental reasons,

if for no others.¹⁵⁸ George Creel and Hans Rieg, chief of the

Foreign Language Division of the Treasury Department, are

quoted frequently to prove the loyalty of our "foreign popula-

tion" during the war, and of course also the loyalty of the Ger-

man-language press.¹⁵⁹ The "war after the war" on all German

artists, German music and the German theatre is regarded as most

childish, and almost every report of the presentation of a Wagner

Opera or a Beethoven Symphony here or in an allied country

is made the occasion for a special plea to preserve the music

 

154See for example, letters in Cincinnati Abend Presse, December 16

and December 31, 1918; Defiance Herold, January 16, 30, February 13,

1919; Gross Daytoner Zeitung, January 2, 1919; Sandusky Demokrat,

January 3 and March 28, 1919; Wachter und Anzeiger, February 7, March

13, September 17, 1919.

155 Cincinnati Abend Presse, December 30, 1918; October 20, 1919.

156 Ibid., October 17, 1919; also Cincinnati Freie Presse, February 5,

September 1, 1919.

157 Sandusky Demokrat, December 6, 1918.

158 See Wachter und Anzeiger, February 20, 1919.

159 See Cincinnati Freie Presse, November 5, 1919; Wachter und An-

zeiger, March 11 and 12, 1919.

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78        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

of the Masters.¹⁶⁰ German singing societies are advised to be-

come active again and there is evidence to show that they are

being slowly revived. In Cincinnati a movement is under way to

bring back the German theatre, and the old Cincinnati Turn-

gemeinde is making pretentious plans for the future.¹⁶1 Even

"German-fried potatoes" and "Bismarck Herring" are finding

their way back to their time-honored places on the menu cards.

The clever paragrapher of the Cincinnati Freie Presse observes

-"The coming peace casts its shadow farther and farther before

it. Liberty cabbage is again known as Sauerkraut, and tastes as

fine as ever."¹⁶²

The observer who two or three years ago predicted the

speedy extinction of Ohio's German-language newspapers now

finds it necessary to revise his judgment. The papers that have

weathered the storm may survive for years. Their advertising

is on the increase. Our citizens of German extraction seem to

be rallying once more to the support of their clubs and singing

societies, and are finding solace and rest from the criticism of

the world outside within the peaceful confines of the lodge

room. As long as these organizations exist, the German-language

press will have a clientele. At the present time, there is a lively

campaign in progress in almost every city that has an appreciable

German element for the relief of the suffering and famine-

stricken kinsmen in the old Fatherland, and the appeal is not

falling upon deaf ears. The response is whole-hearted and the

movement seems to be well organized.¹⁶³ The war hysteria is

passing rapidly; the public is weary of war talk. Before long

the war, and the bitter passions and agitations it aroused, will

be crowded from the public mind by new events. Organized

hostility to German music, German literature and the German

160 See Gross Daytoner Zeitung, March 13; Wachter und Anzeiger,

October 1, November 18; Cincinnati Abend Presse, January 22, May 3;

Cincinnati Freie Presse, January 21, 1919

161 See Cincinnati Freie Presse, July 21, August 16; Cincinnati Volks-

blatt, November 27, 1919; Gross Daytoner Zeitung, December 17, 1918.

162 Cincinnati Freie Presse, January 7, 1919.

163 See Akron Germania, October 13, 27; November 24; Wachter und

Anzeiger, August 1, 3, 6; Cincinnati Volksblatt, September 6; Toledo Ex-

press, August 14, 1919.

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Ohio's German-Language Press, Etc.          79 press will probably die down more rapidly than many of us an- ticipate. It is possible that the German-language press in Ohio may live for several decades, at least until most of the present generation of our German element, born in Germany, will have disappeared from our population.

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