- Good morning, I am the state archivist.
and I am with the Wisconsin Historical Society,
one of the organizers of this symposium.
The historical society is very proud to be a cosponsor.
It's my job today to welcome you to this session
but I'm particularly pleased
because I've known each of the three presenters
for many years.
I first want to start
by thanking Wisconsin Public Television
for recording each of the three
Wisconsin-focused sessions today.
They will be rebroadcast at a later date.
I know Wisconsin residents all agree
that public broadcasting in both Madison and Milwaukee
does a superb job sharing state and local history.
The impact of the first world war
in Wisconsin of course was profound
and I know that each of the presenters
will clearly tease out those complexities.
And I'll be introducing each of the speakers
in the order of their presentation
and then I'll get out of the way.
First up is Rick Pifer, my friend and former colleague
at the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Dr. Pifer has studied the Wisconsin home front
during World War I and World War II for over 40 years.
In retirement, he has returned to writing history.
His recently released book,
"The Great War Comes to Wisconsin,"
discusses the many ways Wisconsin residents
met the demands of the war.
In his comments today,
he explores the meaning and the manifestations
of patriotism.
Second will be Kevin Abing.
Dr. Abing is the senior archivist
at the Milwaukee County Historical Society.
His remarks focus on the home front
in the state's largest city.
Kevin earned his MA and PhD in history
from Marquette University
and his interest in Milwaukee during World War I
stemmed from his early work
processing the papers of socialist mayor Dan Hoan.
He became intrigued by the extent and the ferocity
of the anti-German and anti-Socialist hysteria
during the war
and that interest snowballed into his new book,
"A Crowded Hour, Milwaukee During the Great War,"
published this past May.
Leslie Bellais will close this session.
Ms. Bellais is the curator of social history
at the Wisconsin Historical Society,
responsibilities which include curation
of the society's important textiles collections.
Previously, her work
at the College of William and Mary's unique graduate program
included numerous museum management apprenticeships
at colonial Williamsburg.
While continuing to work
at the Wisconsin Historical Society
Leslie has returned to graduate school
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
She completed her thesis "Bringing Up the Rear,
"A History of Late 19th Century Bustles"
and is currently working on her dissertation "Trader State,
"A Crisis of Loyalty in World War I Wisconsin."
Rick.
- Thank you, Matt.
I've titled my paper today
"Patriotism in the Traitor State."
In response to the Russian Revolution of 1905,
Mark Twain wrote The Czar's Soliloquy
which contains my favorite definition of patriotism.
Twain wrote,
"Remember this, take it to heart,
"live by it, die for it if necessary.
"Our patriotism is medieval, outworn, obsolete.
"The modern patriotism, the true patriotism,
"the only rational patriotism,
"is loyalty to the Nation all of the time,
"loyalty to the Government when it deserves it."
Wisconsin was the traitor state
or so it seemed to many observers in 1917.
And look at the record.
The people of Monroe, Wisconsin
voted overwhelmingly against going to war.
Wisconsin's prominent Socialist Party
ejected participation in any way the capitalist conflict.
Nine of Wisconsin's 11 representatives
voted against the war.
Senator Robert M. La Follette lead a filibuster
to prevent arming American merchant ships.
He was one of six Senators to vote against the war.
He lead opposition to conscription,
the sale of bonds to finance the war
and repression of free speech.
Everywhere they looked, the Wisconsin Loyalty Legion
believed they could see ample evidence
of disloyalty, sedition and unpatriotic behavior.
On March 21, 1918, the Wisconsin Loyalty Legion
graphically portrayed the state's traitorous reputation
in the "Sedition Map," published in the New York Sun.
The map showed seditious areas of the state,
places where Socialists and La Follette progressives
had polled well in the Senate primary in the spring of 1918.
In that primary, especially in German areas,
the progressives and the socialists did well.
Not surprisingly,
the legion identified the areas that had voted that way
as pro-German and seditious.
Visiting pundits from out of state
repeatedly joined Wisconsin super-patriots
to question the state's loyalty.
All too often, instead of critiquing reality,
critics saw what they wanted to see.
Wisconsin, the traitor state,
was a mirage of their own imaginations.
In response, Governor Emanuel Philipp
routinely told audiences,
"There is nothing wrong with Wisconsin."
He would then launch into a litany
of Wisconsin wartime success stories,
stories that demonstrated the patriotic nature
of the state.
Patriotism fueled self-sacrifice
in the name of God and country,
it motivated young men on the battle field
and civilians who volunteered for the Red Cross or YMCA.
It motivated those who bought war bonds
to help finance the war.
But in the wrong hands it also motivated attacks
on those who were culturally different
or who disagreed as La Follette did with government policy.
In many cities and towns, patriotic rallies and parades
fulfilled a basic need
for community expression of loyalty and unity,
and a public affirmation of faith in the nation,
but we need to keep in mind
that most expressions of patriotism
went unheralded by public notice
because they were small personal actions.
The emphasis on loyalty, duty, and patriotism
permeated wartime life.
Flags flew on street corners, in window displays,
and on newspaper mastheads.
The war was the topic of discussion everywhere.
In the days immediately following the declaration of war,
Wisconsinites quickly fell into line
supporting the war effort.
Congressman John Esch from La Crosse
had voted against the war.
The next day he told a constituent,
"Now that we are at war,
"it becomes the duty of every citizen
"to loyally support the government."
Bob La Follette took the same position.
The draft provided one of the earliest opportunities
for Wisconsin to show its true colors.
Fearing draft riots in Wisconsin
because of the German population,
Army officials offered to send federal troops
to maintain order on draft registration day,
which was set for June 5, 1917.
Governor Philipp replied to the federal offer
with a polite, "No, thank you."
He had full faith in the people of Wisconsin.
Without fuss or fanfare,
218,700 young men registered for the draft in Wisconsin,
106% of the number estimated as eligible.
On the home front,
activities such as food conservation
provided one of the most universal ways
in which civilians displayed their patriotism
and support for the war effort.
Herbert Hoover enlisted millions of American housewives
to create food surpluses for Europe through conservation.
For most housewives and families conserving food,
eating wheatless or meatless meals, felt good.
These daily sacrifices gave meaning to the term patriotism.
High participation resulted from patriotic fervor
but also from social pressure.
The two really went hand in hand.
For example, on the last day of a drive
to encourage women to sign the Hoover pledge,
an intimidating "automobile parade" drove through Madison.
The caravan stopped at every house
not sporting a Food Pledge Card in the window.
A woman from the parade would get out of the car,
go up to the house and precede to convince the housewife
that she needed to sign the pledge.
And as one would expect, most complied.
Wisconsin farmers responded to the call for more food
by bringing approximately 94,000 additional acres
under cultivation during the war.
By 1918, production of corn, potatoes, oats, and barley,
all substitutes for wheat which was going to Europe,
they increased production by 10 to 15 percent
over prewar output.
As agricultural workers entered the military
or took industrial jobs in cities,
rural communities showed their patriotism
by providing stopgap solutions
for the shortage in farm labor.
In Ashland County, for example,
the schools closed for a week in the fall of 1917
to help bring in the harvest.
At home, war gardens brought squash,
carrots, turnips, spinach,
and a panoply of other produce to the family table,
easing some of the strains on commercial agriculture.
Perhaps the most important aspect of war gardens, however,
was not what they produced,
but the sense of participation in the war effort
that gardeners felt when they grew their own food.
In a society so totally committed to the war effort,
gardens gave the young and the old a sense of belonging,
of participating,
of doing something on their own to win the war.
The purchase of war bonds offered another opportunity
to express community and personal patriotism.
The Liberty Loan drives to sell war bonds
were intense affairs that once again drew on patriotism
and social pressure to encourage bond purchases.
By the third liberty loan drive which was in the Spring of 1918
an army of volunteers canvassed the state,
armed with information about each person or family
and their ability to buy bonds.
Let me say that again.
An army of volunteers canvassed the state
armed with information about each person or family
and their ability to buy bonds.
If a subscriber refused to buy the proper amount,
the volunteer would reply regrettably
that the slacker's unpatriotic behavior
would have to be referred
to the county Counsel of Defense for action.
This was patriotic fervor's dark side.
The language of public discourse
created a clear dichotomy
between the righteous people of the United States
and the bestial Hun, between us and them.
As Congress assembled for Wilson's war message
in the Spring of 1917,
an article in the Wisconsin State Journal
helped create the emotional foundation for going to war.
It quoted two legislators from the south.
Senator Furnifold Simmons of North Carolina
stated in the paper,
"The interests of America demand that tyranny be beaten."
Texas Representative Joe Eagle
made the struggle more basic and visceral,
"The Kaiser is a cave man with murder in his heart.
"He is bent on the unwavering course of brute force and pillage.
"He must be put down or the democracies of the world
"are doomed."
What else do you put down but a dog?
The language of peace, neutrality, and forbearance
had given way to the language of war, bellicose, dehumanizing,
and designed to create a noble enterprise
worthy of the sacrifice of thousands of lives.
The language of the congressmen,
tyranny, cave man, put down, doomed,
made it clear the nation faced a subhuman rival
determined to subjugate its enemies
under a brutal and tyrannical regime.
According to the State Journal,
a war in defense of "humanity and democracy"
was the only choice.
Nothing less than the future of the nation was at stake.
A flippant comment could bring social retribution instantly.
A Brown County farmer stopped in a local saloon
for some refreshment.
According to the bartender, the farmer stood at the bar
"decrying the strength of the American Navy and Army,
"and sneering at the fighting ability of the soldiers."
The barkeep found the remarks intolerable,
perhaps in part because the farmer was an alien.
As he told the municipal court officials the next day,
"I reached over, I grabbed him, I hit him.
"I hit him again and threw him out of my bar.
The story came to light
because the saloon keeper had gone to the municipal court
to find out if a warrant had been sworn for his own arrest.
Having admitted to assaulting the farmer,
the barman walked away from the courthouse a free man.
The farmer was unlikely to be as lucky.
Municipal court officials were going to report the matter
to Federal authorities.
During the war, 90 people in Wisconsin
were indicted under the Espionage Act
for praising Germany, criticizing the United States,
or calling the conflict a rich man's war.
Additional indictments were handed down to others
for criticizing Liberty Bonds, the Allies,
charities such as the Red Cross,
or food laws, obstructing military recruiting,
insulting the flag or uniform,
or praising the sinking of a ship.
The culture of war eventually had an impact
on children as well.
Across Wisconsin the study of anything German,
especially language,
became suspect as a vehicle
for insinuating "German Kulture" into American life.
In Milwaukee the number of German teachers
dropped from two hundred to just one.
All over the state English was the language of patriots.
Into this hostile environment
came young Bobby Bizzell of Kaukauna.
One day he was playing with friends
when two workmen walked by,
speaking to each other in German.
Bobby picked up a large club
and struck one of the men a hard blow.
When taken into the house for punishment,
his little sister, as little sisters will do, chided him,
"Bobby, you shouldn't have hit that man.
"How do you know but that he was Jesus in working clothes?"
To which Bobby replied,
"Jesus, do you think he'd be talking German?"
Governor Emanuel Philipp
believed in the loyalty and patriotism of the entire state
regardless of ethnicity.
He had little patience for the vigilante justice
or for super patriots
determined to find traitorous behavior in their communities.
In his most strident denunciation of super patriots,
Governor Philipp told an audience
that the willingness to charge others with disloyalty
"is a type of impudence that is indulged in
"by a class of self-asserted patriots
"who are the greatest menace to the country today,
"because they discourage what the country needs
"above all things during a crisis,
"and that is the hearty cooperation of all the people
"in support of the war."
Most Americans drew great satisfaction
from volunteer work, food and fuel conservation,
bond and fund-raising drives,
and farm and factory production.
The true mark of patriotism on the home front
was not the great heroic act
or the super patriot worried
about imaginary traitors in Wisconsin.
It was the small sacrifices made every day
by average people to win the war.
Thank you very much.
(audience applause)
- Right, well, thank you everyone for attending,
appreciate that.
I've titled my talk "Milwaukee Goes to War."
And, World War I brought out the best in some people
but also the worst in others.
My book delves into these extremes
and everything in between
from the local perspective of Wisconsin's largest city.
The war's anti-German hysteria
certainly was not exclusive to Milwaukee,
but as one of the country's most Teutonic cities,
it certainly suffered from the cloud of suspicion
that patriots cast over it.
The presence of a strong Socialist Party
which, in general, opposed all wars
as capitalistic conquests to dominate world markets
heightened Milwaukee's taint of treason
and added a sense of urgency to patriots' efforts
to redeem the city's reputation.
Milwaukee was governed by a Socialist mayor, Dan Hoan,
and was also home of one of the party's guiding forces,
Victor Berger, a native of Austria-Hungary
and the first Socialist elected to the U.S. Congress.
Despite this double curse,
Milwaukeeans answered every call to support the war.
They easily fulfilled the city's draft quotas
and they oversubscribed its allotments
in all four Liberty Bond drives by millions of dollars.
Milwaukee factories churned out every conceivable product
for the military with only minor labor disturbances.
Women demonstrated their loyalty
by moving into factory jobs,
thus avoiding a potentially severe labor shortage,
and ordinary citizens planted victory gardens,
they did Red Cross work and abided by government meatless,
wheatless, lightless and gasolineless restrictions.
Nevertheless, these accomplishments
did not quiet the pro-war clamoring in Milwaukee.
President Woodrow Wilson's administration
fueled the drive for 100% Americanism
through a barrage of movies, posters, pamphlets
and speeches by Four Minute Men.
Every American was encouraged to do their part
to defeat Germany, whose soldiers were demonized
as raping, child-butchering, cannibalistic apes.
Wilson's message found a receptive home
among many city residents,
and the bluster of its most rabid patriotic citizens
was alarming.
The Socialist newspaper, the Milwaukee Leader,
reported that John Stover,
a member of the American Protective League
and Wisconsin Loyalty Legion,
told a crowd he feared some traitor
would cause him to take his revolver
and "kill him like a dog."
And former Socialist Algie Simons argued that,
though he desired peace and freedom of speech,
he was willing "for the time to fight under military orders
"and to gag all those who would destroy free speech forever.
"We are at war.
"War means killing.
"We are as much justified
"in killing those who stab our soldiers in the back
"as those who spray liquid fire upon their faces."
Clearly, zealous patriots did not allow
for any gray areas in their thinking.
Any dissent was fused
into an all-encompassing anti-American bogeyman
that had to be stamped out, no matter what the cost.
And it's that misguided and misspent time and energy
to prove the city's loyalty that I'd like to examine today.
This time undoubtedly was a bitter pill to swallow
for Milwaukee's German-Americans.
For years, they had been praised
for being industrious civic and business leaders.
German theater, music and intellectual endeavors
were at the pinnacle of the city's cultural landscape.
But the war turned everything upside down.
Patriots viewed these beloved traditions
as treacherous plots to Prussianize America.
By 1917, most German-Americans in Milwaukee
were 2nd or 3rd-generation Americans
and certainly loyal to the U.S.,
but even those who were natives of Germany
recognized their obligation to their adopted homeland.
Frederick von Cotzhausen, for example,
came to Milwaukee after the 1848 revolutions in Germany.
And in July 1918, he celebrated his 80th birthday
and looking back, he was satisfied that he had returned
a full equivalent for the opportunities
and advantages the U.S. provided.
He acknowledged it was difficult
to suppress sympathy for his homeland,
but that in no way detracted from his allegiance to the U.S.
"I do not need to drop the hyphen, he wrote,
"as I dropped it many years ago."
"He was not ready
"to accord to any one of my fellow citizens,
"whoever he may be, a higher standard of patriotism
"and Americanism than I claim for myself."
But the war's unsettled circumstances
certainly distressed many German-Americans.
The prospect of seeing his sons fighting in a war
weighed heavily upon Julius Gugler,
a founder of a successful lithographic company.
He confided to a friend that since the U.S. declared war,
he had "been praying for an altered state of mind.
"One that would permit me
"to become enthusiastic concerning the issues
"involved in this strife,
"a state of mind that would kindle in me
"the spirit of sacrifice for a great object."
But it was all in vain
because he failed "to feel the driving power in my heart
"that I experienced on other occasions during my long life."
It was best, he thought, to avoid discussing the war at all.
But maintaining an uneasy silence
placed Gugler and fellow German-Americans
in a no-win situation.
If they did not enthusiastically support the war,
they were deemed unpatriotic.
But if they embraced the Allied cause,
they were suspected of being hypocrites.
That conundrum as well
as the tensions between Germans and other ethnic groups
was expressed by Michael Kruszka,
editor of the Polish newspaper Kuryer Polski.
Shortly after the U.S. declared war,
Kruszka informed the U.S. Attorney General
that he had many German friends
who were "so honest and so trustworthy
"that I would without hesitation trust them
"with everything I have."
But at that particular time, he added,
"I would not trust them
"with the guarding of a five "foot American bridge.
"Though they may swear loyalty to the U.S.,
"the slightest discussion of war with Germany
"changes them into the most fanatic Germano-maniacs
"and Americanophobes,
"and then some of them are ready to kill every American
"and every anti-German on sight,
"even if they should die for it on the spot."
Given this mentality,
it's not surprising that war's first casualty
was toleration for anything German,
and Milwaukee Germans were unprepared
for the firestorm that scorched the community.
German enemy aliens,
defined as anyone over 14
who was not a naturalized citizen,
could not live, work
or even pass through restricted industrial zones
unless they carried a pass
authorized by the U.S. Marshal
after they had been photographed and fingerprinted.
German theater was essentially shuttered.
German music was torn out of school books,
and teaching of the German language
was eliminated from elementary schools.
A patriotic organization
even tried to rewrite the city's history.
In 1918, the Wisconsin Loyalty Legion
tried to stop a local publishing company
from circulating a Milwaukee guide book
that praised the Germanic influence
on the city's development.
"Milwaukee is not the German Athens of America,
"and we do not wish it to be advertised as such,"
was the Legion's decision.
The toxic environment motivated many Milwaukee Germans
to deny their ancestry.
Within four months of the declaration of war,
250 people shed their German-sounding names,
and that trend continued throughout the war.
In June 1918, Edward Lutzenberger
changed his name to Edward Lutze
because his friends ridiculed him
for having a name with berger in it.
And Judge John J. Gregory
granted Emma Carson a divorce
as long as she changed her maiden name, Emma Kaiser.
This trend did not sit well with some German-Americans.
Anita Nunnemacher Weschler was angered
when she learned her neighbors had changed their name
from Schwartzburg to Harrison.
To Anita, this was an insult
to everyone bearing a German name.
As though one had to change their name to be patriotic.
"I feel I am as loyal to my country as anyone else
"and I am doing as much as I can to help
"but I can't see the use of changing one's name."
German-Americans weren't the only ones to suffer.
Socialists were inviting targets.
Patriots decorated Victor and Meta Berger's lawn
nearly every morning with garbage and broken milk bottles.
Mayor Hoan received enough violent threats
that he carried a gun wherever he went.
The party's right to peaceful assembly
was flouted as government agents
and police broke up several Socialist rallies,
and during the spring 1918 mayoral campaign,
Wheeler Bloodgood, a leader of the patriotic camp,
threatened to defy the will of the people
if Hoan were reelected.
He vowed to prevent Hoan from taking office,
calling upon the federal government to indict the mayor
for violating the Espionage Act
and declare Milwaukee a military zone
under the control of military courts
to eliminate all treasonable talk and printed material.
Fortunately, Bloodgood's demands went unfulfilled.
Milwaukee's labor movement was also subjected to harassment.
Factory owners labeled any worker agitation
for increased pay or improved conditions
as pro-German plots to disrupt production
and government agents
were quick to silence any troublemakers.
In July 1918, a manager of the Wisconsin Gun Company
met with John Stover about some labor troubles
he suspected was caused by disloyal influences.
Stover interviewed four suspected ring leaders
and all four asserted that Stover badgered them
and accused them of trying to incite a strike.
Moreover, they claimed that Stover threatened
to change their draft classifications
and send them to the military,
give them 30 years in prison,
or, one said, "To back you up against the wall."
On a more personal level,
war-time tensions shattered families and friendships.
Jeanette Fillman, for example, divorced her husband
because he lived in the "twilight zone of patriotism"
and wouldn't allow her to participate
in any patriotic demonstrations
or display an American flag in the window.
Erich Stern was a well-respected lawyer,
a member of the Progressive wing of the Republican Party
and a member of the celebrated Wisconsin legislature
that passed the nation's first workers' compensation laws
as well as measures that reined in child labor.
But he also was a pacifist
a stand that cost him professionally and personally.
In January 1918,
students at Marquette University's Law School
circulated a petition
trying to have Stern removed as a faculty member
because of his anti-war position,
but Stern's forceful defense of his First Amendment rights
saved his job.
Even more dismaying was the loss of his friendship
with Arthur Van Dyke and his mother.
"With all our beautiful common memories
"as recent as last summer," he lamented,
"how can they judge so harshly,
"condemn without giving me a hearing of any kind."
Not even religious convictions
shielded people from overly zealous patriots.
During the fall 1918 Liberty Bond drive,
flying squadrons or trains of automobiles
carrying anywhere from 35 to 100 people
visited Milwaukee County farmers deemed "slackers"
because they had not purchased
their designated share of Liberty Bonds.
On one occasion,
a squadron stopped at the farm of William Eschrich.
The squad leader asked Eschrich
if he would invest $200 as his fair share,
but he refused because,
as a member of the Russellite religious sect,
he would not in good conscience as a Christian
contribute to any purpose that violated God's commandment,
"Thou shalt not kill."
The squad leader remarked men had been imprisoned
for less than what Eschrich had said
and claimed that anyone who did not buy bonds
was "no better than a worm of the earth."
Others in the crowd called Eschrich a "dirty dog,"
and someone yelled that he should be hung.
Despite the pressure,
Eschrich refused to compromise his religious principles.
As a result, he suffered the indignity
of having a yellow placard posted on his home that read,
"The occupant of these premises
"has refused to buy his fair share of liberty bonds.
"Do not remove this notice."
Even after the war ended, this rage was not easily let go.
In February 1919, the acting company at the Pabst Theater
decided to stage plays in German
to raise funds for destitute actors and actresses.
The theater manager thought, with the war over,
resuming plays in German would not cause any problems.
But he was sorely mistaken.
At a public meeting James Stover, father of John Stover,
wondered why a benefit performance was necessary.
Couldn't these people, he asked,
have worked in Milwaukee shops and factories?
Instead, he added, they
"loll around here and drink their beer
"and talk their language and help to carry on
"propaganda of Germanism here in Milwaukee
"and then ask us to give a benefit for them
"in their own language, that they may have some money
"with which to live a little longer."
Every shot fired at his sons in France, Stover charged,
was ordered in the German language.
His blood boiled "at the idea that this miserable language
"in this country should be assisted."
Not surprisingly, the benefit was postponed.
The continuation of the war's feverish repression
helped spawn a profound disillusionment
among many Americans.
Victor Berger summed up that mood in a fall 1919 speech.
"I'll tell what you got out of this war," he said.
"You lost your liberties.
"About 700,000 spies were watching you.
"Men were arrested for saying things to their neighbors.
"Well you got prohibition and flu,
"all you got out of this war, prohibition and flu."
He oversimplifies things a bit, but the post-war failure
of President Wilson's peace efforts,
widespread race riots and labor unrest,
the frightening specter of Bolshevism,
the onset of Prohibition,
and foundering of Progressive ideals
all contributed to a sense that the war,
a crusade to make the world safe for democracy
fell far short of that goal.
Thank you very much.
(audience applause)
- My presentation today
is based on research from my dissertation
which is called "Traitor State:
"The Crisis of Loyalty in World War I Wisconsin"
and my primary focus is on those zealous patriots
that Kevin just mentioned.
My questions about them were--
Well first off there was a national perception--
How did a national perception form
that Wisconsin had a unique issue with disloyalty.
And then how did that perception
affect the Wisconsin self- described patriotic leaders
that are sometimes called super
or I tend to call them hyper-patriots?
I wanted to know who were these patriots
and what were their motivations, their fears
and obsessions?
We know that as you've heard hyper-patriots in Wisconsin
worked hard to quell disloyalty and dissent,
sometimes resorting to violence.
Incriminations.
And this is the sedition map that Rick mentioned.
And threats. And this is a piece from a West Bend newspaper
stating that names of those who failed to subscribe
to their fair share of the Fourth Liberty Bond
would be printed in the newspaper.
I've actually looked in this newspaper
and they were not.
So this is what they, how they reacted.
This is what they were reacting to.
These are quotes from newspapers from around the country
that helped create a national perception
of Wisconsin as disloyal.
So these hyper-patriots felt the need
to make an aggressive effort to clear Wisconsin's name
and subdue disloyalty in the state.
They probably-- The worst epitaph they heard was this one,
"Traitor state."
The earliest I could find traitor state mentioned
in regards to Wisconsin was this quote from July 17, 1917
in the Princeton Indiana Daily Democrat
which asked "Will Wisconsin be known when the war is over
"as the traitor state?"
My research shows that this editor was primarily responding
to the perceived disloyalty
of Wisconsin's national representatives,
not its German population, pacifists or socialists,
who came under attack internally within the state.
So the hyper-patriots made their primary goal
to remove from office those who they believed
stained Wisconsin's reputation.
So who were these hyper-patriots
who organized to defend the state
against these slurs to its reputation?
And that's been really my main focus of my research.
You can identify them by who their enemies were
who we heard about to a certain extent
but who are well recognized in this cartoon
that's titled, "How Long Would Germany Stand For It?"
So this is Uncle Sam throwing out the enemies
which include labor and union agitators,
conscientious objectors, pacifists, spies,
German sympathizers, the Irish who were anti-British,
food speculators, of course socialists
and then some strange category
called sentimental obstructionists,
who I need to do more research on.
But what I have found out
is these hyper-patriots, Wisconsin's hyper-patriots
who you heard a little bit about so far
were generally business leaders and white-collar professionals.
They were men and women used to being in power
and having their word obeyed.
They were definitely not used
to having their leadership and authority questioned.
I find that in Wisconsin, they were predominantly
of New England and New York ancestries
and that they generally felt they knew how to be American
better than any hyphenated immigrants
or their descendants, especially German Americans.
This Wisconsin Yankee population
from descendants of New England and New York
appeared to have used the war effort
to reinforce their definitions of Americanism
patriotism and loyalty.
Their number one target during this time
was Robert M. La Follette, Wisconsin's senior senator.
Early on, he became a national symbol
of treasonous and seditious behavior,
primarily first for not supporting
the arming of merchant marine ships
in March of 1917.
This made the paper in quite an angry way.
And for voting against, a few weeks' later,
America's participation in the war.
And as you've heard, unlike other Wisconsin congressmen
who voted against entrance into the war
but later supported the war effort once war was declared,
La Follette continued to speak out against the war
and all of its supposed concerns for the war's duration.
Anger against La Follette came to a head
in September of 1917
when he was misquoted by the Associated Press
as saying to the nonpartisan league
in a speech to them
that America had, "no grievance against Germany."
Actually he had just said the opposite
however this got published,
that he had no grievance against Germany
all over the United States.
The United States Senate immediately considered
expelling him from Congress
and state legislators here in Wisconsin urged them to do so.
Governor Philipp, a couple weeks after this came out,
publicly stated that Wisconsin's loyalty problems
primarily stemmed from Robert M. La Follette.
And then in February of 1918,
this round robin that you're seeing here on the right,
this round robin petition was sent among UW faculty
condemning his behavior.
The petition protested
"against those utterances and actions
"of senator Robert M. La Follette
"which have given aid and comfort to Germany
"and her allies in the present war.
"We deplore his failure loyally
"to support the government in the persecution of this war."
400 of the 404 faculty at UW- Madison signed this petition.
Strangely, in the end--
strangely from a hyperpatriotism point of view--
he remained in office
because the senate realized he had been misquoted
and eventually he was vindicated
in this round robin which had originally
one of his friends had wanted to burn
on the grounds of the state capital,
was preserved as Robert La Follette asked it
to go to the historical society to be preserved
for future generations
to see what had happened during this tense time.
Their second major target which you've also heard about
and here's pictures of them now, are the Milwaukee Socialists.
Milwaukee had the largest
and most vocal group of socialists in Wisconsin,
perhaps in the United States,
and Victor Berger, who you've heard about
who is on the right here
was probably the most harassed of them.
In September of 1918, the postmaster general
denied his newspaper which was the Milwaukee Leader,
a socialist newspaper, second class mailing privileges
and this meant that most of their papers
which were sold by subscription through the mail
could not get out to their subscribers.
He also finally in February of 1918
suffered probably the worst,
the worst of these harassments
when he was indicted by the U.S. government
for treason and sedition.
He was later convicted
and was told he would be serving three years in Leavenworth.
But more about him later.
You've also heard about Daniel Hoan,
the mayor of Milwaukee, another socialist,
and you can see maybe why
the hyper-patriots would have a problem with him
with this quote that I have up here that says,
"The American people did not want
"and do not want this war.
"They were plunged into this abyss
"by the treachery of the ruling class of the country."
So interestingly,
and you've heard about Wheeler Bloodgood
so I won't go too much more into that anymore
that Wheeler Bloodgood asked the federal government
to impose martial law if Hoan won the election
in April of 1918.
As you heard, Hoan did win and there was no martial law.
So in the end, the socialists remained in power in Milwaukee
for several more decades,
meaning that these hyper-patriots
in Milwaukee and in Wisconsin
did not successfully get rid of this group.
The third group,
which you've also heard about, are German Americans.
German Americans posed a problem to their Yankee neighbors
because in many ways they considered themselves
at least equals, if not better, than these neighbors,
especially as you've heard, in arts and education.
And World War I gave the hyper-patriots
a chance to change this dynamic.
So you see war propaganda
like keep back the Huns with Liberty Loans
from the federal government.
This is from the committee on public information,
that left many nervous about German spies and traitors.
And as we've noted before, Germans were often portrayed
as monsters or subhuman creatures
like this Hun in this picture.
hyper-patriots attacks against German-Americans
seemed to primarily be about suppressing German-American pride,
and as you've heard, eliminating the German language
from schools, churches and other institutions.
And in this picture on the right,
It says, "here lies the remains "of German in BHS,"
which is Baraboo High School.
We're now beginning to think that this picture
which was taken the day after high school graduation,
the burning occurred the day of the high school graduation,
may have been a high school prank against a German teacher
and not directly related to the war.
However, its timing is awfully suspicious
and we do know that other communities
like Shell Lake, Spooner and Westby, Wisconsin
also burned books and images of the Kaiser
in public bonfires.
So in the end, as you've also kind of heard,
from the previous speakers,
the hyper-patriots were fairly successful
in destroying German culture in Wisconsin.
So let's look at a couple of these hyper-patriots.
I'm gonna start with Wheeler Bloodgood
who you've heard about already.
He was a lawyer in Milwaukee
and he was from Dutch New York background.
So he fit into this definition
of what a hyper-patriot should be.
He was the founder in March of 1917
of the Wisconsin Defense League
who's stated purpose was among other things
to ultimately destroy the idea prevalent throughout the country
that Wisconsin was a hotbed of sedition and disloyalty.
When they realized that their name of the Defense League
was too similar to the Counsel of Defense, the state organization,
Wheeler Bloodgood and his fellow members
changed the name to the Wisconsin Loyalty Legion
in September of 1917.
Their pledge was to unite the people of Wisconsin
in loyal, active and efficient support of the government
and to bring traitors to punishment,
hold up slackers to public contempt
and oppose disloyalty and ascension
wherever it may appear and however disguised.
After his sons left for France in early 1918,
Bloodgood seems to have become more agitated
about Wisconsin and Milwaukee's especially perceived disloyalty.
And you can see that in the quote that I have here that,
"While my sons and yours are facing bullets,
"the noble Berger," that's Victor Berger,
"with a satanic smile on his Bolsheviki countenance
"listens to patriotic addresses
"and La Follette sulks in the senate,
"forgetting country in his blind demand
"for unlimited speech and abuse."
Another hyper-patriot who was fairly well known back then
was the junior senator from Wisconsin, Paul O. Husting.
Senator Husting was definitely
part of the preparedness movement before the war
and was definitely pro America's entrance into the war.
And you can see that from his quote from April 4, 1917
from a speech War with Germany
that he gave to the U.S. Senate on that day.
And I think you can read it,
"It is disgraceful and disastrous submission on one hand
"or the use of armed force on the other.
"To me, this presents but one possible choice."
This also speaks to his, I believe--
Well he basically said this:
he was very much an anti-pacifist.
He spoke out against what he called
"peace at any price advocates."
Especially those who disagreed
with Wilson's move to armed merchant ships,
as you heard in March of '17.
Husting and his supporters argued
that those who question the president's action
not only weakened Wilson's ability
to preserve an honorable peace
but practice a perverted patriotism.
It's interesting to note that pacifists were
frequently women and that Hustings often spoke,
as I think he does in this quote,
of the war in pro masculine terms.
Unfortunately for Wisconsin's hyper-patriots,
Husting decided to take a vacation in October of 1917
and he went duck hunting with his brother.
And if you don't know on October 21st, 1917,
his brother accidentally shot and killed him.
If you're looking at it from a hyper-patriot's point of view,
we had a disloyal senator in Robert La Follette
and a loyal senator in Paul Husting.
So what happened is we need to replace Paul Husting.
Are we gonna replace him with a loyal candidate
or a disloyal candidate?
In the end, Governor Emmanuel Philipp
called for an election to replace him
in the Spring of 1918.
The actual election happened on April 2nd.
So as I said, this brought the disloyalty crisis
to a head, in part because
starting with the Republican primary election
we had two Republican candidates,
one Irvine Lenroot, who was considered a Stalwart Republican
or called himself a Stalwart Republican,
was considered the loyal candidate
but he was running against James Thompson,
a supporter of La Follette
and therefore by definition, a disloyal candidate.
Luckily for the hyper-patriots, Lenroot went on to win.
But now he had to face two more candidates
in the general election.
He faced Democrat Joseph E. Davies
and strangely enough Victor Berger in the Socialist Party.
Both Davies and Lenroot
were considered acceptable candidates
even though they're from different parties
by the hyper-patriots in Wisconsin.
Victor Berger was the problem.
You might remember at this point,
by this point in April,
he had already been indicted but not convicted yet
of treason and or sedition.
So here is someone who is being accused of treason
running for U.S. Senate.
This caused Wisconsin's loyalty,
because of this reached a fevered pitch in the national press.
The Colorado Springs Gazette stated that the unity of the nation
and the cause of humanity is on trial in Wisconsin.
The verdict is awaited with impressive patience.
The Chicago Daily News described Berger
as an anti-American candidate who asked folks for disloyalist
from quitters, yellow bellies, Germans, anti-nationalists,
pacifists and hollow headed ultraists.
In the end, Lenroot won
but Berger received 25% of the vote.
This caused some consternation
but in the end the national consensus,
at least among newspaper editors
that Wisconsin was 75% patriotic
and that was good enough.
Berger did go on to win a seat
in the House of Representatives in the fall of 1918
but Congress sent him home.
He had been convicted by that time of treason
and they were not gonna let him sit
in the House of Representatives.
Milwaukee reelected him once
and he was sent back, and then twice, or the third time
and he was sent back to Congress again
and finally in 1920,
after being cleared of treason charges,
he was allowed to take his seat.
I found when I'm studying the national press
that they lost interest
in Wisconsin's loyalty or disloyalty after the election.
However, as we've heard, coercive acts, especially violent ones,
continued to escalate in Wisconsin
at least until armistice day
but I hear that they went past that.
Wisconsin's hyper-patriots not only attacked
German-Americans, but also socialists, pacifists
and those who they labeled disloyal politicians.
In a way, my thinking is that all of these groups
challenged their understanding of what it meant to be American
while questioning their right to define Americanism.
I argue that the Wisconsin hyper-patriots
were threatened by socialists,
often German-Americans who disdained capitalism
and promoted communal welfare
while the hyper-patriots viewed capitalism
as the cornerstone of the American economic experience
and considered rugged individualism more American
than a concern for public wellbeing.
The pacifist challenged the view of Americans,
or the hyper-patriot's view of Americans
as tough, strong, masculine individuals
who would not step back from a fight.
And Senator Robert M. La Follette
disgusted hyper-patriots with his ego, alleged narcissism
and his unwillingness to submit to their authority.
Wisconsin's patriots worked tirelessly to put him in his place
though ultimately without success.
In the end, Wisconsin's World War I hyper-patriots
have not been remembered as true patriots
if anyone remembers them at all.
Instead, it's their enemies, Berger and La Follette,
they're the ones who have been honored
and frequently treated as the true emblems
of American ideals.
Thank you very much.
(audience applause)