National German- American Alliance

Single-largest German American ethnic or­ganization in American history, claiming 2.5 million members at its height in the years immediately preceding the outbreak of World War I.

By 1901 German Americans consti­tuted the single-largest ethnic group in the United States. Early in the twentieth cen­tury, large German communities existed in cities such as Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, New York, Milwau­kee, St. Louis, and San Francisco. German Americans in these cities, and in other cities and states, maintained traditional ethnic ties through religious, social, and political organizations. They also sup­ported the German-language press, which, at its height in the late nineteenth century, comprised over 800 weeklies and dailies across the country. By the time of the founding of the alliance this number had dropped to just slightly above 600 (Bergquist 1987, 143). Before the twenti­eth century, no national association claim­ing to represent the interests of all German Americans existed. A series of events from April 1899 through October 1901 would change this. On April 16, 1899, the Ger­man-American Central Alliance of Penn­sylvania was founded, with the express pur­pose of fostering a movement to unite the German American element within that state, as well as the long-term goal of be­coming the driving force behind a national organization for that ethnic group.

Despite its claim of representing all Americans of German descent, the socio­economic and gender makeup of the mem­bership suggested the potential for a parti­san organization representing the interests of only a certain segment of the German American community. The group was dominated by men, although later on a women’s auxiliary would be formed and in­corporated into the national group. The majority of its members were Protestant. For the most part, they were second- or third- generation German Americans. The majority were businessmen, doctors, lawyers, or academics, as well as being from other professional occupations and skilled trades. It was not an organization that nec­essarily attracted the working or agrarian classes, who found themselves drawn more to local organizations and labor unions.

From its inception in 1901 until its de­mise in April 1918, the NGAA often found itself at cross-purposes with other special interest groups, the federal govern­ment, and national opinion. Hampering the work of the NGAA throughout its ex­istence was the struggle to maintain a bal­ance between achieving the primary goal of the organization (the maintenance of Ger­man culture in America), and the group’s secondary goal of remaining an “educa­tional and patriotic society” with the inter­ests of all Americans in mind.

The period from 1901 to 1907 repre­sented the formative years for the NGAA as it grew from chapters in only 14 states to chapters in 40 states with a total member­ship of 1.5 million (Congress, House, Committee on the District of Columbia 1907). During this period—and up until the outbreak of World War I—one of the main issues confronting the NGAA was the prohibition of alcohol. The group launched its campaign to fight the passage of a Prohibition amendment at its 1903 Baltimore convention. At this meeting the NGAA ratified a series of resolutions against the passage of “blue laws.” The membership viewed any restrictions re­garding the consumption of alcohol not only as a threat to German culture in America, but also as a violation of personal liberties granted by the Constitution of the United States. The NGAA attitude regard­ing Prohibition remained consistent throughout the prewar period. Prohibition of alcohol would take away the tradition of the “Sunday beer garden,” a weekly social gathering in an outdoor or indoor setting emphasizing family and friendship that served as one of the main social outlets within German-American communities. More importantly, however, the NGAA viewed passage of such an amendment as a potential threat to other personal liberties enjoyed by Americans. Once passed, the Prohibition amendment would set a prece­dent for future curtailments of individual liberties. By bowing to the interests of this one special interest group, the government would eventually bow to the wishes of oth­ers that did not necessarily represent the viewpoint of the majority of the entire na­tion. This “patriotic” motivation to prevent Prohibition was unfortunately lost in a cloud of suspicion. Because the brewing in­dustry was controlled by German Ameri­cans, opposition forces painted the NGAA as merely nothing more than a tool of that special interest group. During the congres­sional investigation of the group in 1918, it would be revealed that the alliance received regular subsidies from the brewing and liquor industry.

During the organization’s formative years, the NGAA benefited from a feeling of goodwill held by most Americans re­garding the nation’s German population. One sign of this occurred on February 27, 1907, when the organization received a charter from the U.S. Congress incorporat­ing it as an “educational and patriotic” so­ciety. Less than two years later, on October 6, 1908, the nation, including President Theodore Roosevelt, joined with the Ger­man American community and the NGAA in celebrating the 225th anniversary of the establishment of the first German commu­nity in North America at Germantown, Pennsylvania. During this festive occasion, the German element was praised for its contributions to the growth of the nation and the survival of its institutions.

The era of good feelings reached a peak in December 1910. On December 7, due in large part to efforts by the NGAA, a statue of Baron Friederich Wilhelm von Steuben was unveiled in Washington, D.C. The significance of the event for relations between Germany and the United States, and for German Americans in general, was highlighted by the fact that a number of important officials, including President William H. Taft and the German ambassa­dor Count Johann Heinrich von Bern- storff, attended the ceremony.

From 1910 to 1914 the NGAA, be­sides engaging itself in the Prohibition de­bate, focused its attention on the preserva­tion of German culture through the teaching of the German language, the fos­tering of better relations between the United States and Germany, and to a lesser extent the question of immigration restric­tion and the fight against women’s suffrage. The rationale in opposing the latter was based on the nineteenth-century notion that involvement in politics would detract women from their traditional role of bear­ing and raising children and instilling in them the morality and virtues needed to become future leaders.

With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the NGAA shifted its atten­tion to the war and, more specifically, to the preservation of complete American neutrality in the conflict. The group initi­ated a two-pronged campaign concerning this issue. The first prong focused on the propaganda battle between Great Britain and Germany as each side utilized all means at their disposals to portray the other as being the greatest threat to Amer­ican interests. The NGAA called for ab­solute American neutrality through its lob­bying efforts in Congress, as well as various articles published in both the German- and English-language press. Despite its best ef­forts, the NGAA never did mount an ef­fective campaign, primarily because most papers in the United States tended to be bi­ased against German actions in the war— in part influenced by the fact that the in­formation received in America about the war came primarily through British or pro­British channels.

The second prong of NGAA wartime strategy was the campaign to prevent arms shipments to belligerent nations. The NGAA lobbied heavily for the passage of the Bartholdt and Volmer bills. These two pieces of legislation called for an embargo of all war material to belligerent nations. From 1914 to 1916 the group was ham­pered in its efforts by the growing belief that the NGAA was attempting to influ­ence U.S.

In April 1917 the United States entered the war against Germany. Overnight all things German in the United States became anathema. The NGAA quickly declared its patriotism, but in a nation gripped with anti-German paranoia that led to such ex­treme actions as the renaming of sauerkraut to “liberty cabbage,” the NGAA had little chance for long-term survival. By the end of the year, the organization was branded as unpatriotic and a potential threat to na­tional security. In response to the national mood, the Senate in early 1918 launched an investigation into the activities of the NGAA. While the investigation would turn up nothing, with the exception that the group accepted money from the brewing and liquor interests to fight Prohibition, the national leaders knew that the fate of the group was preordained. In April 1918, even before the Senate hearings were con­cluded, the executive committee of the NGAA voted to disband the organization. Rather than an admission of guilt, the de­cision was made to prevent further public humiliation and scrutiny, not necessarily of the organization but of the German Amer­ican community in general. Despite its de­cision, the group viewed itself as “100 per­cent” American and innocent of the charges leveled against it. The demise of the NGAA marked not only the downfall of one of the largest ethnic organizations in U. S. history, but sadly reflected the begin­ning of the end of the once vital position occupied by German cultural institutions in everyday American life.

Charles T Johnson

See also Bernstorff, Johann Heinrich Andreas Hermann Albrecht Count von; German Society of Pennsylvania; Germantown, Pennsylvania; Hexamer, Charles J.; Newspaper Press, German Language in the United States; Steuben, Frederick Wilhelm von; World War I and German Americans

References and Further Reading

Bergquist, James M. “The German-American Press.” In The Ethnic Press in the United States. Ed. Sally M. Miller. New York: Greenwood, 1987, p. 143.

Bosse, Georg von. Dr. C. J. Hexamer: Sein Leben und Wirken. Philadelphia: Druck und Verlag, 1922.

Childs, Clifton. The German-Americans in Politics. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1939.

Congress, House, Committee on the District of Columbia. To Prohibit the Manufacture and Sale of Intoxicating Liquors in D.C., 59th Cong., 2nd sess., February 14, 1907, 30-31.

Detjens, David. The Germans in Missouri, 1900—1918: Prohibition, Neutrality, and Assimilation. Columbia: University of Missouri, 1985.

Faust, Albert. The German Element in the United States. New York: Steuben Society of America, 1927.

Godsho, Albert. Chronological History of the National German-American Alliance of the United States. Philadelphia: National German-American Alliance, 1911.

Johnson, Charles T Culture at Twilight: The National German-American Alliance, 1901—1918. New York: Peter Lang, 1999.

Rippley, LaVern J. The German-Americans. Boston: Twayne, 1976.