The Tentacles of the German Octopus in America

Thumbing through the pamphlets, I was caught off guard when I saw the word ‘octopus.’ After reading over the pamphlet’s entire title a few times, I could see a corresponding propaganda poster in my head: an octopus in the black, white, and red of the German Empire’s flag reaching its long tentacles across the Atlantic and into the states of the East Coast, casting ominous shadows over the land. The imagery that this pamphlet’s title so quickly provoked made me really want to learn about this figurative cephalopod and what it meant for the war effort.

“What greater danger could the nation face?”

According to Dr. Earl E. Sperry, nothing posed a greater threat to the United States at this time than proud German-Americans. While there were many different groups of “hyphenated Americans,” he claims German-Americans were especially dangerous because the German state and cultural feelings of superiority were directing German minorities abroad to retain allegiance to Deutschland. He claims that “they have been taught perseveringly that they are not of us ” and seek to impress German Kultur upon “native pupils” (Protestant Anglo-Saxon Americans). This allegiance to Germany, Sperry argues, was valued over American citizenship, creating a streitpunkt. German-Americans were segregating themselves away from the rest of America with the intention of creating a “nation within a nation,” producing “a schism in the American nation along the line of race cleavage,” yet still expected the rights of American citizens. This self-segregation was exemplified by adherence to German tradition and use of the German language, specifically in German culture groups.

Groups such as the Verein für das Deutschum im Ausland (Association for Germans Abroad) and the Alldeutscher Verband (Pan-German League) existed to give “advice… concerning all policies which relate to the extension of German power and civilization throughout the world.” So, not only were these German-Americans practicing German culture within the United States, but Sperry claims that, in doing so, they intended on increasing German influence and and power. As if that wasn’t enough to raise alarm over, the ultimate plan of the German-Americans was, according to Sperry, to create a new political group in America that served the interests of Germany. He specifically cites an anti-Wilson editorial from a German newspaper in which the (unnamed) author claims German-Americans “favor a policy which will be advantageous to Germany” as an example of this cultural sentiment.

Even the German-American National Alliance was not safe from Sperry’s scrutiny. While he could not deny that the Alliance had “done much to promote friendly political relations between Germany and the United States,” he claimed that they were doing so as Germans rather than as Americans. Any German-American individual or group could be assumed to carry more allegiance to “the fatherland” than the United States, no matter what he, she, or they contributed to America. The tentacles of this German octopus are Germanism itself, described by Sperry as “a destructive and disintegrating force.” Anything that these tentacles came into contact with was soiled by potent German loyalty.

How were Americans to protect themselves from such a threat? He suggests that loyal Americans could “exert against” German papers and societies “the force of a justly angered public opinion.” Through nativist intimidation, the National Security League suggested Americans could deter German homogeneity, figuratively cutting off the tentacles of the Kaiser’s octopus. This pamphlet serves as an example of the dehumanization of German-Americans at this time, reducing the German identity to a slippery sea creature intent on reaching into the United States, as well as the acceptance of nativism as a justified protection against such encroachments.