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Conclusion: “Americans All!”
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Conclusion 137 Conclusion “Americans All!” During the First World War, the United States government drafted nearly a half million immigrants, and thousands of second-generation immigrants, into the American Army. The war took place on the heels of the Progressive Era, when middle-class reformers worked relentlessly to reorder the industrial society, socialize and morally uplift the working classes through new social welfare agencies, and restructure the urban environment with the use of scientific-management theories. Public war hysteria created an atmosphere of mindless fervor and a crusade for moral righteousness that knew no bounds, and immigrants faced harassment, discrimination, and even violence. Newspaper articles, cartoons, posters, and speeches fostered ethnic distrust and continued to depict immigrants in a negative and stereotypical manner, repeating the need for percent conformity. The recruit detachment which is to illustrate both the benefits of this new system of training and the social value of the War Department’s new work will probably be known as the “ Americans All” detachment. No happier name could be chosen. It is a fortunate augury of the day when theWar Department will be permitted to bring to every young man of the country, under a system of universal training, the advantages which are accruing to these men who arefortunateenoughtobechosenforthisnewandliberalexperimentinAmericanization . —New York Herald, September , 138 AMERICANS ALL! Many of the nation’s new immigrants originally came from areas controlled by the Central Powers and had long felt the oppression of those authoritarian governments. Once in the United States, these ethnic groups worked tirelessly for the freedom of their homelands. Even before America’s entrance into the war, they continually attempted to draw the public’s attention to the problems that faced the “Old Country” through fundraisers, speeches, and political activity. Once the United States declared war against the Central Powers, many of these immigrants were labeled “technical” enemyaliensbecauseof theirbirth.Theyimmediatelybegantofightagainst this label so they could join ethnic legions attached to foreign armies or serve in the United States military to help defeat the Central Powers. Eventually, almost one in five draftees in the U.S. military were foreign born.The War Department took a unique approach to training immigrant soldiers that had many similarities to the social welfare and scientific-management movements of its day. Progressive philosophy was not unknown to leading military officers. By the First World War, the military had dramaticallyexpandedtheofficercorpstoincludemanynon –WestPointgraduates . Many of these new leaders came from the nation’s universities and businesses and from an environment that was struggling with Progressive challenges and solutions. In fact, Secretary of War Newton D. Baker referred to the military leaders who designed and implemented new military policies as “Progressive officers.”1 The War Department created the Foreign-speaking Soldier Subsection and worked with social welfare reformers and prominent ethnic leaders. The FSS took direction from the Military Morale Section and the director of the Military Intelligence Division. The result was a systematic and efficient manner of organizing and training foreign-born soldiers and an activecampaigntobothsocializeandAmericanizetheseimmigranttroops. The military encouraged Americanism through English-language classes and foreign-language translations of war propaganda, inspirational speeches by ethnic leaders, and public-speaking appearances by immigrant soldiers who had been decorated for bravery. Ethnic organizations provided translations of socialization and Americanization materials, and immigrants became intelligence agents for the War Department. However, immigrant leaders helped formulate military policy as they educated the military about the various ethnicities in the camps, pressured for observation of important religious traditions, and fought for fair and just treatment of foreign-born servicemen. Ethnic leaders also worked in conjunction with the War Department to meet the cultural, educational, [54.175.5.131] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 11:43 GMT) Conclusion 139 and social needs of foreign-born soldiers. The military celebrated ethnic traditions, promoted immigrant officers, applauded the war efforts of various nationalities, and demanded that native-born soldiers respect their foreign -born counterparts. The fact that ethnic leaders assisted in both celebrating ethnicity and instilling American patriotism was not unusual for men from the professional classes of the ethnic communities, who often “synthesize[d] their Old and New World cultures.”2 In this way, they engaged in an active negotiation of ethnic identity and often appropriated the “language of patriotism ” to this end. New War Department policies created an atmosphere wherein dual pride and dual identity became acceptable. Although there is an abundance of correspondence between the War Department, the Foreign-speaking Soldier Subsection, Progressive reformers , and ethnic leaders that provide details of military policies, it...