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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Leaming 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Aitor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 UMI UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE NATIONAL STEREOTYPES ABOUT GERMANS IN AMERICAN TRAVEL WRITINGS, 1815-1914 A Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial ftilfillment of the requirements for the degree o f Doctor of Philosophy By Dirk Voss Norman, Oklahoma 2000 UMI Number 9988505 UMI UMI Mlcroform9988505 Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 NATIONAL STEREOTYPES ABOUT GERMANS IN AMERICAN TRAVEL WRITINGS, 1815-1914 A Dissertation APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BY - 7^ © Copyright by Dirk Voss 2000 All Rights Reserved Acknowledgments Seven years ago I had the great fortune to pick the right professors for my project in comparative history Dr David Levy proved to be a generous, witty mentor and advisor. Dr Paul Gilje’s colonial and historical methods courses were responsible that I decided to enroll in a doctoral program at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Helga Madland pointed me toward women’s studies and Dr. A1 Hurtado’s good nature was an ideal supplement to this group of distinguished scholars. I owe much to Dr. Gordon Drummond who opened my eyes for the complexities of my own history, his wife Janice's hospitality made visits to their home unforgettable highlights in my student life American and German archivists, the unsung heroes of our profession, went often out of their way to guide my research in their depositories. Travel grants from the department and the graduate college allowed to pursue my research in the United States and Germany. Many friends helped me to write in a language that is not my own. Brad Raley, Kelly Lankford, Matt Despain, all of them promising young scholars, read my first drafts and gave me invaluable suggestions. Dr. Judith Lewis proof-read the fifth chapter, Laura Allman and Suzi Goerlach helped me to prepare conference papers. My girl friend Karen Stark read several chapters and patiently forgave me that I spent more time with the dissertation project than with her. Michaela Buhnemann and Astrid Kirchner were perfect study partners in La Baguette café where we wrote large parts of our dissertation and theses. Dr. Griswold, IV the chair of our department gave me plenty of opportunity to teach American and European history allowing my to make my students unwitting accomplices in my project about international images. Many of my friends created a pleasant study and leaming experience for me in Oklahoma. Particularly, Dr Rockey Robbins, his wife Sharia, their children Necia. Lindsey, and Jesse created for me a schoiar-in-residence fellowship that allowed me to dedicate my last year completely to the dissertation My loving mother encouraged my projects and supported me cookies and good words. Although 1 arrived in Oklahoma as a sceptic, after seven years of doctoral studies I can proudly say "Ich bin ein Normanite." Table of Contents Introduction. Prologue.................................................................................................................. !1 Chapter! : '"Langsam Country”...............................................................................19 Chapter 2: The Rise of Tourism and Nativism.....................................................52 Chapter 3: ‘The Yankees of Europe”...................................................................93 Chapter 4; Fellow Anglo-Saxons or Economic Rivals?.....................................128 Chapter 5; Time Travel to the Past ......................................................................155 Conclusion; The Rise and Decline of Bucolic Bumblers ............................................................................................................... 183 Bibliography..........................................................................................................191 VI Abstract In the early nineteenth century, Americans believed Germans were sluggish, phlegmatic, kind, and devoted to beer-drinking. By the end of the nineteenth century Americans perceived Germans as efficient, hard working, militaristic, and still devoted to beer-drinking. This considerable shift in attitudes raises the central questions of why and how Americans developed and changed their image of foreign nations. This dissertation uses the perception of Germans in American travel books, diaries, and letters of the nineteenth century as a concept to show how economic, political, and social developments changed the way Americans pictured Germans. The key to the creation and changing of stereotypes is the economic development of the two nations. In the early nineteenth century, a market revolution transformed large parts of the United States from a mostly agrarian, pre-modem society to a fast-moving, time-oriented, industrialized nation. Compared to the more modem society of America, pre-modem Germany reassured Americans of their superiority and even evoked sympathy for a nonthreatening and harmless German culture. When Germany emerged as an industrial giant and defeated France in vu 1870, most American travelers explained their observation of German military efficiency and cleanliness in terms of national character or racial traits, but ignored underlying economic causes for the sweeping changes in German society. Behind German military victories and perceived German national character lay the combination of a gigantic industrial machine and a modernizing state. Compulsory schools, military drill, and factory work discipline turned German pre-industrial slackers into efficient workers. The increased wealth that went hand in hand with industrial production allowed Germans to apply higher standards of cleanliness and hygiene vm Introduction In the early nineteenth century, Americans believed Germans were sluggish, phlegmatic, kind, and devoted to beer-drinking. By the end of the nineteenth century Americans perceived Germans as efficient, hard-working, militaristic, and devoted to beer-drinking. This considerable shift in attitudes raises the central questions of why and how Americans developed and changed their image of foreign nations. This study uses the American perception of Germans as a model to show how economic, political, and social developments changed the way Americans pictured Germans. The key to the creation and changing of stereotypes is the economic development of the two nations. In the early nineteenth century, a market revolution transformed large parts of the United States from a mostly agrarian, pre-modem society to a fast-moving, time-oriented, industrialized nation. Compared to the more modem society of America, pre-modem Germany reassured Americans of their superiority and even evoked sympathy for nonthreatening and harmless German culture. At the end of the nineteenth century, when both America and Germany underwent the vast cultural shock of industrialization and closed the gap between the two nations’ industrial development, Americans were impressed by many modem features of Germany but hardly felt sympathy with the newly powerful coimtry. Ironically, the closer Germany moved to the level of the American economy, the more did Americans reject the emerging industrial monster. Imperial and economic competition worsened the hostility and the entry into war in 1917 paved the way for a picture of a country that had run afoul in its search for modernity. The idea that economic development determines and changes the image a people holds of others is important for research in history for several reasons. This study provides a general model for exploring the creation and change of national stereotypes. Although this specific case study focuses on the American image of Germans, the proposition mat economics determine images can also be applied lu the modem American view of Mexicans or the German perception of Turkish immigrants. Ideological causes such as republicanism or nationalism and political events such as the Samoa dispute or the tariff wars also play important roles, but only secondary ones, in the