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Transatlantic Migration and the Politics of Belonging, 1919-1939

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Transatlantic Migration and the Politics of Belonging, 1919-1939 W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects Summer 2016 Between Third Reich and American Way: Transatlantic Migration and the Politics of Belonging, 1919-1939 Christian Wilbers College of William and Mary - Arts & Sciences, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons Recommended Citation Wilbers, Christian, "Between Third Reich and American Way: Transatlantic Migration and the Politics of Belonging, 1919-1939" (2016). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1499449834. http://doi.org/10.21220/S2JD4P This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Between Third Reich and American Way: Transatlantic Migration and the Politics of Belonging, 1919-1939 Christian Arne Wilbers Leer, Germany M.A. University of Münster, Germany, 2006 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the College of William and Mary in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy American Studies Program The College of William and Mary August 2016 © Copyright by Christian A. Wilbers 2016 ABSTRACT Historians consider the years between World War I and World War II to be a period of decline for German America. This dissertation complicates that argument by applying a transnational framework to the history of German immigration to the United States, particularly the period between 1919 and 1939. The author argues that contrary to previous accounts of that period, German migrants continued to be invested in the homeland through a variety of public and private relationships that changed the ways in which they thought about themselves as Germans and Americans. By looking at migration through a transnational lens, the author also moves beyond older conventions that merely saw Germanness in language and culture. Instead, the author suggests a framework that investigates race, class, consumerism, gender and citizenship and finds evidence that German migrants not only utilized their heritage to define their Americanness but that German immigrant values, views and norms did indeed fundamentally shape American national identity. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ................................................................................... iii List Of Figures ........................................................................................... vi Introduction ................................................................................................ 1 Writing Transnational History ................................................................ 10 Chapters ............................................................................................... 14 Conclusion ............................................................................................ 19 Chapter 1: A “Tragedy”? – German American Historiography in Transnational Tension .............................................................................. 22 1. Introduction .................................................................................... 22 2. Emigration, Historiography and the Nation in 19 th Century Germany . ....................................................................................................... 26 2.1. Emigration to the U.S. and the Heterogeneity of German America ............................................................................................. 26 2.2. Emigration and Nationalism in Germany .................................. 38 3. The Historiography of German America ......................................... 49 3.1. Origins and Early Developments up to World War I ................. 49 3.2. German American Historiography after World War I ................ 64 4. Ethnic Revival and the Continuities in German American Studies . 76 5. Conclusion ..................................................................................... 86 Chapter 2: “[H]ere you are only a foreigner and a German one at that” - Immigration, Citizenship, and Belonging after World War I ...................... 88 1. Introduction .................................................................................... 88 2. The “Golden Age” of Identification: The Global Politics of Citizenship and Belonging ....................................................................................... 90 3. Immigration and Citizenship in the United States after World War I ... ..................................................................................................... 101 3.1. Restricting Immigration, Enforcing Americanization ............... 101 3.2. A new concept of citizenship: Rights vs. Duties ..................... 107 4. Emigration and Transnational Belonging in Germany after WW I 111 4.1. The Weimar Republic and the Politics of Self-Determination . 113 4.2. Volksgemeinschaft and the VDA ............................................ 119 5. German migrants between Third Reich and American Way ......... 125 6. Conclusion ................................................................................... 135 i Chapter 3: The Campaign Against the “Black Shame” - ........................ 136 1. Introduction .................................................................................. 136 2. Race, Whiteness, and German America ...................................... 138 3. “Black Horror on the Rhine” .......................................................... 152 4. The Americanization of the “Black Horror” ................................... 159 5. Conclusion and Outlook ............................................................... 180 Chapter 4: “Deutsche Arbeit,” the American Way – Transnational Negotiations of Social Belonging in German America ............................ 189 1. Introduction .................................................................................. 189 2. Imagining Germanness: Deutsche Arbeit Before World War I ..... 192 2.1. Class and the Origins of Deutsche Arbeit .............................. 192 2.2. Deutsche Arbeit , Migrants and the United States .................. 198 2.3. A New Message: Deutsche Arbeit after World War I ............. 206 3. Class and German America During the Interwar Era ................... 218 3.1. The “Social Question” in the United States ............................ 218 3.2. Social divisions in German America ....................................... 224 4. German Americans Respond to the VDA ..................................... 230 4.1. Integrative Germanness ......................................................... 230 4.2. Experiencing the Volksgemeinschaft Abroad ......................... 234 5. Conclusion ................................................................................... 240 Chapter 5: “As Familiar as an Old Friend” - Consumer Culture and Gender in German America ................................................................................ 243 1. Introduction .................................................................................. 243 2. “Americanism” and German National Identity ............................... 247 2.1. Consumer Culture .................................................................. 247 2.2. Gender and Domesticity in Weimar Republic and Third Reich .... ............................................................................................... 253 2.3. Gender, Nation, and Migration in the Heimatbriefe ................ 260 3. Migrants and American Consumer Culture .................................. 265 3.1. Consumer Culture in the United States .................................. 265 3.2. Women in Consumer Society ................................................. 271 4. German Migrants Navigate Consumer Culture............................. 276 4.1. Consumerism and German America ...................................... 276 4.2. Gender and Consumerism in German America ..................... 282 4.3. Wanamaker Advertisement Controversy................................ 288 5. Conclusion ................................................................................... 297 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 300 Works Cited ............................................................................................ 312 ii Acknowledgements There are a lot of people that made this dissertation possible. Almost 15 years ago, Maria Diedrich at the University of Münster inspired my academic curiosity and encouraged me to pursue a PhD. Robert Scholnick at the College of William and Mary introduced me to graduate work in the United States, thus opening the door into a new intellectual world. Hiroshi Kitamura shared and nourished my curiosity for trans- national history. And Charles McGovern has become a mentor and a friend. Many others have supported my work: Bruce Campbell at the German department became a witty observer of the parallels between my work and my biography; Lynn Weiss and Maureen Fitzgerald in American Studies broadened my horizon by introducing me into unknown spheres of the American mind; Frank Trommler at the University of Pennsylvania offered his advice during and well beyond my short stint as a research fellow at the German Society of Pennsylvania.
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