Germans were feared by Americans

Germans were feared by the public before World War 1. Crazy right? Knowing the historical past you may ask yourself what was Germany like prior to the war? We'll, Germany was basically a military state where the General Staff (the central 'brains' of the army) ruled and was responsible to the Emperor. It was not under political control. The country ranked first in iron and steel production, international trade, number of soldiers & equipment, and ship production. The top military sent out orders at the government which was expected to obey! The General Staff determined key areas of foreign policy.Before 1914 Germany was a big and prosperous country. (It was a little bigger than modern France, and over 50% bigger than modern Germany). The German states had a first rate education system, widely admired and imitated elsewhere throughout the world. The country even had a small scale welfare state (health service, old age pensions). The biggest problem was its under-developed machinery of governement.Germany's big weakness before 1914 was lack of democracy. It had a parliament but its powers were limited. It just didn't have the machinery of government that a modern industrial state needs. But, besides this issue, the public feared German-Americans. Due to Anti-German sentiment, which is a fear of Germany, was the fuel to this fire of fear of Germans. In the 1890s there was widespread hostility towards foreigners in Britain, mainly directed against eastern European Jews but also including Germans. Joseph Bannister believed that German residents in Britain were mostly "gambling-house keepers, hotel-porters, barbers, 'bullies', runaway conscripts, bath-attendants, street musicians, criminals, bakers, socialists, cheap clerks, etc". Interviewees for the Royal Commission on Alien Immigration believed that Germans were involved in prostitution and burglary. Many people viewed Germans working in Britain as threatening the livelihood of Britons by being willing to work for