Spoils of War: German 101 in 1915
Created | Updated Nov 1, 2015
It pays to learn the 'enemy tongue'. Then, maybe it won't be an enemy tongue.
German 101 in 1915
Those of us who have taught German in the US have a bee in our bonnet about the Great War. You see, German was pretty much the second language in the US until 1917, when it became 'unpatriotic' to speak it. The teaching of German was forbidden in the US during both wars. This set us back a bit, and made life hard on a very large minority of citizens – those who spoke German at home, often with parents and grandparents. Since Germany was widely vilified as a 'rogue state' back then, it might be useful to ask: just what kind of government did this nation have?
Here's an interesting little relic: a page from a 1915 US German textbook. This lesson illustrates two points: First, German was harder to read back then, because of the funny script. Not quite as bad as Russian, but work nonetheless. Second, explaining the new country took a bit of doing. A translation is provided below, but German speakers, have a little fun with the Fraktur.
Translation:
The old German empire1 was destroyed by Napoleon I in 1806. For many years, there was no unity among the various German states. But in the war against France (1870-1871) the individual states were united under the leadership of Prussia, and on 18 January 1871 King Wilhelm of Prussia was named 'German Emperor' in the French city of Versailles near Paris.
Wilhelm I was therefore the first German Kaiser in the new empire, and Prince Bismarck became the first Chancellor. The second German Kaiser was Friedrich III. He reigned only 29 days. The present Kaiser, Wilhelm II, is the third German Kaiser. He has reigned since 15 June 1888.
In the new German empire the Kaiser is not elected, as was the case in the old empire. The imperial crown is now hereditary – the king of Prussia is always also the 'German Kaiser'.
Like the United States of America, the German empire is a state made up of states and is governed by a federal constitution. Each of the 26 individual states, however, has its own state constitution, and only questions that involved the whole empire are decided by the national government, i.e. by the Bundesrat and the Reichstag2.
The Bundesrat consists of 58 members, representatives of the individual states who were selected by the individual states and sent to Berlin. The Reichstag consists of 397 members, representatives of the people as a whole, who were chosen by all citizens over 25 in a direct election. The Kaiser is the Commander-in-Chief of the military, and he represents the country in foreign affairs, he declares war and negotiates peace, and names all higher officials. As a leader, the Kaiser has scarcely more power than the President of the United States3; but as King of Prussia, he has indirect and also great influence on the Reich government.
Now, everybody, let's have a chorus of that great song, Wir wollen unsren alten Kaiser Wilhelm wiederhaben, meaning, 'We want the Kaiser back, now.'
