What If? USA & WW1

[DreadCthulhu]

Actually, that "German almost became the national language of the US" IS NOT TRUE.

In reality, a group of German-Americans did petition that Federal laws be translated to German as well as being in English, but that was shot down in committee.

 

[Thorgrimm]

@ DreadCthulhu i beg to differ , as the constitutional convention records are very public, i suggest you go and read them. Because the vote WAS taken, and it WAS only one vote that the measure wasn't passed. The link you supplied was for something entirely different. It was at the constitutional convention, not 1795.


Cheers Thorgrimm

 

[Constantine]

@Wyrm

In the Turtledove Series, GB was allied with the CSA which won the civil war and the US to counter balance CSA's alliance with GB and France.

So there was the Quadraple Allaince of Germany, Austria, Italy and USA verus the Entene of GB, France, Russia and CSA.

 

[Thorgrimm]

@Constantine, they were a very good series of books.


Cheers Thorgrimm

 

[Wyrmshadow]

Yes thank you, but I am very familiar with Turtledove'swork.

 

[privatehudson]

I am also, and whilst I like them, some things I have some problems with also, so he's not my favourite of authors.

 

[Constantine]

Yeah he talks about America too much and negelects other imporant theatres like Europe!

 

[Serutan]

Originally posted by Constantine
Yeah he talks about America too much and negelects other imporant theatres like Europe!

My big problem with Turtledove's books is that they show absolutely
no imagination whatsoever. In the Great War books, he simply took
the history of the Western Front, and transplanted it to North America,
with a few gratuitous mentions of Europe. Also, it's hard for me
to believe that *all* of the figures from *our* history would done almost the exact same things in the other history....

He also seems fond of re-enacting the American Civil War and
the Eastern Front of WWII in his novels.


On topic, I don't the the US was ever close to allying with Germany. I do think, as others have mentioned, that the Germans could have conducted themselves in such a way that we would have stayed neutral.

 

[DreadCthulhu]

Originally posted by Thorgrimm
@ DreadCthulhu i beg to differ , as the constitutional convention records are very public, i suggest you go and read them. Because the vote WAS taken, and it WAS only one vote that the measure wasn't passed. The link you supplied was for something entirely different. It was at the constitutional convention, not 1795.

Could you please direct me where exactly in the records it suggests that German almost became the national language of the US? I have been digging around at the Library of Congress 's site, and they have nothing on the subject. Furthermore, every other site I have checked seems to say this is an urban legend - the only thing remotely close is that vote to print laws in German in 1795.

Edit: = here are some more citations claiming it was a myth:

Urbanlegends.com
Wikipedia - German in the United States
An essay on this Urban legends