Date
3-10-2026
Department
College of Arts and Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD)
Chair
Adam N. Coker
Keywords
World War I, British Empire, Germanophobia, Newspapers, anti-German Sentiment, Lutheran Schools, Nomenclature Act, internment camps, migration, Australia, New Zealand, Lusitania, ANZAC, Battle of Bita Paka, Emden
Disciplines
History
Recommended Citation
Bailey, Grace A., ""Hoch der Kaiser, der Kaiser Killed a Cat." An examination of anti-German Sentiment in print in the British Empire during the Great War: Australia and New Zealand, 1914-1918" (2026). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 8030.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/8030
Abstract
The unprecedented rise in anti-German sentiment across the British Empire during World War I, 1914-1918, was intensified by an “us vs. them” mentality that was reflected daily in the newspapers of the Empire. However, the intense hatred expressed in Antipodean newspapers surpassed that of the rest of the Empire. This dissertation examines the explicit role newspapers in Australia and New Zealand played in inciting Germanophobia among the public and the societal consequences that followed. Ultimately, the hatred led to the internment of those with German heritage, despite their naturalized status. Along the way, however, German Australians changed their last names, lost their schools and businesses, and in some cases, their churches and homes were burned.
