Americans had no idea that war was imminent in Europe in the summer of 1914, and tens of thousands of tourists were caught by surprise.[1] Apart from an Anglophile element supporting the British, American public opinion went along with neutrality at first. The sentiment for neutrality was strong among Irish Americans, German Americans and Swedish Americans,[2] as well as among church leaders and women. On the other hand, even before the war broke out American opinion toward Germany was already more negative than it was toward any other country in Europe.[3] The citizenry increasingly came to see the German Empire as the villain after news of atrocities in Belgium in 1914, and the sinking of the passenger liner RMS Lusitania in 1915 in defiance
