Religious Patriotism During World War I 1914 1918

Leading up to World War I, American Catholics and Jews were struggling to fend off accusations questions regarding their identity as Americans. Catholic loyalty to the pope and the Zionist proposal for a new state of Israel respectively undermined each groups credibility as true Americans. Yet, historian Kevin Schultz, rightly called the post-World War II era "Tri-Faith America". This thesis argues that one way in which Catholics and Jews were able to position themselves as legitimate forms of American religion was through their use of a specifically religiously oriented patriotism to the nation-state. Moral histories of the Great War tend to focus purely on the soldiers perspective, or the actions of the religious institutions at home. This study adds the popular sentiment of people of faith during the Great War; specifically how they understood their relationship between their nation and their faith. This is done through primary research of three journals: The Christian Century (Protestant), America (Catholic), and The Jewish Criterion. Each publication provides a window into public sentiment and provides examples of patriotic language and concepts that informed this thesis directly.