World War I Minnesota

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When the United States made a formal declaration of war on April 6, 1917, Minnesotans answered the call to arms. Duluth, with its strategic location at the head of the Great Lakes, emerged as a major shipbuilding center. Over forty thousand men registered for the draft in Minneapolis alone. Yet many members of the state’s large German American population struggled with divided loyalties. A xenophobic fervor swept through the state at an alarming rate, forcing the government to establish a Commission on Public Safety to stifle wartime dissent. With more than fifty period photos and illustrations, author Iric Nathanson brings to life the daily struggles and triumphs of Minnesotans in the Great War.