IT is characteristic of refugees to cling, to the end of their days, to the
memories of a lost fatherland. Memories become sweeter with the
passing years, and time has a way of drawing a kindly veil over what
was unpleasant. The experiences of the Forty-eighters were no exception.
Many attained influence and distinction in the United States, and by 1870
were part of the comfortable, middle-class society which is the backbone
of America. Yet the fatherland continued to hold their interest and part
of their affections, especially in the stirring decade of the 1860's, when so
much was happening in Western Europe. Many never quite overcame
a gnawing homesickness for the land of their birth, and though it had
spurned their dreams of a united, free Germany as "madness" and
"passing intoxication" which delayed the destined march of German
history, they continued to think well of their former home. By 1870,
time had taken its toll among the Forty-eighters, and few lived long
enough, like Schurz and Jacobi, to see the new century. With advancing
years and increasing material prosperity, something of their youthful
zeal for political and social reform was lost, and in the free atmosphere
of America the attitude of many Forty-eighters toward political and social
problems at home and abroad became more conservative.

The decade from 1860 to 1870 was momentous in German history.
Under the Iron Chancellor's policy of "blood and iron," Prussia fought
three wars in less than ten years, and in 1871 a unified Germany emerged
from centuries of chaos in the heartland of Europe. It was inevitable
that the Bismarck Era should fan into flame a new spirit of "Germanism"
among America's German group, for national pride is one of the strong-
est emotions of every immigrant people. A discussion of the reaction of

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