This comparative study analyzes the impact of anti-German hysteria on the towns of New Ulm, Minnesota and Kitchener, Ontario during First World War. These two towns maintained a proportionately German population prior to the war. Though each town suffered from anti-German hysteria, New Ulm and Kitchener faced different forms, which resulted in the towns diverging from similar paths existing prior to the war. This thesis argues that the differing trajectories resulted in the ethnic divesting of Kitchener, Ontario while allowing New Ulm, Minnesota to maintain its ethnic roots.