"Our Treaty Will Be Put to a Pretty Severe Test": Impressment and Citizenship Status in U.S.-Habsburg Relations during World War I

In 1870, representatives of the US and Habsburg governments negotiated and approved a bilateral treaty that allowed for individuals to move freely between the two countries and for the official recognition of citizenship changes through naturalization. The treaty contained some significant ambiguities, however, and did not resolve all possible conflicts between American jus soli and Habsburg jus sanguinis conceptions of citizenship. In keeping with the international norms of the time, passports or other documents that would establish an individual’s identity and citizenship status were not required for travel between the United States and Austria-Hungary. The combination of an ambiguous treaty and a lack of documentation created problems for a relatively small, but growing, number of individuals between 1870 and 1914 as the frequency of migration between the two countries rose dramatically. With the outbreak of World War I, demand for soldiers prompted a sharp increase in the number of cases where naturalized US citizens were held for military service as Austrian or Hungarian citizens. US diplomatic and consular officials were willing to assist those men with legitimate claims to US citizenship, but the absence of documentation made it challenging—and time consuming—to determine individuals’ citizenship status. This paper details the process US officials used to determine citizenship status in the absence of official documentation and their wartime efforts to settle claims of dual citizenship with the Habsburg government. The World War I experience contributed to the decision by the US government—and many other governments—to require passports in peacetime and to create stricter visa systems and border controls to reduce this type of problem after the war. While the new system could aid in citizen protection, it also severely reduced individuals’ freedom of movement and their ability to select their own identities.