America’s entrance into World War I revealed the American people’s need for more accurate knowledge of Slavic affairs. This was especially shown by the confusion which prevailed, even in official circles, concerning the Russian Revolution and the rise of Bolshevism.[27] It became still more apparent when the committee, brought together through the efforts of Col. Edward M. House, to consider the effect of the peace found themselves hampered by lack of material on the non-Russian peoples of the Russian Empire. The German materials on these people were suspect, and the Russian a sealed book to all except a very few of the committee members, and there was almost no one to deal with materials in the native languages, especially when the material was not Slavic. Before the War, German had been the chief foreign language taught in the American schools and universities. However, hostilities brought general anger against the Germans and also against certain German professors who placed themselves all too readily at the service of the German government. This resulted in widespread opposition to the use of German and, in fact, to any foreign language. Some states, such as Nebraska, where there was a large population of German origin, went so far as to forbid the teaching of any foreign language within the limits of the state, a ban which was later overruled by the United States Supreme Court. Even where this extreme was not reached, the number of students of German declined almost to nothing and many members of the university faculties either were dropped from their posts or were faced with that possibility.