ABSTRACT

When war erupted in August 1914, few informed Germans were surprised. International crises involving the Fatherland had been common for almost a decade, relations with Britain were increasingly marked by mutual suspicion, and tax money endlessly flowed into Admiral von Tirpitz's burgeoning naval fleet. These and other developments contributed to a growing sense of internal tension during the pre-1914 decade, and an atmosphere of domestic uncertainty threatened to destroy the nationalistic spirit that had been established in 1871. The coming of war put a temporary curb on the rising tide of friction: Germans responded to the emerging conflict with unrestrained enthusiasm. The novelist Ernst Gläser, an elder German who had observed the decline in national purpose with some alarm, embraced the war in a spirit typical of many fellow countrymen: “At last life had regained an ideal significance. The great virtues of humanity… fidelity, patriotism, readiness to die for an ideal… were triumphing over the trading and shopkeeping spirit (cited in Craig, 1978, p. 340).” The noted historian Friedrich Meinecke offered a similar perspective: “The exaltation of spirit experienced during the August days of 1914 … is one of the most precious, unforgettable memories of the highest sort (Meinecke, 1950, p. 25).”