ABSTRACT
In country after the country, the war was initially greeted with celebrations as excited young men, seeking adventure, ran to enlist and were cheered by their girlfriends, families and neighbors. Like in the American Civil War, young men were prodded to enlist with calls to defend the honor not only of their country but also their women. Although the war brought total devastation to Europe, it was a boon to America, a stronger stimulant for economic growth than the Civil War had been for the North. Until the late 1920s, most political analysts would dismiss the Nazis as part of the “Right lunatic fringe” – very unlikely to ever assume power and one of many similar rightwing movements. The Nazis denounced the sexual liberation of Weimar as communist- and Jewish-inspired depravity, intended to undermine German purity.
