The Spirit of 1914: Militarism, Myth, and Mobilization in Germany (Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare, Series Number 10)

This is the first systematic analysis of German public opinion at the outbreak of the Great War. Jeffrey Verhey's powerful study demonstrates that the myth of war enthusiasm was historically inaccurate. He also examines the development of the myth in newspapers, politics and propaganda, and the propagation and appropriation of this myth after the war. His innovative analysis sheds new light on German experience of the Great War and on the role of political myths in modern German political culture. "This book is the first systematic analysis of German public opinion at the outbreak of the Great War and the first treatment of the myth of the 'spirit of 1914,' which stated that in August 1914 all Germans felt 'war enthusiasm' and that this enthusiasm constituted a critical moment in which German society was transformed. Jeffrey Verhey's powerful study demonstrates that the myth was historically inaccurate. Although intellectuals and much of the upper class were enthusiastic, the emotions and opinions of most of the population were far more complex and contradictory. Jeffrey Verhey further examines the development of the myth in newspapers, politics, and propaganda, and the propagation and appropriation of this myth after the war. His innovative analysis sheds new light on the German experience of the Great War and on the role of political myths in modern German political culture."--Publisher's description This book, first published in 2000, is a systematic analysis of German public opinion at the outbreak of the Great War and the first treatment of the myth of the 'spirit of 1914', which stated that in August 1914 all Germans felt 'war enthusiasm' and that this enthusiasm constituted a critical moment in which German society was transformed. Jeffrey Verhey's powerful study demonstrates that the myth was historically inaccurate. Although intellectuals and much of the upper class were enthusiastic, the emotions and opinions of most of the population were far more complex and contradictory. The book further examines the development of the myth in newspapers, politics and propaganda, and the propagation and appropriation of this myth after the war. His innovative analysis sheds light on German experience of the Great War and on the role of political myths in modern German political culture How can one study public opinion, defined here as the sum of individual opinions on a specific issue, in an era before public-opinion polls? This book, first published in 2000, examines the real state of German public opinion on the Great War and its aftermath