What did the Germans believe were the causes of WWI during the war and after?
Upvote:5
While there wasn't a single overarching belief, many Germans of the bourgeoisie and the intelligentsia (including the German leadership) in 1914 felt:
- a growing feeling of encirclement stemming from the changing diplomatic landscape. Possibly since the end of Bismarck but definitely since the formation of the Entente in 1907 with Russia, France and England forming stronger and stronger anti-German ties.
- that the other great powers (unjustly) denied Germany her place in the sun ("Platz in der Sonne"), especially in regards to colonies. This was coupled with the feeling of an exceptionalism due to, among others, Germany's quick economic and military successes (especially and including the War of 1870) since unification and its cultural and scientific output. Ultimately, this feeling also influenced the overarching war goals of creating a German hegemony in central Europe and the acquisition of further colonies and territories from the losers of the war.
- that there was a growing lifestyle decadence and unmanliness, especially in other Great Powers but also in Germany, that could be cleansed with steel. For many, at the same time, war was an escapism from daily life. And sacrifice in the name of the state was considered a patriotic duty.
- that they could win the war, even if it required sacrifice as there were many victories but few losses in recent memory (e.g. War against Denmark, War against Austria, War of Unification, the Boxer Rebellion, the Herero Rebellion). At the same time, many also thought that the odds were increasingly turning against Germany, so the sooner the war starts, the better the odds for Germany.
This support expressed itself in patriotic marches in the cities, the "Geist von 1914" (Spirit of 1914 or "Augusterlebnis"). Proponents for a patriotic war also included notable intellectuals like Max Weber or Thomas Mann.
Anti-War sentiments and demonstrations were less common and more commonly carried by the countryside and the workers, though the Social Democrats (SPD), in the end, supported the war.
With the war unfolding, many of these ideas faded and the war gathered its own momentum. Former patriots became disillusioned as the reality of war set in, with a death toll in the millions.
Following the war, many others considered the war and the Treaty of Versailles a humiliation. This was instrumentalized in e.g. the Dolchstoßlegende (stab-in-the-back-myth, i.e. the myth that Germany was undefeated in the field, but stabbed in the back by politicians or the Jewish population).
More post
- 📝 During the WWII, did the German Luftwaffe ever have mixed units of Bf-109s and Me-262s, and if so, which units and/or which airfields?
- 📝 Why did the Targowica Confederation not realise its armed opposition to the May Constitution of 1791 would result in the entire annexation of Poland?
- 📝 Why was the Cold War carried out over the whole world instead of between Siberia and Alaska?
- 📝 Before entering WW II, why was the US so against Japanese aggression in China but did nothing about Germany in Europe?
- 📝 How much did Shah Jahan spend on Taj Mahal?
- 📝 Evidence of cross contamination between Japanese and Western sword fighting styles?
- 📝 Did unmarried Spartan women have longer hair than men?
- 📝 How does Louise Bryant's assessment of how the Soviet Union would fall hold up at the beginning of the 21st century?
- 📝 How much did the western world know about the Soviet Union pre-WWII?
- 📝 Why conceal the innocence of Alfred Dreyfus?
- 📝 How was reconnaissance performed in medieval warfare?
- 📝 Were there any recorded instances of outlaws (people that were illegal out of their wanted place 100% of the time) in Nazi Germany?
- 📝 How effective was Civil War-era artillery in the rain?
- 📝 Is there a population density map of pre-Columbian South America?
- 📝 Who swore fealty to his overlord and immediately knocked him down?
- 📝 Who were these two conspirators against Titus?
- 📝 Who attributed to King George II the quote "Will someone please remove these infernal chains?"
- 📝 Who said this quote about assimilation?
- 📝 Has an entire generation of a young children in a civilization ever been orphaned and raised as loyals?
- 📝 Why are the capitals of central Asian countries right against the borders?
- 📝 How were the Morisco refugees from Europe received in North Africa, given that they were foreigners and Christian?
- 📝 What became of the last samurai?
- 📝 What were the neoplatonists' attitude towards Christianity (or religion in general)?
- 📝 Did Truman really believe that Hiroshima was a military base?
- 📝 Are there any records of javelin throwing techniques from antiquity? For example, ancient Greece, such as peltasts?
- 📝 Mass distribution of the Macedonian Sarissa pike
- 📝 History of the Historical Museum
- 📝 What conditions have led to Abrahmism splitting into different religions sometimes, but not always?
- 📝 What Were the Primary Causes of 15th to 19th Century British Chartered Companies' Failures?
- 📝 Was the "natural born citizen" requirement for the President inserted into the US Constitution by Alexander Hamilton's enemies?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What did the Germans believe were the causes of WWI during the war and after?
- 📝 Were there any Germans in Japan after the surrender of Germany in May, 1945 and if so, what happened to them?
- 📝 What deaths were caused by weapons deployed during a war long after the war has ended?
- 📝 What were conditions like for Chinese men subject to recruitment by the army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War?
- 📝 What East German laws and regulations were extended to the West after unification?
- 📝 What goods did Germany trade during World War II, and with whom?
- 📝 Why did the Arabs start the 1973 War during Ramadan, and did it affect their performance?
- 📝 Did the Germans use the V1 and V2 missile system on the Eastern Front in World War 2?
- 📝 What goods did Germany trade during the Weimar Republic, and with whom?
- 📝 To what degree did women participate in the air war during WW2?
- 📝 What were the individual soldiers motivated by during World War 1?
- 📝 What did European people of the 5th century AD eat during spring and what was the availability?
- 📝 What were the operating principles of Japan's MITI during the 1950s and 60s?
- 📝 Why did Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia remain loyal to France during and after World War II?
- 📝 What were the Government Press Prosecutions of 1858 and why did they occur?
- 📝 What benefits were there to the USA of developing both Uranium and Plutonium bombs in World War 2?
- 📝 What uniforms did each of the American Civil War regiment wear during First Bull Run / First Manassas
- 📝 At what point after the war did Confederate money begin to attain value again?
- 📝 What specific changes were made to political ideologies around during and before World War I?
- 📝 During the Second World War, did the Germans expect that Japan would declare war on Russia?
- 📝 What effect did the Mafia have during World War 2?
- 📝 What were factors that led to a decline in bond yields during World War II given that the opposite should have happened?
- 📝 What did the Jews during the First Jewish-Roman War know about other anti-Roman revolts?
- 📝 What alternate north-south supply routes did the Soviet Union have when the Volga and Stalingrad were under attack?
- 📝 What were the causes of the "Dardanelles" fiasco in World War I
- 📝 Why did the Byzantines not try to recover Syria during the war between Ali and Muawiya?
- 📝 During and right after the French Revolution, how did France maintain and operate such a big army all over Europe?
- 📝 How did the news of the reality Nazi concentration camps reach the United State's mainstream? What were the waves of awareness and when?
- 📝 What is the best way to describe the form of Japanese government during the years before and during world war 2?
- 📝 What did Catesby and crew expect to do after the explosion?