Let us see if we cannot make a fine game of it that we shall be all the better for having played out to the end. From which we shall all come home cleaner minded, clearer seeing, made kinder to one another by suffering. Come, gentlemen, you believed that God has called upon you to spread German culture through the lands. You are ready to die for your faith.let us fight it out. There seems no other way. But do not let us lose our common humanity in the struggle. That were the worst defeat of all. The only defeat that would really matter, that would really be lasting (Eksteins, 124).
This was the general sentiment felt by Germans in the summer of 1914. For Germany this was a time of great joy, nationalism, and spirit. Germans were convinced of their "moral superiority, their moral strength, and their moral right"(91). "Germans fear God yet otherwise nothing in this world"(62). Germany saw World War I as an opportunity to bring their superior culture to all of Europe, and therefor welcomed it with open arms. Even before war had been declared, Germany was struck with war fever. Women rushed to the stores, stocking up on everything from woolen sweaters to canned foods. And the men, especially those who were young with no families to care for, rushed to enlist. All able-bodied men especially those aged 18-20 were ostracized and condemned by society if they did not join the war effort. Even those who were skeptical about the war were soon swept up in the current as well. This sudden war frenzy caused German society to fearlessly throw all caution to the wind; emphasizing heroism, romance, and glory on the battlefield, and losing sight of the realities of war. The summer of 1914 also marked the beginning of a four year battle that would leave over "nine million dead and over twenty million wounded" (Axelrod, 20). When the slaughter was over, four European empires had been destroyed. This great war left entire cities and country sides in ruins and along with them an entire generation of men.