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Mobilization six-Recruit Classes and Volunteers

The large bulk of the reserve and Landwehr soldiers were absorbed in the initial expansion of the Army that took place in July and August 1914. By September 1914, the Ersatz-Reserve filled out the newly formed reserve divisions. The class of 1914 was called up more or less on time at the end of September 1914. They were inducted into the military, along with the Restanten of the 1914 muster and mixed in with certain Kriegsfreiwillige. Their induction took more than three months as they filled the depots after the Ersatz-Reserve. This resulted in approximately one million recruits. They had three or four months of training and refilled the existing units, as well as creating reserve divisions that were numbered 75 to 82 and the Bavarian 8th Infantry Division. When mobilization came, not every soldier was jumping for joy. Specifically, those that were in the second year of their mandatory training were due to leave the Army in six weeks. Many of those soldiers reported a feeling of great depression. The songs the soldiers sang tended not to be patriotic, but rather dreams of leaving.

After the losses of the winter 1914-1915, the Landsturm made up for the losses. Landsturm classes were called up in successive batches and continued to provide replacements until the second contingent was exhausted late in 1915. Between April and June 1915, the class of 1915 was called up early and was followed very quickly by the class of 1916 between August and November. The permanently unfit soldiers from the musters, as well as those previously excused, were re-examined for possible inclusion in the ranks.

The picture

Musterung in 1918–So this had to be the class of 1920.      Children.

The class of 1917 was mobilized over 18 months early between January and May 1916. This class had been decimated by both Verdun and the Somme. Some of this class had only trained for three months. The class of 1918 was called up between September 1916 and January 1917, a full two years early. This class constituted many of the higher numbered infantry regiments from 442 and two new divisions such as 231 to 242 and the 15th Bavarian division. The class of 1919 was mobilized in May and June of 1917 a full 2 1⁄2 years early. Primarily, this class was sent to the Russian front and the more senior soldiers deployed to the Western front. By the spring of 1918, the class of 1920 had been called up.

Kriegsfreiwillige

During the war, a great many young men between the ages of 17 and 20 volunteered for active service before their class was called up. In 1914, there were large numbers of these volunteers, including some men over the age of 20, who were in the untrained Landsturm. These men had been released from their peacetime obligation but volunteered anyway. There was a significant decrease in this number by 1915 and estimates were that approximately only five percent of the later classes were volunteers. Yeah no been postponed so you got a woman

The exact number of these volunteers is somewhat controversial. The number 1,300,000 was repeated in several newspapers including the government’s unofficial voice Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. This number has been repeated and copied from book to book for years. More than likely the numbers were exaggerated. Prussia reported that 260,000 had attempted to volunteer, but only 144,000 were accepted. There were 32,000 from Bavaria; Württemberg had 8,600; and there were about 10,000 from Saxony. That is a total of about 185,000. The numbers were a classic example of the press building enthusiasm for the war. The newspapers claimed that these came from all social classes, but the evidence surviving from two regiments shows the proletariat represented 33 of 413 volunteers in an artillery regiment and 64 of 450 volunteers in an infantry regiment. Students and the bourgeoisie were heavily represented.[1]

The Spirit of 1914

Conventional wisdom has it that all of imperial Germany rejoiced at the war and rushed to the colors. A study by Jeffrey Verhey exposed the dichotomies of this spirit. The notion of the “Spirit of 1914” was primarily used later in the war as a propaganda tool. There certainly was a thread of truth in it, but the primary enthusiasm was found mostly in the larger cities and among members of the bourgeoisie. It was also true in student societies where students held large demonstrations supporting the war with both singing and drinking. It is true that in August of 1914, national flags were spotted in the working-class suburbs of Berlin. On the other hand, there was a meeting in Düsseldorf where the government tried to decide how to get the working-class in the Ruhr to fly the national flag.

Social Democrats were absent from these demonstrations. In some locations, the socialists held rallies in favor of peace. This often led to confrontations with student groups late in July 1914. Sometimes these became violent and the police sided with the patriotic student groups. These scenes between the student groups and the Social Democrats indicated a real lack of patriotic unanimity. In early August, the population was tense but, when the newspaper reports of late August reported victory, patriotism swelled. A type of social panic was present in the background of these demonstrations. Banks stopped making loans after thousands of depositors removed their savings. Some banks actually restricted withdrawals. Some merchants stopped taking paper money. Food stores witnessed panic that emptied the shelves. Visitors and foreigners fled. Newspapers were the primary form of information distribution but this information flow was augmented in taverns that provided meeting places where news could be shared.

There are many Aufmarschphotos of young soldiers heading out to the front. As was the tradition of the time, their uniforms were adorned with flowers, and they were given so much candy that the Red Cross actually had to ask for people to hold back their generosity as the soldiers were getting sick. The national outpouring of support for soldiers was said to have led to a propensity for German Red Cross nurses to become romantically involved with French prisoners. But, by 1916 the enthusiasm of crowds had disappeared.

Given the law of unintended consequences, the civilian countryside certainly became emptier. Huge numbers of gainfully employed, working age, individuals went off to military service. Most of these soldiers’ families had been living on the edge of poverty anyway. The Federal Government on 4 August implemented a law that provided separation allowances to the families of soldiers. The departure of the workers led hundreds of firms to close their doors, creating unemployment for other workers.

[1] (Verhey, The Spirit of 1914, 2000), pp, 97-100.