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 aprovided meeting places where news could be shared.
There are many Aufmarschphotosof 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.
