The First World War — The Primary Catastrophe of the Century

Abstract

When on 1 August 1914 the authorities announced mobilization, the streets of Berlin and other cities quickly filled with jubilating crowds. Three days later the Reichstag unanimously endorsed the war credits, and Kaiser Wilhelm II said: ‘I don’t know parties any more, I only know Germans.’ Millions of workers loyally followed the call to arms, and so did Poles and Danes. It looked as if, after decades of bitter strife, Germany was really united.