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Documents - Germany at War, 1914-1918: Mobilization of the Home Front
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1.   The Kaiser Speaks from the Balcony of the Royal Palace (August 1, 1914)
War has often served as an integrative force in society. Here, Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941) seeks to overcome all social conflicts in German society by appealing to national unity in a time of war.....
2.   The Socialists Support the War (August 4, 1914)
In 1914, the Social Democratic Party decided to support the war. Ideologically, it justified the war as a fight against Russian reaction and autocracy. Socialist support for the war in the Reichstag....
3.   Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (1925)
In this passage from Mein Kampf, Hitler describes his emotions upon learning of the outbreak of war. Like many at the time, Hitler saw the war as a joyful event that would help free Germany....
4.   Friedrich Meinecke, The German Catastrophe: Reflections and Recollections (1946)
Here, the historian Friedrich Meinecke (1862-1964) reflects on the “Spirit of 1914,” a transient sense of unity felt by Germans during the initial stages of the First World War. Free from romantic....
5.   Ludwig Thoma, The First of August [Der erste August] (1915)
In this play, Ludwig Thoma (1867-1921) recreates the world of a small Bavarian village and its experience of the mobilization for war. Far away from the centers of political and economic power, the....
6.   The Powers of the Deputy Commanding Generals (1915)
This memorandum shows the expansive legal authority that the military gained by virtue of mobilization. The Deputy Commanding Generals were given broad executive powers over the home-districts of....
7.   Civil-Military Tensions: Letter from Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg to Field Marshall von Hindenburg (1917)
Here, Chancellor of Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg (1856-1921) attempts to impose coordination among....
8.   Erich Ludendorff vs. Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg (July 1917)
As chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg (1856-1921) was generally a voice of moderation, particularly....
9.   The Bundesrat Regulates the Economy (August 4, 1914)
In Imperial Germany’s federal system, both the Reichstag (the German federal parliament) and the Bundesrat (the federal chamber representing the states) were responsible for legislation. With the....
10.   German Industry Responds (after August 1914)
The mobilization of German industry was essential to the war effort. Organizations like the War Committee of German Industry [Kriegsausschuß der deutschen Industrie] emerged from the marriage....
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