Such was the mood of the people in Germany that Kaiser Wilhelm was advised to stay away from Berlin, and, even though he was offended by the suggestion to do so, he remained abroad for his own safety.
The public "stormed" newspaper delivery vans for the latest editions of news which might carry the Serbian's response to the Austria's ultimatum (56). From the descriptions of the people, the juxtaposition of the anger brimming to violence, against the landscape of an otherwise beautiful summer, creates a surreal image in the mind of the reader. How could they have been unaffected by the summer around them? This is the question that comes to mind reading Eksteins' description of the events. The masses had clearly passed some point of no return, and they wanted to be led to war.
Eksteins describes the "mass of humanity" as the crowds, informed of the news of Serbia's not unexpected rejection of Austria's ultimatum; then move through the streets of Berlin to the official state offices and to the Austrian embassy, singing marching songs, reassuring the government that war is the response the people of Germany...
They longed to have their passions stirred not by the songs of birds, flapping sails in the summer wind, but by artillery, gunfire, and the need to satisfy their lust to kill.
It was the knowledge of impending war that, Eksteins says, finally eased some of the tension that had been building up in the city. Now, knowing that war was on the horizon of the rising sun, the people were "jubilant (59)." The Kaiser returned to jubilant crowds, 50,000 people strong, and his motorcade was cheered as it made its way to the royal palace (59). Clearly, the people at this point believed that the Kaiser would lead them to war and the people seemed confident Germany would prevail, and their victory would proclaim the might and wherewithal of the German people once and for all. As a statement of their willingness to go war, willingness to die for Germany, marriages were performed in record numbers -- the summer would be, after all, a summer of conception.
Works Cited
Eksteins, Modris (). Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age.
Houghton…
