What was Germany like in World War 1?

Question

Or even just places i can find information on WW1 from a German perspective (without being in German!). This isn't a very easy subject to find info on in England.

Answer 1

For a start it wasn't a federal republic like it is now but a loose collection of states ruled by a prince (Furst) or a King (Konig) who owed nominal allegiance to the Kaiser, who was if you like the King of the greater state, Prussia, who was Wilhelm II. The names of some of these states live on today as Bundeslander: Bayern (Bavaria) Sachsen-Wurtemberg, Hannover etc.
In 1914 Germany was a young country having first been unified by Count Otto von Bismarck after the Franco-Prussian War 1870-71. There was little in the way of parliamentary democracy common to The United Kingdom and The USA, most Lander (Lander=States) had granted limited democratic constitutions only in the mid 19th century.
Germany had until 1871 been considered a fairly minor European Power and had done little colonising overseas, it's non-european empire consisting of scattered colonies in Tanganyika and German South-West Africa, both of which were to see fighting in WW1 but not on the scale in France and Belgium and not as a trench war either, but a more highly fluid affair. Until about 1860 German industry was nascent, but thereafter railways and a manufacturing base began to be more important than the agrarian economy and the Germans quickly became as adept as the British in manufacturing.
Socially, and particularly in Prussia, the soldier was at the top of the heap, and the military was almost worshipped. Look on Google for "The Captain from Kopenick" for an example.
At the time all European nations were going through a period of political reform as socialist movements were springing up everywhere. In Britain the Labour Party had been formed in 1910, and in Germany before and during the first part of WW1 socialist undercurrent was weak but detectable.
Geographically it was much bigger and included most of what is now Western Poland, after WW1 much territory was ceded and after WW2 much more to the border of the Rivers Oder and Neisse .
Hope that's a useful precis. Try this site:

http://www.germanculture.com.ua/bl_german_history.htm

Answer 2

This website has some good info.

http://www.ww1accordingtobob.com/

Also google "Trenches on the web." That's also a good site for WW1 research.

Like someone previously suggested, read Erich Maria Remarque's novel "All Quiet on the Western Front." It is an EXCELLENT account of what the soldiers had to go through in wartime.

Answer 3

Extremely unpleasant and jingoistic - much like England was, actually. Check out "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque; there's also an American-made movie.

Answer 4

Germany had only recently (within the previous 50 years) become a single unified nation, and because of the diversity of language dialects, religion, and regionalism, thought of itself as an empire, and the kaiser as an emperor. it had missed the ages of global colonialism that britain, france, russia and even japan had enjoyed in the 19th century, and had ambitions to acquire a global empire of its own. germany enjoyed the benefits of a homogenous population, the only major ethnic differences being between catholic and protestant, and the presence of a large number of jews. however, most germans still thought of themselves in terms of their localities. ie, as bavarians, saxons, prussians, etc. rather than as germans. the army had yet to be integrated into a national organization, and so individual units were still broken down along these regional lines, with wide divergence in equipment and uniforms. the flared helmet so ubiquitous among the soldiery in world war II was in use by many units in the first world war as well, but so was the equally familiar spiked PICKLEHAUBE helmet by other units.

Answer 5

Try reading a book called All quiet on the western front by Erich Maria Remarque .You can get it in english.Very good book.

Answer 6

a place where different groups would get togther and form parties, just imagine doing something like that now, getting involved on the ground floor of some democratic party or whatever floats your boat, what am amazing time...........

Answer 7

better than it was in w.w. two. then things started to happen....donot even go there, it is old hat history, and boring

Answer 8

to control the world?

Answer 9

Dunno what it was like then but it was one big party in '89 and '90 I lived there when the wall came down it was awesome

Answer 10

TRY THE INTERNET - GOOOGLE
GERMANY WWI
AND SEE WHAT YOU GET