6 - The “spirit of 1914” in the discourse of the political parties

Summary

On 4 August 1914 all parties voted for war credits. Given the extraordinary virulence of pre-war German politics - before 1914 the right had accused the left of being vaterlandslose Gesellen, whereas the left had accused the right of being immoral and selfish - the unanimous vote for war credits was an extraordinary accomplishment. In August 1914 parliament appeared both to have given evidence of German unity and at the same time to have recreated itself as a representation of German unity. Yet what did this vote mean at the time? And how did the meaning of the vote change as the parties employed the memory of it as a symbol in their political discourse?

For although this vote was unusual, the interpretation political parties gave to this event and to the August experiences was even more unusual. All parties contributed to creating a mythic aura, an overlay of emotion around the memory of the August events. They did so for largely the same reasons as the government. First, all political parties recognized that the broadest support of the people was a precondition for success in this war. Second, they recognized that the war was a collective endeavor, and that in this collective endeavor Germans needed to know what they were fighting for, dying for.