1914-39
German Reflections of the Two World Wars

This collection of essays considers the reactions of German writers, artists and intellectuals to each of the world wars. In Germany, World War I evoked a broad base of nationalist feeling that touched even those individuals most remembered today for their stances of opposition during World War II.

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I in 1914 and the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the contributors to this volume consider the reactions of German writers, artists and intellectuals to each of these wars. In Germany, the first war evoked a broad base of nationalist feeling that touched even those individuals most remembered today for their stances of opposition during the second war. These essays note the changes or intensifications of earlier positions among the German cultural community. The volume is based on a workshop held in Madison in 1989 and addresses the effects of the wars on the lives and works of such writers as Gottfried Benn, Bertolt Brecht, Ernst Junger and Thomas Mann. It also considers filmmakers, graphic artists, writers from both the bourgeois and socialist women's movements and the wartime mandarins of "Germanistik". It closes with an essay on 20th-century German and Austrian views on the idea of a unified Europe.