Cultural Consensus, Political Conflict: The Problem of Unity among German Intellectuals during World War I

When World War I erupted in 1914, German artists, writers, and academics seemed to be united behind a shared belief that the military struggle of World War I was actually the manifestation of a deeper and more ferocious spiritual or cultural war (Kulturkrieg). Using propagandistic wartime writings, they invoked the idea that Germany’s unique spirit of community and idealism (Kultur) was under assault by Allied individualism and materialism (Zivilisation). Many were convinced that defeat in this conflict meant the total destruction of the German way of life, while victory would propel the German nation toward a new era of prosperity. Strangely, however, in spite of its unanimity concerning the Kulturkrieg, by the end of the war the German intellectual community had disintegrated into various competing factions. This study explores the reasons for this division and challenges the notion that German intellectuals were ever deeply united during World War I.