Spirit of 1914
The Spirit of 1914 (German: Geist von 1914; or, more frequently, Augusterlebnis, lit. 'August Experience') was the name given to the feeling of euphoria that affected parts of the German population at the start of World War I. For many decades after the war, the enthusiasm was portrayed as nearly universal, but studies since the 1970s have shown that it was more limited. It was experienced primarily by the educated upper and middle classes in the large cities who saw it as exciting, a chance to reshape lives and to lift Germany to its proper role as a great world power.