"The Rites of Spring: The Great War ..."

Paper Summary:

This paper explains Eksteins' position as presented in his book "The Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age" that the German aggressors' view of the Great War was (1) an inextricable link with their culture and (2) a German territorial aggrandizement. The author points out the British view of war at the time of World War I was different from the German view in that the war was a struggle to preserve British social values. The paper relates that the propaganda, which fueled Nazism's spread was largely based on Nazism's reinterpretation and use of old Germanic mythology; Hitler's movement took root in a society reeling from the effects of the Treaty of Versailles.

From the Paper:

"Previously, the French were the antagonists of the British on the European continent, but now Germany had taken over that role (116). The French had represented "flux and irresponsibility in the world," and now it was the Germans who did so (116). In contrast, the British saw themselves as the stable point of the world. They were proud of the stability the "Pax Britannica" brought, a peace ensured through military might and a far-flung network of colonies through the world (117). It was a reactionary view, as opposed to the progressive view of the Germans."

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