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This project explores the manner in which one form of political
legitimacy came to overtake another, the enfranchisement of the
Volk at the expense of monarchy during World War I Germany. The
project begins with the "festive year" 1913, when the Wilhelmine
regime celebrated the centennial of the Wars of Liberation as well
as Kaiser Wilhelm II's Silver Jubilee. In these ceremonies the
monarchy attempted to legitimize itself before the German public,
but failed to achieve broad, popular participation. The study then
shifts to the nationalist demonstrations of July-August 1914, their
problematic relationship to the police, and the regime that
ultimately came to fear these aggressive and spontaneous patriotic
displays. Not only does the kaiser never engage the crowds, but he
emerges as a distant and shadowy figure when juxtaposed to these
vibrant throngs. The project then investigates the persistent
translation of the war from an official to a popular version
beginning in August 1914, which the government was unable to shape,
direct, or control. These popular manifestations of the war
included the interactions of rumors and crowds, celebrations of new
wartime heroes independent of the kaiser, and new forms of popular
mobilization that contributed to the ultimate collapse of the
Wilhelmine monarchy in November 1918.
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