> but he was enthusiastically supported by a large portion of the German society.

I can't tell you what my relatives were like leading up to the war (I certainly wasn't born at that point), but they were illiterate peasants from the south, far removed from the cities and politics.

My suspicion is that, if anything, they were like most southern Italians, who seem to have a profound distrust of the government and politicians.

If I'm honest, they didn't have any moral objections to the war--they just felt used.

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BobbyJo 4 days ago | parent [-]

People forget that the popularity of being anti-war is relatively new, like maybe 100-150 years old. World War 1 popped off so quickly specifically because moral objections to war from the standpoint of "violence is wrong" were just not even part of the discussion. Even during World War 2, most objections within the US to entering the war were based on it just not being our problem.

Up until the last century, violence was seen as just another necessary part of living, and morality only came into play when it involved you're own community.

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cafard 4 days ago | parent [-]

Up to some point not that long ago, public opinion as we know it didn't exist, and for some time after that it didn't matter much. I'm mentioning this because the poster you are responding to is writing about Italy. Italy's entrance into WW I was deeply unpopular in the south of Italy, and not all that popular elsewhere, I gather.

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BobbyJo 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

I was just adding color to the statement that they didn't believe their family's objections were necessarily moral objections.

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tcmart14 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Just some other fascinating things about WW1 and Italy. Mussolini was heavily was heavily in the Italian socialist party. His family was socialist. World War 1 breaks out, he leaves/get kicked out of the party for his support of WW1. And it wasn't just Mussolini, it caused a huge fracture in the socialist party. The main party line was neutral with a heavy anti-war stance. Which I would suggest leads Mussolini to what would become Mussolini and perhaps with a lot less opposition. I would say there is probably some evidence there giving credit to the claim that today it is probably much more easier to maintain an anti-war stance than in the past.

	▲	cafard 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		Some book on WW I, I think by Alistair Horne, claims in passing that the French bought Mussolini.