The US invasion of Iraq in 2003 was done mainly, if one is to believe US policy at the time, to liberate the people of Iraq from an oppressive dictator. However, the many protests in London, New York, and other cities imply that the policy of making the world safe for democracy was not shared by millions of people in many Western countries. Thinking about this controversy inspired the present volume, which takes a closer look at how society responded to the outbreaks and conclusions of the First and Second World Wars. In order to examine this relationship between the conduct of wars and public opinion, leading scholars trace the moods and attitudes of the people of four Western countries (Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy) before, during and after the crucial moments of the two major conflicts of the twentieth century. Focusing less on politics and more on how people experienced the wars, this volume shows how the distinction between enthusiasm for war and concern about its consequences is rarely clear-cut.

Lothar Kettenacker was deputy director of the German Historical Institute London (1975 2004) and held an adjunct professorship at the Goethe University Frankfurt. He did his PhD on Nazi occupation policy in Alsace. He has published on the history of the Third Reich, Anglo-German relations and the history of the Federal Republic. His most recent book isGermany 1989: In the Aftermath of the Cold War(2009).

List of Contributors

Chapter 1. Old Europe and the Legacy of Two World Wars
Lothar Kettenacker andTorsten Riotte

Chapter 2. Prevention or Regulation of War? The Hague Peace Conferences as a limited Tool for Reforming the international System before 1914
Jost Dülffer

Chapter 3. The Spirit of 1914: A Critical Examination of War Enthusiasm in German Society
Gerhard Hirschfeld

Chapter 4.Construction and Deconstruction of the Idea of French War Enthusiasm in 1914
Nicolas Beaupré

Chapter 5. The Mood in Britain 1914
Hartmut von Pogge Strandmann

Chapter 6. The First World War in the History of the Weimar Republic
Gerd Krumreich

Chapter 7. Fascism and Legacy of the Great War
Angelo Ventrone

Chapter 8. The French Desire for Peace and Security in the 1920s
Jean-Claude Allain

Chapter 9. Britain in the Wake in the Great War
Jay Winter

Chapter 10. Germany: War without Public Backing
Hans Mommsen

Chapter 11. The French Entry into the War in September 1939: Between Reluctans and Resignation
Barbara Lambauer

Chapter 12. Great Britain: Declaring War as a Matter of Honour
Lothar Kettenacker

Chapter 13. Disillusionment, Pragmatism, Indifference: German Society after the Catastrophe
Clemens Vollnhals

Chapter 14. The French after 1945. Difficulties and Disappointments of an Immediate Post-War Period
Fabrice Grenard

Chapter 15. Great Britain: Remembering a Just War (1945-1950)
Toby Haggith

Chapter 16.Italy after 1945: War and Peace. Defeat and Liberation
Gustavo Corni

Bibliography
Index