2 - The response to the outbreak of the war

Summary

The response to the proclamation of the state of siege, 31 July

On Friday, 31 July, morning newspapers reported the Russian mobilization and the German ultimatum to Russia, due to expire at noon. The specter of a German involvement in a European war was now visible on the horizon. That Friday many people chose not to go to work. In the larger cities large crowds of curious people gathered at the public squares and newspaper houses. In the smaller towns they gathered in front of the city hall or the Post Office, where the important telegrams were posted. And in the countryside many farmers left their farms for the closest town in order to find out the news.

These were mixed crowds, composed of both sexes and of members of ll occupations and age. By all accounts, those waiting were tense and worried. In Berlin, according to a Berliner Abendpost journalist, in the crowds “there was almost no sound … one spoke softly to one's neighbor about the impending decision.” In Hamburg, according to the Social Democratic functionary, Wilhelm Heberlein, “most people were depressed, as if waiting to be beheaded on the following day.” In Essen, according to the local Social Democratic newspaper, “the mood of the population is purely serious.