This poster is a testament not only to the propaganda tactics of European governments, but also to the history of alliances that caused World War I.

Many others were excited that it had. The popular mood on the eve of war was bright in most European cities. Large crowds gathered to express their opinions, persuading European statesmen to harden their diplomatic positions. Even as mobilization orders were issued during early August, European leaders had reservations about war. Those concerns were washed away by the crowds, who welcomed their leaders' decisions to fight.

The spirit of nationalism that had helped trigger the war also helped to fuel it. In Berlin, crowds gathered in late July to wait for the Serbs' response to Austria's ultimatum. They cheered the news of Serbia's resistance, which meant war. "Et jeht los," they cheered. 'It is on.' New crowds formed, unified, a Berlin reporter wrote, by "war, war, and a sense of togetherness."

Europe and the African colonies on the eve of World War I, 1914.

Not every German supported the war. Indeed, anti-war gatherings occurred in thirty-two German cities in late July. But as war neared, many of these protesters shared in the expressions of nationalism. By August 1, the Association of German Jews was declaring "that every German Jew is ready to sacrifice all the property and blood demanded by duty."

Young Europeans rushed to serve their country and to experience the excitement of battle. Fighting for one's country was seen as the highest form of self-sacrifice. One writer commented "thousands of men eager to fight would jostle one another outside recruiting offices, waiting to join up..." The writer continued: "The word 'duty' had a meaning for them, and the word 'country' had regained its splendor."

Soldiers left their towns and cities for the front, singing patriotic songs as their fellow citizens threw flowers and good wishes their way. In Paris, men marched while singing the "Marseillaise," the French national anthem. Spectators called to the troops to "send me the Kaiser's moustache."

This British poster, There's Room for You, shows the spirit and excitement that motivated young men at the onset of WWI.

Europe's cultural crisis of the spirit also fueled support for the war. Many Europeans, especially intellectuals, had grown tired of peace and welcomed the excitement, the heroism, and the national unity that war would produce. Even as the blood began to flow, the German writer Thomas Mann asked how one could not "praise God for the collapse of a peaceful world with which he was fed up, so exceedingly fed up." The war, for Mann and other Germans, was seen as "purification" and "liberation."

The exuberance of millions calling for war astonished others. The great British philosopher Bertrand Russell sadly wrote of his "amazement that average men and women were delighted at the prospect of war…The anticipation of carnage was delightful to something like 90% of the population. I had to revise my views on human nature." But Europeans' memories of war and its carnage were very distant. Localized wars, usually short in duration, had occurred in Germany, France, Russia, and the Balkans. The last great land war involving mass armies had taken place a century earlier during Napoleon's rampage through western Europe. Few Europeans understood that developments in technology ensured a much bloodier war.

Nearly six million men received their marching orders in early August. Germany mobilized one and one-half million troops in less than a week, moving them rapidly via its rail network. About 550 trains moved across the Rhine River each day. Within two weeks, France had mobilized nearly three million men, using about 7,000 trains.

Postcards, like this German one from 1914, were mass-produced during WWI. The postcards often showed glorified images of the war. In this case, the Germans illustrated greater destruction of Antwerp, Belgium, than actually occurred to prove Germany's military prowess.

In every country, feelings ran high that the war would be over by the time "the leaves fall," or by Christmas 1914 at the very latest. But there was to be no knockout blow, no decisive victory, and no armistice. The stalemate led to three bitter years of trench warfare.