“Religion appears in so many contexts in WW1. Religion shaped the national identities and ambitions of several of the key players, especially Germany and Russia, both of which defined themselves as messianic nations. In both countries too, secular elites delved deeply into apocalyptic and prophetic ideas, giving their nations a millenarian bent.” GivingIdeasCountryNationsPlayerIdentityKeysAmbitionRussiaDefinedGermanyElitesSecularBentApocalypticPropheticNational Identity Author:Philip Jenkins
“The typical WW1 soldier was not an intellectual like Ernst Jünger or Wilfred Owen, but was a peasant draftee from Galicia or Bavaria or Sicily, with all the traditional religious ideas. The hothouse atmosphere of war brought everyone into a supernatural-oriented universe of ghosts and apparitions.” IdeasWarUniverseReligiousIntellectualSoldierGhostTraditionalAtmosphereTypicalPeasantsApparitions Author:Philip Jenkins