Every German wanted to do his duty.
The most noteworthy thing was the earnest quietness with which the
gigantic gathering proceeded. Not a city, not a village reported unrest
or even an untoward incident. The separation was hard for many a
soldier. Many a volunteer tore himself away from his dear ones with
bleeding heart, but with face beaming with the light of one who looks
forward to victory. Following the Kaiser's wish, those who remained
behind filled the churches and, kneeling, prayed to God for victory for
the just German cause. The folk-war, brought on by the wantonness of the
opponents, in itself brought peace and order, safety and discipline.
Never, probably, have the police had fewer excesses to deal with than in
the days of the mobilization, although great crowds gathered constantly
in every city.
The best criterion of the enthusiasm of the people is without doubt the
number of volunteers. More than 1,000,000 of these, a number greater
than that of the standing army, presented themselves within a few days.
They came from all classes. There were sons of the nobility, university
students, farmers, merchants, common laborers. No calling hung back.
Every young man sorrowed when he was rejected. No section of the
Fatherland was unrepresented, not even the Reichsland Alsace-Lorraine,
where, indeed, the number of volunteers was conspicuously great.
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