Background Knowledge o The second event was even larger o World War I. at the tender age of 14. he saw the extremes that nationalism could go to All around him, he heard the message: We (Germans)are great; They(the English and their allies)are cheap mercenaries. The hatred, the war hysteria, " frightened him as well it shouldI. Background Knowledge ⚫ The second event was even larger: ⚫ World War I. At the tender age of 14, he saw the extremes that nationalism could go to. All around him, he heard the message: We (Germans) are great; They (the English and their allies) are cheap mercenaries. The hatred, the "war hysteria," frightened him, as well it should