Prepare For The Trump Stabbed-In-The-Back Myth

During World War I, the German government, in order to keep up war morale, informed its citizens and allies that the war would surely be won by the Axis powers. At times, this required some rather fancy footwork: the military censored the newspapers, and German nationalists maintained that every defeat was a strategic retreat, every victory a step closer to total victory.

When the Germans lost, Germans were forced to cope with sudden reality. The Germans were beaten on the battlefield. But that possibility had never entered the public mind, and it wouldn’t enter it even after defeat.