Volksertuchtigung, wehrbereitschaft und volkskraft: Debatten vor und nach 1914 [Public fitness, military preparedness and national strength: Debates before and after 1914]

Historians have pointed to the connection between fitness campaigns and attempts to improve the military fitness of the population during the German Empire. They have paid less attention to the civilian aspects of physical fortification. For liberal elites physical fitness was not only important for the defensive power of the country. A healthy and fit population was also necessary to ensure German productivity and international competitiveness. While the war exacerbated concerns about military fitness, debates about economic significance of physical fitness never ceased and moved to center stage in discussions about the postwar future as the war progressed.