Thomas Mann was an important novelist and social commentator, and his book Reflections of a Nonpolitical Man shows these traits as well as a personal side to the man as he argues against his brother's pacifism in World War I. Mann would change his views about how Germany should behave toward the rest of the world as he saw the rise of fascism, and he would become a spokesman for liberal democracy. In this book, he shows the reader his doubts and concerns about his country, its place in the world, his brother and the latter's attitude, and other matters related to the impending crisis in Europe. The book shows much about the writer as well as giving a strong portrait of the political and social ferment of the time.
As Walter D. Morris, editor and translator, notes in the Introduction, Thomas Mann showed little interest in politics before the war, and he was indeed the nonpolitical man of the title. The fact of war often focuses the attention on the issues involved and in some way radicalizes people who otherwise would be nonpolitical, and Mann was a man who was affected in this way. Mann believed that Germany, his country, was in the morally superior position and that the actions of the German people were morally correct. In this book, he tries to explain his feelings on this matter and to show the war was not a German invention, that Germany had in fact been attacked, and that the nature of the war was based on the fact that Germany was defending her culture and her way of life against the encroachments of others.
The war is actually seen here as the culmination of a long-term struggle of Germany against the rest of Europe. He sees the source of the war on the German side in what he calls Germany's innate and historical "protestantism (29). In this book, Mann proceeds to extol the virtues of German culture and to downgrade the cultures of those countries now in conflict with Germany. He sees the battle as a cultural wa...