What effects did the First World War have on German and English society? The book answers this question from a new perspective: Sonja Levsen examines how English and German students designed themselves as a national elite before and after the First World War. By making a double comparison, Levsen can show that before 1918 both sides of the canal had similarities. The decisive factor for the radically divergent development after 1918 are the consequences of victory and defeat in the world war: while the military victory in England enabled a process of pluralization and individualization, the defeat among German students led to a fixation on community, nation and the ideal of military masculinity .