As I've understood it the total warfare of WWI made it different from many earlier wars that occupied the European powers in that it concerned not only the professional army in the field but mobilised most of the countries involved for the war effort. It seems to me like this would mean that keeping the people enthusiastic about the war would be rather important. On the other hand I can't quite see how the goals and reasons for the war where relevant to the average person on the street, especially in those countries that where drawn in through alliances rather than having a stake of their own.
So, were people in these countries enthusiastic about the war and what were their motivations if they were?
Also, if I've gotten my view all backwards please set me straight!
^ These answers I've given previously should be pertinent!
As I've understood it the total warfare of WWI made it different from many earlier wars that occupied the European powers in that it concerned not only the professional army in the field but mobilised most of the countries involved for the war effort. It seems to me like this would mean that keeping the people enthusiastic about the war would be rather important. On the other hand I can't quite see how the goals and reasons for the war where relevant to the average person on the street, especially in those countries that where drawn in through alliances rather than having a stake of their own.
Putting aside the issue of how 'Total' WWI was (indeed, what defines "Total War"?), maintaining civilian morale was important, but did not stem from any 'enthusiasm' for conflict and war on the part of the non-combatants, though there were some who greeted the war in this way. As to the relevance of the causes of the war to the ordinary citizenry, almost none of the countries involved save perhaps Turkey and Japan were drawn into the war purely out of alliances. Serbia and Belgium were attacked outright, Russia was intervening on Serbia's behalf when Germany declared war on both Russia and France, Britain intervened to aid Belgium, and more importantly to maintain the continental balance of power, while Germany and Austria-Hungary each chose to pursue war out of a belief that the current state of affairs and state system was hostile to their interests as Great Powers, and determined to 'break the encirclement' allegedly erected by the 'Triple Entente.' These were issues spanning foreign policy, national security and interests, and were very much relevant to the average person on the street, especially as countries like Belgium, Serbia, Austria-Hungary, Germany and France, and also Russia, would be or might be faced with invasions.
So, were people in these countries enthusiastic about the war and what were their motivations if they were? Also, if I've gotten my view all backwards please set me straight!
I'm largely restating what I've said in earlier answers, all of which are available on my wiki page, and more from other users should be in the FAQs. Suffice to say, study of first hand accounts from the period of late July-early August 1914, such as diaries and newspaper articles, convey a wide variety of responses to the war, negative, positive and neutral, many experienced by the same individuals. Alexander Watson's book Ring of Steel indicates that responses in Austria-Hungary were more divisive than unifying, particularly among the Empire's Slavic population. In Germany, nationalists and socialists demonstrated for and against the war in Berlin, while in the countryside of both Germany and France, as Jeffrey Verhey and Jean Jacques Becker's work has indicated, was at best ambivalent. In Britain, there were anti-war protests in London, while enlistment didn't really pick up until the first week of September while the recruitment office was still overwhelmed and had to turn back thousands of would be volunteers, due to how small and unprepared the British Army was for war.
TL;DR: "War Enthusiasm" is a myth, at least the idea that it was widespread and unanimous. People did express solidarity and patriotism in the weeks and days to come, a la the Union Sacree in France and the Burgfrieden in Germany, but these were more measured responses to immediate threats than to any enthusiasm for war.