'Fighting a Philosophy': The Figure of Nietzsche in British Propaganda of the First World War

The article describes how Nietzsche's name became a focus for the expression of anti-German sentiment in writings by British opinion-formers and propagandists at the time of the First World War. Drawing on a range of sources, this essay counters the view that Nietzsche's impact on British public opinion in 1914 was negligible. It is argued that the singular view of Nietzsche which emerged in Britain at this time was due not only to the demands of wartime propaganda but also to the malleability of Nietzsche's texts. The article emphasizes the irony of this exploitation, given Nietzsche's hostility to nationalism and Germanness.