Editing Hermann Hesse (section)

=== During the First World War ===
At the outbreak of the [[World War I|First World War]] in 1914, Hesse registered himself as a volunteer with the [[Imperial German Army|Imperial Army]], saying that he could not sit inactively by a warm fireplace while other young authors were dying on the front. He was found unfit for combat duty, but was assigned to service involving the care of prisoners of war.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/biografien/HesseHermann/|title= Hermann Hesse Schriftsteller|access-date= 15 January 2008|publisher= Deutsches Historisches Museum|language= de}}</ref> While most poets and authors of the warring countries quickly became embroiled in a tirade of mutual hate, Hesse, seemingly immune to the general war enthusiasm of the time,<ref name="z83">Zeller, p. 83</ref> wrote an essay titled "O Friends, Not These Tones" ("O Freunde, nicht diese Töne"),{{Ref_label|a|a|none}} which was published in the {{Lang|de|[[Neue Zürcher Zeitung]]}}, on 3 November.<ref name="Mileck">{{Cite book |year=1977 |author=Mileck, Joseph |title=Hermann Hesse: Biography and Bibliography |volume=1 |page=42 |place=Berkeley, Los Angeles, London |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-02756-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zjdi21x9s1oC&q=%22Hermann+Hesse:+biography%22&pg=PR3 |access-date=11 October 2010}}</ref> In this essay he appealed to his fellow intellectuals not to fall for nationalistic madness and hatred.<ref name=z83 /><ref name=Mileck/> Calling for subdued voices and recognition of Europe's common heritage,<ref>Freedman (1978) p. 166</ref> Hesse wrote: "That love is greater than hate, understanding greater than ire, peace nobler than war, this exactly is what this unholy World War should burn into our memories, more so than ever felt before".<ref>Zeller, pp. 83–84</ref> What followed from this, Hesse later indicated, was a great turning point in his life. For the first time, he found himself in the middle of a serious political conflict, attacked by the German press, the recipient of hate mail, and distanced from old friends. However, he did receive support from his friend [[Theodor Heuss]], and the French writer [[Romain Rolland]], who visited Hesse in August 1915.<ref>Freedman (1978) pp. 170–71.</ref> In 1917, Hesse wrote to Rolland, "The attempt...to apply love to matters political has failed".<ref>Freedman (1978) p. 189</ref>

This public controversy was not yet resolved when a deeper life crisis befell Hesse with the death of his father on 8 March 1916, the serious illness of his son Martin, and his wife's [[schizophrenia]]. He was forced to leave his military service and begin receiving [[psychotherapy]]. This began for Hesse a long preoccupation with [[psychoanalysis]], through which he came to know [[Carl Jung]] personally, and was challenged to new creative heights. Hesse and Jung both later maintained a correspondence with Chilean author, diplomat and Nazi sympathizer [[Miguel Serrano]], who detailed his relationship with both figures in the book ''C. G. Jung & Hermann Hesse: A Record of Two Friendships''. During a three-week period in September and October 1917, Hesse penned his novel ''[[Demian]]'', which would be published following the armistice in 1919 under the pseudonym Emil Sinclair.