Ludwig Thoma member of political party German Fatherland Party
First World War
Until then, Thomas' attitude had been left-liberal. So he had not held back from often biting criticism of society, church and state. This changed with the beginning of the First World War. Simplicissimus became increasingly less strident, and Thoma could not and did not want to withdraw from the general enthusiasm for the war, especially among intellectuals. He volunteered as a medic and moved in 1915 with a Bavarian Division to the Eastern Front in Galicia. There he became seriously ill with dysentery and became unfit for military service. Many works appeared in the particularly productive year of 1916. In 1917, Thoma advertised in the Miesbacher Anzeiger for subscription to war bonds. "Our fatherland must carry on the war to the victorious end", it said in October 1917 under the headline "Why does the farmer have to subscribe to the war bond?" In July 1917 he enrolled as a member of the German Fatherland Party, which advocated an uncompromising victory. He spoke several times for the Fatherland Party, as in the summer of 1917 in Munich's Löwenbräukeller.He could not cope with the looming war defeat in November 1918. He no longer understood the world and bitterly withdrew to his house. 
In summer of 1918 he met Maidi Liebermann von Wahlendorf (1883–1971), who came from the Jewish sparkling wine dynasty Feist-Belmont and was now married. Thoma fell passionately in love with her and bemoaned his fate for not having taken her as his wife at the time. Until his death he was to court her vigorously. Although she remained close to him, she could not bring herself to move in with him completely, since her husband refused to divorce.
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