The First World War left Europe in a state of chaos, scarring millions of people mentally and physically. The generation that survived the war would have difficulty adapting to the post-war world. Lost generation writers trying to capture the essence of the post-war era are disillusioned with tradition and culture. Siddhartha, written by Hermann Hesse in the aftermath of the Great War, reflects a loss of faith in power, society and tradition (Borbély, Stefan). This is similar to the tradition of Lost Generation writers such as Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemmingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. At the start of World War I in 1914, Hermann Hesse (Quinn, Edward) worked in a German medical corps. Disillusioned, he wrote Oh Friends, Not These Tones!, a book opposed to German nationalism. Devoting himself to humanitarian work, Hesse soon left the service. He traveled to places like Indonesia and Sri Lanka where Buddhism influenced him. In 1922 he wrote Siddhartha about a young man who travels disillusioned and disoriented in search of enlightenment (Borbély, Stefan). He wrote it in the tradition of the Lost Generation, using themes such as loss, disillusionment, non-conformism, detachment from tradition, skepticism towards all authority, the search for complacency and dissatisfaction. Tensions on the ground were high between the great powers; France, Italy, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Great Britain and Russia, forming alliances with each other by saying who they would side with if war broke out. With tensions high with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria he was killed by Serbian nationalists. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and made alliances and treaties between the great powers. On July 28, 1914 Austria invaded Serbia setting in motion all the...... middle of paper...... not going around in circles they are working their way up a tortuous case they are making progress even when it seems they are failing. Siddhartha with the Samman practices dissatisfaction: “Before Siddhartha there was a purpose, a single purpose: to become empty, empty of thirst, empty of desires, empty of dreams, empty of joy and pain. Dead to himself, no longer being himself, finding tranquility with an emptied heart, being open to miracles in altruistic thoughts, that was his goal. Once my entire self had been overcome and died, once every desire and every impulse was silent in my heart, then the last part of me had to reawaken, the most intimate part of my being, which is no longer myself, the big secret. (2.3) Siddhartha is depriving himself of life to reach nirvana. He has a goal: to be so dissatisfied with life that he can feel life again in the next stage of life.