by John Lawrence
"Einstein's contempt for Germany's authoritarian schools and militarist atmosphere made him want to renounce his citizenship in that country. This was reinforced by Jost Winteler, who disdained all forms of nationalism and instilled in Einstein the belief that people should consider themselves citizens of the world. So he asked his father to help him drop his German citizenship. The release came through in January 1896, and for the time being he was stateless."
"Einstein also became an early member of the liberal and cautiously pacifistic New Fatherland League, a club that pushed for an early peace [to the First World War] and the establishment of a federal structure in Europe to avoid future conflicts. It published a pamphlet titled "The Creation of the United States of Europe," and it helped get pacifist literature into prisons and other places."
"In November, Einstein published a three-page essay titled "My Opinion of the War" that skirted the border of what was permissible, even for a great scientist, to say in Germany. He speculated that there existed "a biologically determined feature of the male character" that was one of the causes of war."
"The idea that war had a biological basis in male aggression was a topic Einstein also explored in a letter to his friend in Zurich, Heinrich Zangger. "What drives people to kill and maim each other so savagely?" Einstein asked. "I think it is the sexual character of the male that leads to such wild explosions.""
—above quotes from "Einstein: His Life and Universe" by Walter Isaacson. There is an excellent series on PBS called "Genius" based on Isaacson's book.
