Enthusiasm for war and violent patriotism, combined with clear economic interests in various categories of daily life and culture, appear to be very characteristic of the first months of World War I, which is documented by Austrian baritone Csongor Szántó with pianist and musicologist Karin Wagner on their album The Last Days of Mankind. Songs from operettas as well as traditional Wienerlied (Viennese songs) by composers such as Robert Stolz, Franz Lehár, Emil Hochreiter or Carl Michael Ziehrer are genuine examples of this initial phase of enthusiasm for war and patriotism in Viennese musical and cultural life. The great Austrian author Karl Kraus on the other hand was one of the early and harsh critics of the war; excerpts from his work are recited by the popular writer and critic Franz Schuh.