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War Aims and the Liberal Conscience: Lujo Brentano and Annexationism During the First World War

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2008

Ernest A. Menze
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Extract

This paper examines the war aims advocated during the First World War by Lujo Brentano, one of the founding members of the Verein für Sozialpolitik, the organization serving as the forum for the sociopolitical activities of the Kathedersozialisten. Though Brentano's career has been surveyed, James J. Sheehan's necessarily brief account of his attitudes and conduct during the First World War does not fully explore the impact of wartime annexationism on Brentano. A lifelong Anglophile and advocate of liberal ideals in social, economic, and political questions, Brentano serves as a case study of the impact of nationalism in times of stress on individuals who, on the basis of their previous record, might have been expected to be more resistant to its appeals.

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Articles
Information
Central European History , Volume 17 , Issue 2-3 , June 1984 , pp. 140 - 158
Copyright
Copyright © Conference Group for Central European History of the American Historical Association 1984

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References

1. Sheehan, James J., The Career of Lujo Brentano (Chicago and London, 1966).Google Scholar

2. Schwabe, Klaus, Wissenschaft und Kriegsmoral: Die deutschen Hochschullehrer und die politischen Grundfragen des Ersten Weltkrieges (Göttingen, Zurich, Frankfurt, 1969), 186.Google Scholar

3. The merits of the Sonderweg thesis were discussed and reaffirmed recently by Georg G. Iggers in an essay reviewing books by Faulenbach, Bernd and Metz, Karl Heinz. History and Theory 13, no. 1 (1983): 74–83.Google Scholar

4. Jarausch, Konrad H., Students, Society and Politics in Imperial Germany: The Rise of Academic Illiberalism (Princeton, 1982), 394–425, 414–16.Google Scholar

5. Brentano, Lujo, Mein Leben im Kampf um die soziale Entwicklung Deutschlands (Jena, 1931)Google Scholar. 316, hereafter cited as Leben.

6. Ibid., 316–17. The proclamation was first published in the Kölnische Zeitung of Oct. 4, 1914. It was republished within the context of an edition of the letters exchanged between two French scholars and Brentano in this matter, which was brought out by the German League of Scientists and Artists (Künstler, Kulturbund deutscher Gelehrter und: Briefwechsel zwischen den Herren Yves Guyot und Daniel Bellet und Herrn Lujo Brentano [Berlin, 1914], iii–viGoogle Scholar, hereafter cited as Guyot-Bellet). Instrumental in arranging for the translation and publication of these letters were the Progressive deputy Georg Gothein and the leader of the Center party, Matthias Erzberger. (Georg Gothein to Brentano, Berlin, Dec. 3, 1914, Brentano Nachlass, Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Folder 21, hereafter abbreviated BN.) For the English text see Lutz, R. H., Fall of the German Empire, 1914–1918, 2 vols. (reprint, New York, 1969), 1: 74–79.Google Scholar

7. Brentano to an unidentified “colleague,” Baden-Baden, Feb. 9, 1916, BN 64 (handwritten copy).

8. Guyot-Bellet, iii–vi.

9. Meinecke, Friedrich, “Kultur, Machtpolitik und Militarismus,” in Hintze, Otto et al. , eds., Deutschland und der Weltkrieg (Leipzig and Berlin, 1915), 617–43, 628, 639.Google Scholar

10. Ibid., 2–3, 39.

11. Ludwig Quidde to Brentano, Munich, Nov. 18, 1914, BN 49. Brentano had said that “even if Kant welcomed the French Revolution, he still captured the spirit of Frederick the Great in his famous Categorical Imperative …” (Guyot-Bellet, 17). Schmoller had also been attacked as one of the signers of the declaration, although the French were not surprised about his involvement because they attributed to him an ingrained hatred for the French. (Guyot-Bellet, 2, 19–20.) Schmoller strongly resented this insinuation and Brentano unequivocally supported Schmoller, refusing to have a wedge driven between them. (Schmoller to Brentano, Berlin, Dec. 19, 1914, BN 58; Guyot-Bellet, 10–12, 26–29.)

12. Nathan, Otto and Norden, Heinz, Einstein on Peace (New York, 1960), 3–11.Google Scholar

13. Ibid.; Brentano to Gottlieb von Jagow, Munich, Apr. 29, 1915, BN 29; Bund Neues Vaterland to Brentano, May 8, 1915, BN 43. Also, Leben, 323.

14. Theodor Wolff to Brentano, Berlin, July 1, 1915, BN 64.

15. Kulturbund deutscher Gelehrter und Künstler to Brentano, Berlin, Mar. 8, 1917, BN 31.

16. Kurt Eisner to Brentano, Gross-Hachern-München, Oct. 28, 1918, BN 16.

17. F. Glaser to Brentano, New York, Aug. 20, 1921, BN 20.

18. Wehberg, Hans, “Clemenceau und das Manifest der 93,” Berliner Tageblatt (11 8, 1919).Google Scholar This article also makes reference to a letter by Nicholas Murray Butler of Apr. 15, 1919 to the Rektor of Upsala University which lamented the prostitution of the German scholars. Ernest Mahaim to Brentano, Cointe (Schlessin), Oct. 8, 1918, “Mais je suis au regret de vous fire connaître qu'en apposant votre signature au ‘manifeste de l' Allemagne intellectuelle au monde civilisé’ (Gazette de Cologne, 20 édition du matin, Oct. 4, 1914) vous avez brisé vous-même les liens qui nous unissaient. Veuillez agréer etc.,” BN 40. Noël Sabord, Paris-Midi and Le Figaro, to Brentano, Paris, Oct. 8, 1926. After asking Brentano whether he would sign another manifesto now declaring Germany pacifist and in changed spirits, the editor asked: “Dans l'affirmative, si vous n'estimez pas qu'il incomberait aux intellectuels allemands dont vous êtes d'exprimer solennellement les sentiments de l'Allemagne de 1926 comme ils le firent pour celle de 1914?” BN 48.

19. Nathan and Norden, op. cit., 649.

20. Brentano to Ludwig Quidde, Munich, July 3, 1915, BN 49: “If we had taken Belfort in 1871, this war might not have come at all.”

21. Before the war he based his opposition on the fact that Germany needed Alsace as the liberal yeast in the conservative Prussian dough. (Brentano to Ludwig Quidde, Munich, May 21, 28, 1913, BN 49.) During the war he supplemented this argument with claims of the strategic importance of the provinces for the defense of Germany's western border. (Brentano, Lujo, “Ein Kardinalfehler des Pazifismus,” Berliner Tageblatt, [09 1, 1915].)Google Scholar

22. So he wrote to Graf Hoensbroech, the renegade Jesuit and popular publicist: “Your memorandum could create the impression that the German Reich intends to incorporate large non-German speaking territories into its territories in case of peace. I would con sider that the greatest misfortune that could befall Germany.” (Brentano to Graf Hoensbroeck, Munich, Nov. 28, 1914, BN 25.)

23. Verein Deutsche Rheinmündung to Brentano, Berlin, June 28, 1913, BN 72. The Verein, which listed as its patrons aside from the magistrates of many cities along the Rhine also the names of the Hamburg-Amerika Linie, Norddeutscher Lloyd, and Bayer Leverkusen, invited Brentano and his colleagues Lotz and Amira to found a branch organization at Munich. The draft of Brentano's negative answer appears without a date on the reverse side of this letter.

24. Brentano to Georg Gothein, Munich, Nov. 28, 1914, Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Nachlass Gothein, no. 16. Gladstone had been quoted by SirGrey, Edward. Parliamentary Debates (Commons), 5th ser., vol. 65 (1914), cols. 1819, 1822.Google Scholar

25. Brentano to Georg Gothein, Munich, Dec. 9, 1914, Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Nachlass Gothein, no. 16. Brentano quoted an article of the Frankfurter Zeitung, “Der Krieg und Bernard Shaw” (Dec. 6, 1914). This article was based on George Bernard Shaw's scathing analysis of militarism English-style in The New Statesman. (Shaw, George Bernard, “Common Sense about the War,” The New Statesman [11 14, 1914], Special War Supplement), 1–30Google Scholar. Friedrich von Bernhardi was a German general whose 1912 publication Germany and the Next War had received wide publicity in the allied countries as an example of Pan-Germanism and German aggressiveness.

26. Brentano to Gottlieb von Jagow, Munich, Apr. 29, 1915 (draft) BN 14.

27. Brentano to Ludwig Nieder, Munich, Sept. 30, 1915 (draft) BN 46. Ludwig Nieder was a former pupil of Brentano, who was active in Catholic social work in München-Gladbach. He had suggested the annexation of Belgium to rule out Anglo-French influence there after the war. (Ludwig Nieder to Brentano München-Gladbach, Oct. 19, 1915, BN 46.)

28. Brentano to Georg von Hertling, Munich, July 23, 1918, Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Nachlass Hertling, no. 46.

29. Alfred Weber to Brentano, 026 (Military Classification), Aug. 13, 1915, BN 66.

30. Alfred Weber to Brentano, 026, Sept. 5, 1915, BN 66. Weber considered Ernst Bassermann as the main obstacle to domestic unity that would make a cohesive foreign policy as outlined by him possible. He promised to continue to influence Bassermann.

31. Brentano, Lujo, “Deutschland's zukünftige Anbaufläche”, Berliner Tageblatt (10 13, 1915).Google Scholar

32. Theodor Wolff to Brentano, Berlin, Apr. 9, 1915, BN 64. Theodor Wolff to Brentano, Berlin, Nov. 23, 1915, BN 64.

33. Theodor Wolff to Brentano, Berlin, July 5, 1915, BN 64.

34. Schwabe, op. cit, 75–91, 90.

35. August von Löwis, Baltischer Vertrauensrat, Geschäftsstelle Berlin, to Brentano, Berlin, Dec. 17, 1915, BN 34.

36. “… After all, what would Austria be without us?” (Brentano to Schmoller, Munich, Oct. 10, 1914, Deutsches Zentralarchiv Abteilung Merseburg, Nachlass Schmoller). Schmoller to Brentano, Berlin, Oct. 16, 1914, BN 58.

37. Brentano to Georg Gothein, Munich, Dec. 9, 1914, Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Nachlass Gothein, no. 16. Georg Gothein to Brentano, Breslau, Dec. 11, 1914, BN 21.

38. Brentano to Georg Gothein, Munich, Dec. 16, 1914, Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Nachlass Gothein, no. 16.

39. Georg Gothein to Brentano, Breslau, Dec. 19, 1914, BN 21.

40. Schmoller to Brentano, Berlin, Apr. 24, 1915, BN 58.

41. Naumann, Friedrich, Mitteleuropa (Berlin, 1915), esp. 185, 196, 252–63.Google Scholar A thoughtful analysis of Naumann's Mitteleuropa idea is contained in Meyer, Henry Cord, Mitteleuropa in German Thought and Action 1815–1945 (The Hague, 1955), 194–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

42. Brentano, Leben, 123–24; Brentano to Schmoller, Strassburg, Sept. 30, 1884; Oct. 25, 1885, BN 59.

43. Brentano, Lujo, “Allgemeine Betrachtungen über Handelspolitik,” Berliner Tageblatt (04 22, 23, 1915).Google Scholar

44. Brentano to Friedrich Naumann, Munich, Oct. 20, 1915, Naumann Nachlass, Deutsches Zentralarchiv Potsdam.

45. Brentano, Lujo, “Unsere handelspolitischen Aussichten,” Fränkischer Kurier (05 23, 1917).Google Scholar

46. Brentano, Leben, 324–25.

47. Lujo Brentano, “Der Kardinalfehler des Pazifismus,” Berliner Tageblatt (Sept. 1, 1915).

48. Maximilian von Harden to Brentano, Berlin, Mar. 29, 1917, BN 23.

49. Brentano to Maximilan von Harden, Munich, Apr. 8, 1917; May 26, 1917, Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Harden Nachlass, Heft 2.

50. Brentano, Lujo, “Russland, der Kranke Mann,” Frankfurter Zeitung (10 23, 1917)Google Scholar; “Die Ausbeutung Italiens durch seine Freunde,” Deutsche Politik 3, no. 7 (07 1918)Google Scholar; “Die Bewucherung Italiens,” Deutsche Politik 3, no. 9 (09 1918)Google Scholar; “Die Durchdringung Italiens durch England und Amerika,” Deutsche Politik 3, no. 11 (11 1918).Google Scholar

51. Harrison, Frederic, “The German Infamy, An Apostrophe to Professor Brentano,” The Morning Post (12 8, 1917)Google Scholar. Compare also his venomous indictment of Germany published in 1915. Harrison, Frederic, The German Peril (London, 1915), 263–87.Google Scholar

52. Brentano, Lujo, “Offene Antwort an Frederic Harrison, D.C.L., Litt. D., L.L.D., Honorary Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford,” Berliner Tageblatt (02 17, 1918).Google Scholar

53. Brentano, Lujo, “Wahlreform and Sozialpolitik,” Die Zukunft 25, no. 33 (05 19, 1917): 175–90, esp. 175–76, 185, 190.Google Scholar

54. Brentano, Lujo, “Weitere Vorteile einer Parlamentarisierung,” Berliner Tageblatt (07 10, 1917).Google ScholarAnschütz, Gerhard, “Die Parlamentarisierung,” first published in the Deutsche TouristenzeitungGoogle Scholar. I quote from the annotated version in the Berliner Tageblatt (July 31, 1917).

55. Kölnische Zeitung (Aug. 11, 1917), Kōlnische Volkszeitung (Aug. 12, 1917), Hamburger Fremdenblatt (July 14, 1917), Deutsche Tageszeitung (July 15, 1917).

56. Brentano, Lujo, “Die Gegner der Parlamentisierung,” Berliner Tageblatt (08 22, 1917).Google Scholar Also Brentano, Leben, 334.

57. Compare Epstein, Klaus, Matthias Erzberger and the Dilemma of German Democracy (Princeton, 1959), 96–117.Google Scholar

58. Brentano to Harden, Munich, May 26, 1917, Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Nachlass Harden, Heft 2.

59. Heinrich Herkner to Brentano, Berlin, June 27, 1918, BN 28.

60. Brentano to Maximilian von Harden, Munich, Apr. 27, May 20, 1917, Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Nachlass Harden, Heft 2: “I am aware of the terrible state of affairs in the top offices of the land—the only mitigating factor is that it seems to be the same with the enemy.” Harden was in trouble with the censor because of his criticisms of the imperial decision to postpone the promised reforms of the Easter Message until the end of the war. Young, Harry F., Maximilian Harden (The Hague, 1959), 206CrossRefGoogle Scholar, henceforth Young, Harden. Harden's article warning the “advisors of princes” that no time was to be lost if civilization was to prevail, appeared under the title, “Für die bessere Welt,” Die Zukunft 25, no. 28 (04 14, 1917), esp. p. 35.Google Scholar

61. Young, Harden, 206–07. Die Zukunft had first been suppressed for a month early in 1916 because of an article uncomplimentary to the emperor. See Young, Harden, 191–92. The article that led to the five-month suspension in June 1917 implicitly placed the guilt for the fact that no peace negotiations were under way then on Germany. von Harden, Maximilian, “Vor dem vierten Thor,” Die Zukunft 25, no. 39 (06 30, 1917), esp. p. 354.Google Scholar

62. Brentano to Maximilian von Harden, Bad Heilbrunn (Obb.) July 11, 1917, Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Nachlass Harden, Heft 2.

63. Young, Harden, 183, 197–98.

64. Brentano to Maximilian von Harden, Munich, Oct. 13, 1918, Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Nachlass Harden, Heft 2.