Germany from Empire to Ruin, 1913–1945

371 Pages·1973·36.42 MB·English

by  Henry Cord Meyer (eds.)

A volume
in
THE DOCUMENTARY HISTORY
of
WESTERN CIVILIZATION
Germany from Empire to Ruin, 1913-1945
Germany from Empire to Ruin,
1913-1945
edited by
HENRY CORD MEYER
Palgrave Macmillan
Introductory essay, editorial notes, chronologies,
bibliographies and translations by the editor
Copyright© 1973 by Henry Cord Meyer
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1973
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, without permission.
First published in the United States 1973
First published in the United Kingdom 1973
Published by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD.
London and Basingstoke
Associated companies in New York, Dublin,
Melbourne, Johannesburg and Madras
SBN: 333-07959-0
ISBN 978-0-333-07959-1 ISBN 978-1-349-00537-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-00537-6
For Hank, Chris, and Jane:
"There is within us a basic human substance which
changes less than is sometimes imagined."
Anatole France
Acknowledgments
I am particularly indebted to Mrs. Agnes F. Petersen of the
Hoover Institution, Stanford, California, for consultations and
assistance with bibliographical details. My colleague, Professor
Jon S. Jacobson, was ever-helpful in scanning material and text.
Valuable translation assistance was given by Evelyn Champagne,
Gunter Mende, George Harlow Mills, and John T. Walker.
Finally, I appreciate the painstaking typing of Mrs. Mary
Stechow, Mrs. Betty Beth, and Miss Dee Gerald.
Villa Serbelloni
Bellagio, Italy
October 1972
Contents
Introduction 1
Prologue 27
1. German Youth from Confidence to Skepticism 28
I. THE GERMAN EMPIRE IN PEACE AND wAR,
1913-1918 40
2. The Kaiser's Proclamation of Gratitude in Contemplation
of His Silver Jubilee 41
3. Socialist Reaction to the Silver Jubilee 42
4. Liberal-Bourgeois Commentary on the Reign of
William II 45
5. Selected Documents on Prewar German Foreign Policy 49
6. A Socialist Records the Coming of the War 56
7. The Psychological Impact of World War I upon
Germany 63
II. REvOLUTION, CoNsTITUTION, AND PEACE TREATY,
1918-1919 71
8. A Memoir of the Revolution and the Spartacist Revolt 72
9. Politics and Democracy in the Making of the Weimar
Constitution 91
10. TheTraumaofVersailles 102
III. THE CoNsoLIDATION oF THE WEIMAR REGIME,
1920-1929 117
11. Conditions for Conversion to National Socialism 118
12. From Inflation to Corruption 128
13. Gustav Stresemann and the Locarno Pact 13 7
14. Out of the Wilderness 146
xii CONTENTS
IV. DEPRESSION AND PoLITics, 1930-1932 152
15. From the Heart of Germany, 1931 153
16. Nazi-Communist Cooperation to Destroy the Weimar
Republic 158
17. Hitler's Address to the Industriekluh, January 27, 1932 165
18. TheWa ning of the Weimar Era 171
V. THE "CoNsERVATIVE REvoLuTioN" AND
NATIONAL SociALISM, 1930-19.33 179
19. A Theory of the "Conservative Revolution" 180
20. Ideals and Aims of a "Conservative Revolutionary" 183
21. Warnings from an Anti-Nazi Conservative 191
VI. NATIONAL SociALisM SEIZES PowER, 193 3 198
22. Hitler's Proclamation to the German Nation,
February 1, 1933 199
23. Pages from Goebbels' Diary, January-May, 1933 203
24. Final Reichstag Address of Otto Wels, March 23, 1933 216
25 . Against the Un-German Spirit 219
26. Anti-Semitic Hate Propaganda 221
VII. THE NATIONAL SociALIST CoNSOLIDATION OF
VICTORY, 1933-1937 226
27. An Australian Views the Third Reich 226
VIII. THE RoAD TO WAR, 1936-1939 245
2 8. Fuhrer Memorandum on the Tasks of a Four-Year
Plan, 1936 246
29. Minutes of the Conference in the Reich Chancellery,
Berlin, November 5, 1937 250
30. Hitler Speaks to the German Press after the Humiliation
of Czechoslovakia, November 10, 193 8 2 56
31. The Fuhrer Conference of May 23, 1939 263
32. Speech by the Fuhrer to the Commanders-in-Chief,
August 22, 1939 268
CONTENTS ntl
ss
IX. THE EMERGENCE OF THE STATE, 1939-1945 272
33. The SS Takes over the Third Reich, 1939-1944 273
34. Heinrich Himmler on Germany's Future in the East, 1942 277
35. A Memoir of Life in Concentration Camps 284
X. CoLLAPSE AND PERSPECTIVES FOR RENEWAL,
1943-1945 300
36. Soviet Russia Anticipates the Post-Nazi Era 301
37. Objectives of the Anti-Nazi Conspiracy, July 20, 1944 303
38 . A Journal of Defeat and Retribution, 1945 311
39. German Confession, 1945 326
40. Our Most Urgent Task, 1945 331
Chronological List 3 36
Bibliography 342
Index 349