The Failure of Illiberalism: Essays on the Political Culture of Modern Germany PDF
Preview The Failure of Illiberalism: Essays on the Political Culture of Modern Germany
THE FAILURE OF ILLIBERALISM THE FAILURE OF «.LIBERALISM Essays on the Political Culture of Modern Germany FRITZ STERN Columbia University Press • New York Columbia University Press Morningside Edition Columbia University Press New York Oxford Morningside Edition with new preface Copyright © 1992 Columbia University Press Copyright © 1975 University of Chicago Press Phoenix Edition Copyright © 1971 Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Copyright © 1971 Fritz Stem Copyright © 1970 Fritz Stem Copyright © 1969 Fritz Stem Copyright © 1967 Fritz Stem Copyright © 1960 Fritz Stem Copyright © 1955 Fritz Stem Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Stem, Fritz Richard, 1926- The failure of illiberalism : essays on the political culture of modem Germany / Fritz Stem.—[Morningside ed.] p. cm. Originally published: New York : Knopf, 1972. With new introd. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-231-07908-7 (hb)—ISBN 0-231-07909-5 (pb) : 1. Germany—Politics and government—1871-1918. 2. Germany—Politics and government—20th century. 3. National socialism—History. 4. Political culture—Germany—History—20th century. I. Title. DD232.S77 1992 306.2'0943—dc20 92-7236 CIP Casebound editions of Columbia University Press books are Smyth-sewn and printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper Printed in the United States of America c 10 987654321 p 10 987654321 To the memory of Richard Hofstadter in abiding affection Acknowledgment is gratefully made to the fol lowing publications which first printed these es says, some in slightly different form: History, August 1960—“The Political Conse quences of the Unpolitical German.” Central European History, Volume III, Num bers 1/2, March/June 1970—“Money, Mor als, and the Pillars of Bismarck’s Society.” American Historical Review, October 1969— “Gold and Iron: The Collaboration and Friendship of Gerson Bleichröder and Otto von Bismarck.” Doubleday & Company, Inc.—“Bethmann Hollweg and the War: The Limits of Respon sibility”—from the book The Responsibility of Power, edited by Fritz Stem and Leonard Krieger; “A Liberal Historian and the War,” from the book The Era of Tyrannies (1965), by Élie Halévy, with a note by Fritz Stem. Journal of International Affairs, Volume 22, Number 1, 1968, pages 126-34—“German Historians and the War,” which appeared under the title “On Continuity in German History,” copyright © by the Board of Edi tors. Political Science Quarterly, 73, March 1958— “Adenauer in Weimar,” which appeared un der the title “Adenauer and a Crisis in Wei mar Democracy.” Doubleday & Company, Inc.—“The Collapse of Weimar,” from the book The Path of Dicta torship, translated by John Conway, intro duction by Fritz Stem, copyright © 1966 by Doubleday & Company, Inc. Commentary, February 1955—“Germany Re visited,” which appeared under the title “The Fragmented People That Is Germany.” Contents Preface To The Morningside Edition xi Introduction xx Part One The Illiberal Society The Political Consequences of the Unpolitical German 3 Money, Morals, and the Pillars of Society 26 Gold and Iron: The Collaboration and Friendship of Gerson Bleichröder and Otto von Bismarck 58 Part Two Germany and the Great War Bethmann Hollweg and the War: The Bounds of Responsibility 77 The First World War: An Evocation 119 A Liberal Historian and the War: Élie Halévy's “The World Crisis of 1914-1918“ 139 German Historians and the War: Fischer and His Critics 147 Contents • viii Part Three From Weimar to Bonn Adenauer in Weimar: The Man and the System 161 The Collapse of Weimar 193 Germany Revisited: Berlin 1954 210 Index 235 Acknowledgments The publication of these essays gives me a chance to thank the many friends who over the years have given me their counsel and advice. Surely the best part of writing is learning, and in that process the criticism of others has helped me greatly. Time and again, the following friends have been willing to read early drafts of my essays: Leonard Krieger, David S. Landes, Henry L. Roberts, and Robert K. Webb. To them, my warmest thanks for responding to my importunities with inval uable comments and suggestions. In preparing one or the other of these essays I have also had the benefit of help from these friends and colleagues: Ralf Dahrendorf, Felix Gilbert, Beatrice K. Hofstadter, James Joli, Christoph and Flora Kimmich, Walter Sokel, Rudolf Vier- haus, and Philip M. Williams. At the beginning of my essay writing and at the final stage of this enterprise, my teacher and friend, Jacques Barzun, gave generously of his still awesome expertise. In the mechanics of assembling these essays I could rely on the meticulous assistance of Joan Karie. Ashbel Green of Alfred A. Knopf, forbearing and uncompromising at just the right moments, was a great and cordial help. My family has helped me in ever increasing measure: my wife by all the intangibles that are of unsurpassed importance and by contributing her patient corrections to my often hasty Acknowledgments * x formulations, my daughter Katherine by her ever cheerful, if sometimes impatient solicitude—as during a fall in Oxford when she asked regularly “How is Bethmann?”—and my son Frederick, by becoming a thoughtful critic of style and substance. The book is dedicated to Richard Hofstadter. To him I owe more than I can say. F.S. Sils-Maria, May 31,1971
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