Anglo-German Fellowship

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The Anglo-German Fellowship ( AGF ) was a British pro- Nazi organization founded in autumn 1935 by Friedrich von der Ropp (1879–1964) . The German sister organization was the German-English Society (not to be confused with the school exchange program of the same name run by the British embassy in Berlin ).

aims

The Anglo-German Fellowship included those British industrialists, bankers and senior officials who promoted an alliance with the National Socialist German Reich and - unofficially - encouraged the leading representatives of the German Reich to wage war against the Stalinist Soviet Union . The member of the Fellowship Lord Londonderry wrote to Hermann Göring on February 25, 1936 :

" Great Britain, together with Germany, must oppose Bolshevism , because if this doctrine is successful, it will cause a worldwide catastrophe on a scale [...] that nobody can imagine ."

The organization

On December 2, 1935, the first general assembly took place at the headquarters of the Unilever Group; monthly meetings were held regularly from autumn 1936.

The fellowship carried out massive pro-German propaganda in Great Britain. For years, senior SA and Hitler Youth leaders, diplomats, ministers and local politicians were invited to London clubs and country estates. Among the guests and speakers were the future Foreign Minister Ribbentrop , General Field Marshal von Blomberg , the National Socialist Reich Sports Leader Hans von Tschammer und Osten , Himmler's adjutant Hajo Freiherr von Hadeln and Duke Carl Eduard (Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) . Among the Reich Party Congresses of the Nazi Party in Nuremberg regularly drove a strong delegation from the Fellowship. Its own newspaper, the Anglo-German Review , was published. A total of 50 members from both Houses of Parliament had joined the fellowship. Lord Londonderry visited Hitler and Goering three or four times a year . There were close relationships with the Cliveden Set .

The Soviet agent Kim Philby was a member of the organization, Hitler's spy , Stéphanie zu Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst , an honorary member.

Members

The most influential members of the approximately 600 to 800 strong association were:

In addition, the following groups, companies and banks were represented by members of the board of directors or the board of directors:

  • Lloyds Bank
  • Barclays Bank
  • Midland Bank
  • National Provincial Bank
  • British Westinghouse Electric Company
  • British Overseas Bank
  • Commercial Union Assurance Bank
  • Phoenix Assurance Company

resolution

Lord Mount Temple resigned from the office of President on November 19, 1938 and along with 20 other members ceased operations. From November 1938 onwards, the Fellowship hardly appeared in public, which almost came to an end. After the occupation of the rest of the Czech Republic , the society ceased to exist.

On June 8, 1939, Londonderry wrote to Franz von Papen that he had changed his mind after Germany overran Czechoslovakia . This had shown "that a promise made by Germany had no real basis," and he stated:

"We are deeply upset about the way Germany is apparently trying to assert its supremacy in the world, and determined to oppose this venture, no matter what that resistance may require."

In an April 2 letter to Neville Chamberlain , Londonderry welcomed the British-French guarantee to Poland .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://studymore.org.uk/arce1914.htm
  2. ↑ Around 1920 he was the main initiator of the founding of the Brotherly Circle .
  3. ↑ Ian Kershaw : Hitler's Friends in England. Lord Londonderry and the Road to War . Munich 2005, p. 181.
  4. ^ EH Cookridge: Mission at Headquarters, Philby's first years as an agent . In: Der Spiegel . No. 5 , 1968 ( online ).
  5. ↑ Martha Schad: Hitler's spy . The life of Stephanie von Hohenlohe, Munich 2002, p. 67.
  6. ↑ Kershaw, p. 337

See also