German Farmers' Union (1909–1927)

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The German Farmers 'Union was a farmers' association that existed from 1909 to 1927 and at times also appeared as a party. It later split up into the Reichs-Landbund (RLB) and the German peasantry . It existed as a party until 1933.

There was no connection with the German Farmers 'Union (1885-1893) and the current German Farmers' Union .

history

The association was directed against the Federation of Farmers, which was under the influence of large estates. He was close to the National Liberals and , after 1919, to the German Democratic Party (DDP). It saw itself as a peasant equivalent to the Hansabund for trade, commerce and industry (HB).

The German Farmers 'Union came into being under the impression of the struggle for the imperial financial reform, as well as the one-sided perception of large property by the farmers' union in relation to peasant property. He found his supporters primarily with the national liberal farmers of northwest Germany, but also with the peasant settlers in East Elbia, who felt that their interests had been neglected by the farmers' union in favor of large estates. This was a threat to the real domination of the German Conservative Party in the east of the Prussian monarchy.

The German Farmers 'Union was considerably strengthened by the accession of regional farmers' associations such as the Franconian Farmers 'Union in 1910 and the Saxon Farmers' Union in 1913.

Membership was mainly made up of small and medium-sized farmers, but did not exclude large farmers and manor owners either. The German Farmers' Union maintained extremely good relations with the National Liberal Party and the Hansabund . While the center adopted a wait-and-see attitude, the German Farmers 'Union was fiercely opposed from the start by the German Conservative Party and above all by the Farmers' Union.

As in domestic policy, the German Farmers' Union also followed the National Liberal Party on key issues in foreign policy. The German Farmers' Union also supported their candidates in the elections. In return, the Hansabund and the National Liberal Party bore the annual deficit of the German Farmers' Union. In 1917 there was a rapprochement between the German Farmers' Union and the left-liberal Progressive People's Party (FVP).

After the November Revolution, the German Farmers' Union immediately placed itself on the soil of the republic and now oriented itself towards the extreme left wing of the bourgeois parties. With a few exceptions, the former national liberal leaders of the German Farmers' Union converted to the DDP . For this he received considerable financial support. At the meeting of the Executive Committee of the DDP on December 5, 1918, he was granted 200,000 marks.

For the elections to the Weimar National Assembly in 1919 and the German Reichstag in 1920, there was an official electoral alliance between the German Farmers' Union and the DDP. Böhme advocated a coalition between the DDP and the DVP as early as 1920 and on this occasion pointed out that “the farmers' union would always choose the people's party in view of the alternative of the German People's Party or Social Democracy. [...] On the day on which an attempt should be made in the Reich or in a federal state to establish a relationship between the German Democratic Party and the independents, the Bauernbund would break off its relations with the Democratic Party. It would be desirable to keep the majority Social Democrats in the coalition, because in general today we have to rule against the masses. But precisely because of this, the merger with the German People's Party is necessary, and one that will perhaps expand to parts of the German National People's Party after the elections. ” Negotiations to enter into a merger with the DVP.

At the board meeting of the DDP on January 22, 1922, Böhme reported on a committee meeting of the German Farmers' Union and emphasized that the DDP's services to agriculture were recognized there, but that the party's overall situation was viewed as hopeless. "We face her like a decent guy who has served us well, but who is now hopelessly ill with the lungs." Böhme denied that a decision had been made about the transition to the DVP. He described the mood in agricultural circles, where the party is accused of political half-heartedness. Böhme recommended a swift merger with the DVP, and in the countryside everything demands the “big liberal party”. Theodor Tantzen replied that an economic organization should not gain too much influence over a party, that is a corrosive element. The DDP must finally state clearly where its supporters are united. Wilhelm Cohnstaedt described the agitation of the German Farmers' Union as difficult to reconcile with party interests.

Under the slogan “A free country people on their own soil”, the German Farmers' Union demanded the elimination of entails, patronage and all other privileges of large estates, abolition of manor districts, land allocation from state and private large estates at moderate prices for settlement, utilization of the large state and large estates Private forests for the general public, popular organization of rural administration and democratic voting rights for all rural self-governing bodies. The idea of ​​“acquiring one's own clod” and “advancing into the class of the haves” could transform the farm workers into small owners and thus immunize them against the class struggle.

In the Weimar Republic, the German Farmers' Union, with the help of the German Democratic Party (DDP), endeavored to increase its influence in parliament in order to be able to better fight both the economic and political influence of large estates and the revolutionary movement in the countryside . When the DDP lost its influence and also opposed protective tariffs, the leadership of the German Farmers' Union leaned against the German People's Party (DVP) after 1924 .

In mid-October 1924, two things became clear: the DVP ministers did not want to belong to any government that did not also include German nationalists. On the other hand: The DDP gave a final rejection to the "citizen block". The Reich President dissolved the Reichstag on October 20, 1924. In addition to Böhme from the German Farmers' Union, six other prominent members resigned from the DDP: Gerland, Schiffer, Keinath, Grund, Dominicus and von Siemens. Of the seven members who left, five had previously belonged to the National Liberal Party. Wachhorst de Wente apologized to his fellow farmers' union Böhme at the DDP board meeting:

“There were also material reasons for his departure. As managing director of the small agrarian association, he needed the subsidies, which could only come from the DVP in sufficient amounts. [...] As for myself, who was the founder of the Bauernbund and I am still a member of the Presidium today, I have to say that inwardly I was and still am completely different towards democracy than Dr. Böhme. […] As far as the German Farmers' Union is concerned, it is an organization that is not committed to any party. When we founded the Bauernbund we made the mistake of joining the National Liberals too closely. All economic associations are non-partisan. This is also the case today with the German Farmers' Union. The federal government as such will not fight the Democratic Party, although I do not consider it impossible that it can fight individual Democratic MPs who have different economic convictions. But he will not fight all the DDP candidates unless they are outright opposed to him. "

Since the introduction of the Rentenmark , the German Farmers' Union has made greater efforts to enforce an agricultural policy that will economically strengthen small and medium-sized businesses. In addition to grain protection tariffs, he also called for these for animal production and advocated greater tax justice. In 1925 he founded the “Deutsche Bauernkasse” in order to give farms the opportunity to keep pace with the wave of intensification and mechanization in view of the state credit policy favoring large property holdings.

In 1927, the German Farmers 'Union disintegrated under the pressure of the agricultural crisis, when a quarter of its members converted to the Reichs-Landbund (RLB) and the remainder of the association, together with the Reich Association of Small and Medium-Sized Farms and the Bavarian Farmers' Union, was absorbed into the German peasantry (beginning of April 1927) .

guide

  • 1st chairman (1909–1927): Friedrich Wachhorst de Wente (1863–1939), court owner of Groß-Minnelage, Lutheran; Secondary school in Quakenbrück; 1907 to 1912 and 1914 to 1918 member of the Reichstag for the National Liberal Party , 1919–1920 member of the Weimar National Assembly for the DDP, MdL-Prussia 1913 to 18 and 1922 to 1932 (National Liberal Party, DDP and German State Party); Chairman of the executive committee of the German peasantry.
  • Full-time managing director of the German Farmers' Union (1909–1926): Karl Böhme (1877–1940), Protestant; Study of history and economics in Strasbourg, Leipzig and Berlin, 1901 doctorate in Berlin, then practical work in social and professional organizations; 1907–1912 member of the Reichstag for the German Social Party , 1913–1918 for the National Liberal Party , 1919–1924 for the DDP , until December 1924 for the DVP . From 1919 until his departure in October 1924 he was a member of the board of directors of the DDP. Literary activity on trade and agricultural policy. After 1933 emigrated to Brazil.
  • Editor of the “Deutscher Bauernbund” organ: Michael Meyer (1881–1935), Economics Council.

Members:

  • 20,000 (1909)
  • 41,000 (1912)
  • 50,000 (1914)
  • 20,000 (1924)
  • 19,000 (1927)

The German farmers' union as a party

With the admission of the Franconian Federation of Farmers , the German Farmers' Union not only experienced a significant increase in membership, but also adopted its self- image of appearing as a party.

The Franconian Association of Farmers was founded in April 1893. In 1895 he participated in the merger to form the Bavarian Farmers' Union . The contradictions that exist between the individual confederations - for example a small-scale democratic tendency in the Association of Lower Bavarian Farmers and a medium to large-scale national liberal tendency in the Franconian Confederation - could not be overcome by the establishment of the Bavarian Farmers Association. At the end of the 19th century, the individual groups in the Bavarian Farmers' Union were completely divided. It was only the attempt by the Federation of Farmers in Bavaria to gain a foothold in politics that led to the unification meeting of the Bavarian Farmers' Union, which took place on November 3, 1900 in Würzburg.

The whole thing formed more of a working group of individual regional federations than a single party. The unity suffered in addition to the constant internal disputes from the agitation of the center through the Christian farmers 'associations , the successes of the better organized farmers' union and the (unsuccessful) attempts to win over the middle class. The history of the Bavarian Farmers 'Union was a chain of ever new conflicts between its various branches of the landscape, in which the politically more radical Lower Bavaria faced the more moderate Franconians and Swabians, as well as between the mostly headstrong leading personalities in the farmers' union. During its existence, the Bavarian Farmers' Union was characterized by internal party disputes between a moderate and a left, more radical wing.

Therefore, in 1910, the Franconian Farmers' Union was largely transferred to the German Farmers' Union, while the rest joined the Farmers' Union.

literature

  • Dieter Albrecht: From the establishment of an empire to the end of the First World War (1871–1918). In: Alois Schmid (Ed.): Handbook of Bavarian History. Vol. IV / 1: The new Bavaria. From 1800 to the present. First Volume: State and Politics. 2nd, completely revised edition, Munich 2003, pp. 319–438, here pp. 350 ff.
  • Hannsjörg Bergmann: The Bavarian Farmers 'Union and the Bavarian Christian Farmers' Association 1919–1928 . Munich 1986. ( Series of publications on Bavarian national history . Volume 81)
  • Karl Böhme: German peasant policy. A dispute with the Federation of Farmers . Wuerzburg 1911.
  • Karl Böhme: The peasant class in bondage and freedom . Berlin 1924.
  • Oliver Braun: Bayerischer Bauernbund (BB), 1895–1933. In: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria . December 19, 2011, accessed April 20, 2012 .
  • Dieter Fricke u. a. (Ed.): Lexicon on the history of parties. The bourgeois and petty bourgeois parties and associations in Germany (1789–1945). Vol. I, Cologne 1983-1986, pp. 135-151.
  • Heinz Haushofer: The Bavarian Farmers' Union (1893-1933) . In: Heinz Gollwitzer (ed.): European peasant parties in the 20th century . Stuttgart 1977, pp. 562-586. ( Sources and research on agricultural history . Volume 29)
  • Anton Hochberger: The Bavarian Farmers' Union 1893–1914 . Munich 1991. ( Series of publications on Bavarian national history . Volume 99)
  • Alois Hundhammer: History of the Bavarian Farmers' Union . Munich 1924.
  • Christoph Walther: Jakob Fischbacher and the Bavarian Party . 2006.
  • Reinhold Weber: Citizens 'party and farmers' union in Württemberg . 2004.

See also

Web links