Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere
Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere (born April 26, 1868 in London , † November 26, 1940 in Bermuda ) was a British newspaper magnate .
meaning
Harmsworth achieved fame as the owner of numerous important British daily and weekly newspapers such as the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror , which he amalgamated in the Associated Newspapers group. Along with his brother Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe and the Canadian Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook , Harold Harmsworth is considered the most important British newspaper owner of the 20th century and a pioneer of popular journalism which, in contrast to the latter, is more elitist Targeting traditional news outlets aimed at the general public.
Newspaper magnate
While his brother was responsible for the journalistic part, Harmsworth was in charge of business. Ultimately, he specialized in particular in the publication of newspapers .
The Daily Mail , first published by the brothers in 1896 , was the first daily newspaper in the United Kingdom to appear in tabloid format . In 1903 the Daily Mirror followed in the same format and was particularly inexpensive. The big headline on the first page, the extensive sports section, a section with “women-specific” topics (fashion and cooking) and the frequent use of photos, especially of the British royal family, were new . For the first time, major sporting events were also sponsored . The Daily Mirror became one of the UK's most widely read newspapers, with a circulation of millions.
In 1922, after the death of his brother Alfred, Harmsworth gained sole control of the Daily Mail , which he had already taken over the Daily Mirror in 1914.
During his life, founded Harmsworth many more still significant today daily newspapers, the in Glasgow appearing Daily Record and the Sunday Pictorial .
Harmsworth was the older brother of Cecil Bisshopp Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth . Two other brothers were made baronets .
Public life
During the First World War Harmsworth served temporarily as chairman of the Air Force Council ( President of the Air Council ) in the government of Lloyd George and put his newspapers in the service of the Allied war propaganda against the Central Powers . After being in 1910 for Baronet of Hemsted in the county of Kent had been made was Harmsworth in 1914 as Baron Rothermere in the hereditary nobility raised. In 1917 the elevation to Viscount Rothermere followed .
After losing two of his sons in the war, Harmsworth turned himself into a staunch war opponent in the 1920s. In addition, he stood out as a committed critic of the Paris suburb contracts , especially the Trianon treaty , which is why he was even offered the Hungarian crown in 1927, which Harmsworth turned down.
In the 1930s Harmsworth strongly supported the appeasement policies of the British Baldwin and Chamberlain governments , which he also used to direct his newspapers. During this time he met several times with Hitler , to whom he certified his will for peace. In 1934 the Rothermere newspapers even temporarily supported the British Fascist Party, the British Union of Fascists, led by Oswald Mosley . As can be seen from secret government documents that were only published in 2005, his sympathy for German National Socialism went so far that he sent Hitler a congratulatory telegram on the occasion of the invasion of German troops in the Sudetenland in 1938 .
Harmsworth promoted private aviation in the 1930s. For himself he ordered an aircraft from the Bristol Aircraft Company , which was faster than any British fighter aircraft in service at the time. He made this aircraft available to the Royal Air Force for testing, which the Bristol Blenheim developed from it.
The outbreak of World War II was a serious disappointment for Harmsworth, which he only survived for a short time.
Web links
- Literature by and about Harold Sidney Harmsworth Rothermere in the catalog of the German National Library
- Newspaper article about Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
- Biography (English)
- Rothermere Monument in Budapest
Individual evidence
- ↑ Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere in the Encyclopædia Britannica (English). Accessed November 26, 2015
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| New title created |
Viscount Rothermere 1919-1940 |
Esmond Harmsworth |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Harmsworth, Harold, 1st Viscount Rothermere |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Harmsworth, Harold |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British newspaper magnate |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 26, 1868 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 26, 1940 |
| Place of death | Bermuda |