Young Germany Federation

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Jungdeutschland-Bund (from 1924 working group of patriotic youth ) was an umbrella organization founded in 1911 for civic youth associations for military education of German youth .

history

After elements of pre-military education were integrated into general youth work in the Prussian youth care decree of January 1911 , Field Marshal Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz founded the Young Germany Federation as an umbrella organization for civic youth organizations on the initiative of the War Ministry . The founding appeal of December 1911 said: “We need a strong gender for the future of our people. Only a defensive youth ensures a happy future for states and nations. History of all times teaches this right up to the very last hour. ”Von der Goltz recommended to the German parents:“ Raise your children in a warlike spirit and instill love for the fatherland for which they may have to sacrifice themselves from an early age. ”

By the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, 35 organizations with around 680,000 members had joined the Jungdeutschland-Bund, including the German Scout Association , hiking, gymnastics and sports clubs. Another 62,000 belonged to groups directly affiliated with the Young Germany Federation. The member associations undertook to organize their work according to the central guidelines of the Young Germany Federation, while the latter endeavored to provide financial, personnel and organizational support for the affiliated groups. In addition, through a network of friends in the various municipalities, von der Goltz mobilized the expansion of sports fields in order to not only promote the will to fight, but also the military strength in the sense of endurance run and large-scale games. This also had a direct impact on physical education during the Weimar period, where a change from gymnastics to sport found the necessary conditions.

After the loss of the First World War, the Jundeutschland-Bund was about to be dissolved. The previous program was confirmed with a narrow majority in 1920. With the new statutes adopted in 1921, an attempt was made to also win over the young workers : by bringing together the youth of all classes, they wanted to “do their part in overcoming class differences and creating a true national community ”. This project failed. The establishment of the German Young Girls' Service on December 7, 1923 could not stop the sharp decline in membership.

After Rüdiger Graf von der Goltz took over the chairmanship in 1924, he converted the eleven regional associations of the Young Germany Federation into independent organizations that were merged in the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Vaterländischen Jugend (AVJ). Under Goltz's leadership, the working group of patriotic youth became increasingly right-wing extremist ; Greater German , ethnic and racist ideas were taken up in the association. This was reinforced by the inclusion of the youth organizations of the German People's Party (Hindenburg Youth ) and the German National People's Party (Bismarck Youth ), as well as individual regional associations of the Young Steel Helmet , the Scharnhorst League and the Young Wolf .

In 1932, the Deutsche Jugendwerk , the umbrella organization of the National Socialist youth organizations, joined the working group of patriotic youth. After the seizure of power in 1933, the working group of the patriotic youth was integrated into the German Youth Office by the Reich Youth Leader Baldur von Schirach and thus dissolved de jure.

Chairperson

Captured teenagers

  • 1913: 500,000
  • 1914: 745,000
  • 1920: 170,000
  • 1921: 140,000
  • 1927: 250,000

Publications

  • The Young Germany Federation , 1912–1917.
  • Jungdeutschland-Post , 1913–1921.
  • Young Germany. A treasure trove of books for German youth , 1913–1914.
  • Scherl's Jungdeutschland Book , 1914–1926; then yearbook of the Young Germany Federation , 1927–1932; then yearbook Jungdeutschland, united with Neuer deutscher Jugendfreund , 1933–1944.
  • News bulletin of the Young Germany Federation and the German Young Girls Service , 1926–1933.
  • Jugend und Reich , lecture series, ed. by Kleo Pleyer.

literature

  • Werner Bethge: Bund Jungdeutschland (BJD) , in Dieter Fricke (Hrsg.): The bourgeois parties in Germany, manual of the history of the bourgeois parties and other bourgeois interest organizations from Vormärz to 1945 . Vol. 1, Leipzig 1968, pp. 162-175.
  • Christoph Schubert-Weller: >> No more beautiful death ... << The militarization of male youth and their commitment in the First World War 1890–1918 , Weinheim a. Munich 1998, pp. 172-193.
  • Stefan Noack: Der Jungdeutschlandbund , in: Wolfgang Benz (Hrsg.): Handbuch des Antisemitismus. Anti-Semitism in Past and Present , Vol. 5, Organizations, Institutions, Movements , Berlin 2012, pp. 344–346.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ German daily newspaper from December 15, 1911; quoted from: Bethge, p. 164.
  2. ↑ Bethge, p. 167.
  3. ↑ Arnd Krüger : Education through physical education or "Pro patria est dum ludere videmur". In: R. Dithmar, J. Willer (Hrsg.): School between Empire and Fascism . Knowledge Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1981, ISBN 3-534-08537-X , pp. 102-122.
  4. ↑ Jungdeutschland-Post, No. 21 of September 1, 1921, p. 137; quoted from Bethge, p. 169.