Reichsdeutsche Brotherhood in Arms Association
The Reichsdeutsche Waffenbrüderliche Vereinigung eV ( RWV ) was a German association of various parties, industry, banks, state administration and university teachers that existed from 1915 to 1918. In contrast to the "annexationists", the main goal was a voluntary economic union of Central Europe under German leadership of the First World War . The central point should be a merger of the German Reich with Austria-Hungary .
aims
In the course of the first year of the war in 1914, two groups emerged with regard to the German war aims, each pursuing a different conception in their focus of aim. While one group saw the main goals of warfare in the annexation of conquered areas, the other group around the RWV pursued a so-called Central Europe concept , which saw its objective mainly in the intensive rapprochement of the economic areas of Central Europe under German leadership.
The group of the Central Europe Concept around the RWV
This group had an important representative in Arthur von Gwinner from Deutsche Bank . They also included Robert Bosch , Franz Urbig , Georg Solmssen , Albert Ballin , Walther Rathenau , Carl Duisberg , Emil Georg von Stauß , Paul Silverberg , Max Steinthal , Rudolf von Koch and Karl Helfferich , who later took the position of the annexationists.
In addition to these representatives of the electrical and chemical industry and banks, journalists and university lecturers can also be counted on, such as Friedrich Meinecke , Max Sering , Walther Schotte , Paul Rohrbach , Max Weber , Gerhard von Schultze-Gaevernitz . The representatives of the ministerial bureaucracy who took a similar point of view were Friedrich Loebell , Gottlieb von Jagow , Arthur Zimmermann , Arnold Wahnschaffe and Clemens von Delbrück .
Karl Helfferich and Walther Rathenau sent their memoranda to Bethmann-Hollweg on August 28, 1914. Gwinner presented his views in the Wednesday community at a meeting on September 2, 1914. Undersecretary Arthur Zimmermann from the Foreign Office was also present and reported to Bethmann Hollweg about the content of the lecture. The core of his views resulted from the programs of the Central European Economic Association . A “European economic community” was to be formed under German leadership . However, this objective envisaged a reduction in the influence of France and England. Eugen Schiffer , chairman of the legal department stated in 1916:
"Central Europe should not be a compulsory cooperative, but a union of free states and peoples"
Under the influence of Helfferich, Bethmann-Hollweg tended towards this conception, which envisaged a customs union with Austria-Hungary as the beginning of a new European economic order and was expressed in the theses of the September program . In order to support this program domestically, the representatives of this concept and the September program could rely on the RWV that was created at the end of 1914.
The opposite camp of the annexationists
The core of the group that wanted to achieve a Greater Germany by annexing conquered areas was formed around the Pan-German Association , led by Heinrich Claß . On the part of heavy industry, this objective was represented by Paul Reusch , Albert Vögler , Gustav Krupp von Bohlen and Halbach , August Thyssen , Emil Kirdorf and Hugo Stinnes . Tilo von Wilmowsky , a brother-in-law of Gustav Krupp, wrote in his memoir:
"In the first years of the war, it seemed self-evident to all of us that peace had to bring gains for the country"
Several representatives of this group sent various memoranda to the Reich Chancellor in August / September 1914. Heinrich Claß gave his memorandum to Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg on August 28, 1914, Matthias Erzberger on September 2, 1914 and August Thyssen on September 9 . Gustav Krupp also sent a memorandum on July 31, 1915, but it did not call for extensive annexations of conquered areas.
Afterwards a discussion about Alfred Hugenberg , Ernst Borsig , Kirdorf, Stinnes and Thyssen developed. This discussion culminated in March 1915 in the memorandum of the major business associations , which was presented to the German Reichstag .
founding
The medical councilor Emil Bratz is considered to be the person who developed the idea of forming an RWV during his service in the 3rd Army Corps at the headquarters in Southeast Europe. Therefore, towards the end of 1914, he contacted the Lord Mayor of Berlin, Adolf Wermuth , in order to draw up statutes. Field Marshal August von Mackensen , who held this position until 1917, was won as chairman of the presidium . After that Adolf Wermuth worked as chairman of the presidium until it was dissolved in 1918. As early as March 1915, the RWV began its activities with a collection for soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Army. The office of the RWV was based in Berlin M 35 at Potsdamer Straße 24.
organization
In addition to the presidium, the organization of the RWV consisted of the main committee, the board, several departments and committees could be formed for special purposes. The presidium had the task of setting the goals of the association. The board of directors should carry out the management, whereby a managing director was also appointed. Walther Schotte was in this position from 1917 to 1918 . The main committee supervised the activities of the association. In the initial phase of the RWV, the Higher Administrative Court Councilor Eugen Schiffer took on the task of stabilizing the organization.
The statute provided that the German people should be aware of the 1914 weapons alliance. The increased knowledge of the cultural and economic conditions should lead to a closer union of the allies. In this context, too, Schotte referred to the RWV's appeal that whoever wants a strong Germany must want a strong Central Europe. In order to achieve closer cooperation with these goals, a Hungarian Brotherhood in Arms was formed in Budapest in June 1916 . This was followed in January 1917 in Vienna by the establishment of an Austrian Brotherhood in Arms .
The sections
From 1916 four departments were formed for the individual areas of responsibility and three more were planned. The departments' work programs should be dealt with in two ways. On the one hand, the members of the professional groups should be brought together in order to promote their professional interests. On the other hand, the tasks to be mastered should lead to an expansion and uniformity in the projects.
Law and Justice Department
This first division was established on March 28, 1916. Working groups were formed for the individual tasks. The department was chaired by Eugen Schiffer. Otto Liebmann (1865–1924) took over the duties of secretary. First of all, the substantive legal provisions of Germany, Austria and Hungary should be checked to see whether they are compatible or whether they could be designed on a common level. Schiffer formulated these demands at the department's first meeting on April 9, 1916.
Technical department
This department was headed by the secret building officer Hermann Mathies . The graduate engineer Frölich took over the duties of the secretary. The member of the board Wilhelm von Oechelhäuser of the RWV had summarized the most important German organizations of science and technology, which were available for cooperation in this department.
Community Affairs Department
The department was headed by the managing director of the German and Prussian City Council, Hans Luther . According to the statutes of the RWV, institutions of public corporations could also join this department. The German and Prussian Association of Cities, the Association of Prussian Rural Communities and the Reich Association of German Cities became members of the department. Eight working groups were formed to deal with the department's topics.
Medical department
This department was headed by the ministerial director Martin Kirchner . In this department, too, several groups were formed to process the work plan.
Planned or under construction departments
- Department for Education (Head: Ministerialdirektor Egon von Bremen )
- Department of Fine Arts, Theater and Music (Head: Second Mayor of Berlin Georg Reicke )
- Social Insurance Department (Head: the President of the Reich Insurance Office Paul Kaufmann )
The committees
The committees were formed for special purposes. The aspect that the committees should achieve a greater external impact in society played a certain role.
The press committee
The press committee had a special position within the RWV, as it was supposed to work as a direct organ of the association. The head of the news department in the Reich Office of the Interior, District Administrator Magnus Freiherr von Braun, took over the management . The secretary Richard Bahr worked at his side . The committee should organize cooperation with the press. The committee also had to make the RWV events known to the public. The ideas of the RWV should be conveyed by means of propaganda .
The planned student committee
This committee was supposed to organize a student exchange under the direction of the secret student councilor Gropp. The implementation should be based on the experience of national and international student exchange organizations.
The planned transport committee
The committee would be led by Ministerial Director Otto Just . Cooperation with the Bund Deutscher Verkehrsvereine should be achieved.
The Historians Committee
The historians committee worked since July 1916 under the chairmanship of Conrad Rethwitsch , with the secretary Gerhard Bonwetsch (senior teacher in Berlin-Dahlem ) supported him. One of the focal points of the intended goals should be the treatment of the historical development of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in the lectures at German universities and higher education institutions. This project should be advertised at the historians' conferences. Furthermore, it should be achieved in the technical and school literature that the Austro-Hungarian history should be treated in it. In order to get the German historians to cooperate, the members of the committee issued an appeal “To the Historians of Germany” .
Well-known members of the committee (as of 1917):
- Georg Amsel (* 1862), member of the board of the RWV
- Fritz Arnheim , Historical Society, Berlin-Charlottenburg
- Georg von Below , senior teacher in Berlin-Dahlem
- Karl Brandi , Privy Council, Göttingen
- Paul Baillieu, Secret Archives Councilor and Archives Director, Berlin-Charlottenburg
- Albert Brackmann , Königsberg in Prussia
- Wilhelm Busch , Marburg
- Anton Chroust , Würzburg
- Richard Fester , Privy Councilor, Halle an der Saale
- Fritz Friedrich , Secondary School, Leipzig
- Walter Goetz , Privy Councilor, Leipzig
- Hans Güldner, director of the royal Luisenstiftung. Poses
- Bruno Gumlich, Schiller-Realgymnasium, Berlin-Charlottenburg
- Otto Hoetzsch , Berlin
- Adolf von Harnack , Real Privy Councilor and General Director of the Royal Library, Berlin-Grunewald
- Theodor Ilgen, archive director, Düsseldorf
- Rudolf Kötzschke , Leipzig
- Erich Marcks , Privy Councilor, Munich
- Friedrich Meinecke , Privy Councilor, Berlin-Dahlem
- Aloys Meister, Privy Councilor, Münster in Westphalia
- Eduard Meyer , Privy Councilor, Berlin-Lichterfelde
- Friedrich Neubauer , Privy Councilor, High School Director, Frankfurt am Main
- Karl Obser , Privy Court Councilor, Director of the Grand Ducal Baden General State Archives, Karlsruhe
- Hermann Oncken , Heidelberg
- Eugen von Schneider , Director of the Royal Württemberg Secret House and State Archives, Stuttgart
- Aloys Schulte , Privy Councilor, Bonn
- Paul Schwartz, senior secondary school director, Berlin
- Georg Steinhausen , library director, Kassel
- Karl Weller , Stuttgart High School
- Georg Wolfram, Privy Councilor, Director of the Imperial University and State Library, Strasbourg im Breisgau
Appearing in public
The first public meeting of the RWV took place on December 10, 1915 in the Prussian House of Representatives in Berlin. The main speaker was the representative of the Progressive People's Party, Friedrich Naumann , who spoke on the subject of Central Europe . Walther Schotte reported that this event brought a big boost for the RWV, "which today counts almost all of political and intellectual Germany among its members" . At the end of 1917, the RWV had 4,000 members.
The RWV was able to win numerous important members for itself. The general director of the North German Lloyd Philipp Heineken , the consul general Rudolph von Koch and the mine owner Fritz von Friedländer-Fuld were active in the executive committee. The entire board of directors of Deutsche Bank joined , i.e. Arthur von Gwinner , Elkan Heinemann , Carl Könne , Harald Koch , Paul Millington-Hermann , Paul Roland-Lücke , Max Steinthal and Emil Georg von Stauß . Paul von Schwabach came from the Berliner Handels-Gesellschaft and Jacob Rießer from the Darmstadt bank . Albert Ballin, Carl Duisberg, Gustav Dyckerhoff , Walter Rathenau and Paul Silverberg became members as further well-known representatives .
As the then deputy chairman of the German-Austria-Hungarian Business Association was Gustav Stresemann added, as Gustav Schmoller and Paul Rohrbach . The Reich Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg was also a member of the RWV. This also brought other members of the government to the RWV: Karl Helfferich as State Secretary in the Reich Treasury, Gottlieb von Jagow , Minister Friedrich Loebell , Prussian Minister Clemens von Schorlemer , State Secretary Wilhelm Solf , Prussian Trade Minister Reinhold Sydow , Arnold Wahnschaffe and Arthur Zimmermann .
The RWV also included the Minister of State Hermann Kühn , Eduard von Capelle , Paul Reusch , Kurt Sorge , Fritz Springorum and Fritz Thyssen . Conrad von Wangenheim , Kuno von Westarp , Conrad Haußmann , Ernst Bassermann , Hermann Pachnicke and Felix Porsch came to RWV from the political parties .
Expansion of the RWV
In order to achieve a wider impact, the Central European Business Association and the RWV formed a working committee for Central Europe . In Germany, so-called shop stewards were won to attract new members everywhere. Another organizational work took place in local committees or groups, for example in Mannheim, Munich, Dresden, Breslau and in Königsberg in East Prussia. An agreement was reached in January 1916 with other organizations such as the Central European Business Association , the German-Austrian-Hungarian Business Association , the German-Bulgarian Association and the German-Turkish Association to delimit the activities of the individual organizations from one another. An attempt by the RWV to strengthen relations with Turkey resulted in a trip by members of parliament to Constantinople in April 1916, supported by the RWV . The action was without any lasting success.
After the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Poland on November 5, 1916, there were attempts to form a fraternal union in Poland. The governor Hans von Beseler insisted that in Poland there would be a lack of suitable personalities as well as an understanding of this type of association, so that this attempt failed at the outset.
Dissolution of the RWV
On December 10, 1918, Walther Schotte and the 1st chairman of the RWV and former director of the Reich Office of the Interior, Otto Just, wrote a letter to the members of the RWV, in which the name change of the RWV to "Greater German Association" was announced. The aim of this association was to focus on a close German-Austrian “Reich community” . Shortly afterwards there was another reorganization, and the new association merged with the “Austro-German Working Committee” to form the “Greater German Working Group” .
literature
- Herbert Gottwald : Imperial German Association of Brothers in Arms (1915–1918) . In: Dieter Fricke (Hrsg.): Lexicon for the history of parties . Volume 3, Leipzig 1985, pp. 662-666.
- Walther Schotte: The Reich German Brother-in-Arms Association . In: Central Europe. Communications from the Working Committee for Central Europe . Issue 2, 1917/1918 from September 25, 1917.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Eberhard Czichon : The banker and power - Hermann Josef Abs in German politics . Cologne 1970, pp. 23-29.
- ↑ This Wednesday Society, which was founded in 1914, is not identical to the Wednesday Society
- ↑ Eberhard Czichon: The banker and power - Hermann Josef Abs in German politics . Cologne 1970, p. 27.
- ^ Franz von Liszt: A Central European Union as the next goal of German foreign policy . Leipzig 1914.
- ^ A b c Herbert Gottwald: Reichsdeutsche Brotherhood in Arms Association (1915–1918) . In: Dieter Fricke (Hrsg.): Lexicon for the history of parties . Volume 3, Leipzig 1985, pp. 662-666.
- ↑ Tilo von Wilmowsky : Looking back, I would like to say . Münster-Hiltrup 1990, p. 81.
- ↑ Salomon Grumbach : Das Annexionistische Deutschland - a collection of documents that have been publicly or secretly distributed in Germany since August 4, 1914 . Lausanne 1917, p. 124.
- ↑ a b c Walther Schotte: The Reichsdeutsche Armbrüderliche Vereinigung . In: Central Europe. Communications from the Working Committee for Central Europe . Issue 2, 1917/1918 of September 25, 1917, p. 133 ff.
- ^ Ernst Hüsmert: Carl Schmitt - Diaries October 1912 to February 1915 . Berlin 2005, p. 97 FN 8.
- ^ To the historians of Germany. In: Journal of the Association for Hamburg History Volume 22 (1918), p. 241 f.
- ↑ Reinhard Opitz : The German Social Liberalism 1917-1933 . Cologne 1973, p. 42.
- ↑ Eberhard Czichon : The banker and power . Cologne 1970, pp. 29-30.