Stresemann And The Rearmament Of Germany

The first major study of Stresemann following declassification of his papers in the previous year. Written by Hans W. Gatzke, then a Professor at John Hopkins, who was intrigued by the enigmatic Gustav Stresemann (1878-1929), a German politician and statesman who served briefly as Chancellor in 1923 and Foreign Minister 1923-1929, during the Weimar Republic. He was co-laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926. His most notable achievement was the reconciliation between Germany and France, for which he and Aristide Briand received the Nobel Peace Prize. During a period of political instability and fragile, short-lived governments, he was generally seen as the most influential cabinet member in most of the Weimar Republic’s existence. During his political career, he represented three successive liberal parties; he was the dominant figure of the German People’s Party during the Weimar Republic. The study is based on the unpublished papers of Dr. Gustav Stresemann, which came into Allied possession at the end of World War II as part of the vast collection of German Foreign Ministry documents. They were opened to research in the spring of 1953, as the result of a U.S.-British agreement. “A valuable contribution, enhanced by Mr. Gatzke’s penetrating insights and sureness of style.”—Fritz Stern, Columbia University

A discerning statement about Germany and other nations, this book reevaluates for the general reader and the historian the impact of rapid industrialization, the origins of the world wars, the question of war guilt, the decade of Weimar democracy, and the rise and fall of Hitler. Gatzke looks anew at the economic miracle in West Germany and the consequences of making prosperity the cornerstone of a new republic.

Beginning with Bismarck's forging of a nation with "iron and blood," Gatzke tells of Germany's relentless struggle for domination in Europe and in the West, its defeat in two world wars, its division, East Germany's travail, and West Germany's search for identity as a modern democratic state. A discerning statement about Germany and other nations, this book reevaluates for the general reader and the historian the impact of rapid industrialization, the origins of the world wars, the question of war guilt, the decade of Weimar democracy, and the rise and fall of Hitler. Gatzke looks anew at the economic miracle in West Germany and the consequences of making prosperity the cornerstone of a new republic. It is to the realities of these German characteristics as an evolving nation-state that Gatzke relates American foreign policy and perceptions. He recounts the American fluctuations, from favorable to hostile to friendly, as Germany's policies and fortunes changed, and he places the division of Germany in historical perspective.

As a foreign minister and chancellor of Weimar Germany, Gustav Stresemann is a familiar figure for students of German history – one who, for many, embodied the best qualities of German interwar liberalism. However, a more nuanced and ambivalent picture emerges in this award-winning biography, which draws on extensive research and new archival material to enrich our understanding of Stresmann’s public image and political career. It memorably explores the personality of a brilliant but flawed politician who endured class anxiety and social marginalization, and who died on the eve of Germany’s descent into economic and political upheaval.

Given the atmosphere of the time, given the passions aroused in all democracies by years of war, it would have been impossible even for supermen to devise a peace of moderation and righteousness .•..• human error is a permanent and not a periodic factor in history. Harold Nicolson, writing in I933 of the Treaty of Versailles 1 Although the period of history from 1918 to 1925 has been the subject of considerable analysis and interpretation by historians, journalists, and students of international politics, there are certain aspects of this postwar era which are greatly in need of further study and evaluation. The occupation of the Ruhr area of Germany by French and Belgian troops in 1923 is one of these. While it is not the intention of the present writer to deal definitively or exhaustively with all possible sources, either for the era in general or for the Ruhr episode itself, he does seek to note and compare some influential French, British, German, and American attitudes.