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German Fatherland Party

April 08, 2024

The German Fatherland Party (German: Deutsche Vaterlandspartei, abbreviated as DVLP[11]) was a short-lived far-right[12] political party active in the German Empire during the last phase of World War I. It rejected the Reichstag Peace Resolution of July 1917, which called for a negotiated peace without annexations.[13] The Fatherland Party is considered the first attempt at reconciliation and cooperation between the traditional right, characteristic of the Wilhelmine Period, and militant nationalists of the extreme right who would become popular during the interwar period.[14][15][16][17]

German Fatherland Party
Deutsche Vaterlandspartei
AbbreviationDVLP
ChairmanAlfred von Tirpitz[1]
Deputy ChairmanWolfgang Kapp[2]
Founded2 September 1917;[a]
Königsberg, East Prussia
Dissolved10 December 1918
Merged intoDNVP (de facto)[4][5]
Think tankAlldeutscher Verband
Membership1,250,000 (July 1918 est.)[6]
Ideology
Political positionFar-right
Colours  Black   White   Red

History edit

Foundation edit

Backed by the Pan-German League,[18][19] the German Fatherland Party was founded by Heinrich Claß, August von Dönhoff, Alfred von Tirpitz and Wolfgang Kapp[20][21] on 2 September 1917.[3][22] On 9 September, the DVLP made its existence public in newspaper advertisements. The established bourgeois parties reacted inconsistently to the founding of the Fatherland Party. Many conservative parties expressly welcomed them. The board of the National Liberal Party offered to cooperate with the Fatherland Party and left party members the option to join it. The left-liberal Progressive People's Party, which lost a noticeable number of members to the DVLP, expressly refused to work with it. The Catholic Centre Party (Zentrum) told party members on 12 October 1917 not to assist the DVLP.[23]

Dissolution edit

The November Revolution effectively ended the existence of the DVLP. Until 28 November, the board met again and agreed to stop all "public activities." Furthermore, the members were asked to agitate for the early convocation of a national assembly, to ensure that the "national forces" were gathered together, and, for the time being, to support the Council of the People's Deputies in "maintaining order." Finally, on 10 December 1918, the Reich Committee of the DVLP, which about 20 people only visited, decided to dissolve the party. On this occasion, a three-member liquidation committee was established, which initiated the transfer of the party's assets to the German National People’s Party (DNVP) and became finalized on 1 February 1919.

Subsequent influence edit

During World War I, Anton Drexler joined the German Fatherland Party.[24] After the war, he would go on to form a similar organization, the German Workers' Party, which later became the National Socialist German Workers' Party, better known as the Nazi Party, that came to national power in January 1933 under Adolf Hitler.[25] German scholar Dirk Stegmann concluded that the Fatherland Party was pre- or proto-fascist because of Drexler's involvement.[26] It should be considered that many historians challenge this position. In 1997, scholar Heinz Hagenlücke argued that "the party was explicitly founded as a party and not a movement, members reflected the typical picture of high Wilhelmine society in contrast to the lower class organizations of the Weimar Republic, which sociologically reached the lower-middle class, soldiers, and the youth."[27]

Ideology edit

Political positions edit

The Fatherland Party represented pan-German,[28][29] national liberal, conservative, nationalist, populist, antisemitic and völkisch political circles, united in their opposition against the Reichstag Peace Resolution of July 1917. It played a vital role in the emergence of the stab-in-the-back myth and the defamation of certain politicians as the November Criminals.[30][31]

The Fatherland Party was decidedly monarchist and supportive of the war efforts of German Emperor Wilhelm II.[32][33][34]

Militarism played an essential role in the party.[10] In March–April 1915, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz stated that the only thing that was keeping Germany from winning the war was the poor leadership of the Chancellor and the Emperor. His solution was a plan in which Bethmann-Hollweg would be sacked, and the office of Chancellor abolished; the Kaiser would "temporarily" abdicate; and Generalfeldmarschall Hindenburg be given the new office of "Dictator of the Reich," concentrating all political and military power into his hands to win the war.[35] These positions continued to receive support from the Fatherland Party. Internally, there were calls for a coup d'etat against the German government, led by Hindenburg and Ludendorff, even against the Emperor if necessary.

Though the Tirpitz plan was not implemented, the very fact it was mooted showed the extent of military dissatisfaction with the existing leadership and the strength of the "state within the state" in that Tirpitz was not punished despite having essentially called for deposing the Emperor.[35] In August 1916, Germany became a de facto military dictatorship under the duumvirate of Generalfeldmarschall Hindenburg and Generalquartiermeister Ludendorff, who ruled Germany until 1918.[36] During the rule of the "silent dictatorship" of Hindenburg and Ludendorff, the German government advocated a set of imperialist war aims calling for the annexation of most of Europe and Africa that in many ways were a prototype for the war aims of the Second World War.[37]

Foreign policy objectives edit

 
Alleged map of German plans for a new political order in Central and Eastern Europe
 
Possible outcome of a German victory in Africa with German pre-WW1 possessions in dark blue and gains in medium blue

The official purpose for the existence of the Fatherland Party was to end the war victoriously and secure a "German peace."[9] On 24 September 1917, Tirpitz had demanded a "correct solution to the Belgian question," a "safeguarding of the open sea lanes," "physical compensation" and a "place in the sun" secured for Germany. In the months that followed, the following ideas gradually emerged:[38][39]

The war aims of the DVLP were concerted at every possible opportunity in "countless meetings (...) and a flood of declarations, appeals, writings, demands and telegrams to the Kaiser, the government, the Reichstag, the Supreme Army Command and to the public" became known and popularized. Above all, this should create the impression of a "primitive popular movement."[40]

Domestic neutrality edit

In the first few months of its existence, the DVLP repeatedly emphasized its "national" character and its alleged domestic political neutrality. The call to members and supporters, which was still little veiled in the "Great Appeal," to stand up against a Prussian electoral reform, the parliamentarization of Reich policy, and the government's commitment to the DVLP line were deleted on 24 September 1917, without comment. The party promised not to put up its own candidates for Reichstag elections, and the "internal dispute" should rest until the war's end. However, this demonstration of disinterest was merely a tactical tool that arose from the DVLP's political concept. The main domestic political goal of the party leadership was clearly to force a dissolution of the Reichstag by employing extra-parliamentary pressure. This was justified with a populist and pseudo-democratic argument that parliament no longer portrayed the "will of the people."

Organization edit

Leadership edit

The party's leaders were Wolfgang Kapp[41] – who would later play a key role in the failed coup in 1920 known as the Kapp Putsch – and Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz,[42] a naval minister and post-war party leader. Walter Nicolai, head of the military secret service, was also supportive.[43] Media baron Alfred Hugenberg was also a prominent member and Duke John Albert of Mecklenburg[44] was made "Honorary Chairman". The party included many leading industrialists, large landowners, and business association officials, including Georg Wilhelm von Siemens, Carl Duisberg, Ernst von Borsig, Hugo Stinnes, Emil Kirdorf and Hermann Röchling, but also humanities scholars such as Eduard Meyer.

The Fatherland Party held two congresses (on 24 September 1917 and 19 April 1918 in Berlin). The statute did not provide a delegation procedure, and every party member could participate in the party congresses, which were purely forums for acclamation. The Select Committee called a party congress. In addition, there was a Reich Committee composed of the Executive Board, the Select Committee, and 50 individuals to be determined by the party congress, but only met three times. In addition to Tirpitz, Johann Albrecht and Kapp, the DVLP board of directors was made up of the following people: Gottfried Traub, August Rumpf, Heinrich Beythien, Carl Pfeiffer, Lambert Brockmann, Wilhelm von Siemens, Dietrich Schäfer, Franz von Reichenau, Ernst Schweckendieck, Otto Hoffmann, Ulrich von Hassell and Stephan von Nieber. The party executive of the DVLP had a powerful, almost independent position - it could not be changed from within the party and chose new members if necessary. Decisions were made in small groups; according to the statute, the committee had a quorum when two (from April 1918 three) members were present.[45] The Select Committee, abolished in April 1918, later included the eight people appointed in September 1917.

Source of funding edit

The party's political influence peaked in the summer of 1918 when it had around 1,250,000 members.[46] Close ties existed between the Fatherland Party and the Supreme Army Command (Oberste Heeresleitung) with the military providing the party’s main source of funding[47][48] and featuring statements from the party in the military’s official publication Militär-Wochenblatt. Many former officers joined the DVLP; those on active duty were not permitted to participate in any political party.[49] The party was officially dissolved during the German Revolution on 10 December 1918. Most of its members later joined the German National People's Party (DNVP), the major national-conservative party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major conservative and nationalist party in Weimar Germany.

Head of the noticeably large head office of the party with its last nine departments and up to 137 employees were (one after the other) Kapp's close confidants Georg Wilhelm Schiele, Franz Ferdinand Eiffe, and Konrad Scherer. Huge sums of money were incurred for the maintenance and activities of the DVLP party apparatus, which were completely unusual for other contemporary parties. In addition, the party gave the bulk of its literature and other propaganda material completely free of charge. This effort could not possibly be covered only by membership fees and occasional donations. In the spring of 1918 alone, the sum of the initially uncovered expenses averaged 142,000 marks per month.

In addition to the support from the Pan-German League, the Fatherland Party also received additional support from a number of nationalist organizations and pressure groups. Among them were the German Eastern Marches Society, German Navy League, German Colonial Society, German Anti-Semitic Organization and the Defence League.[50][51] These organizations became collectively known as the nationale Verbände.

Party infrastructure edit

The DVLP had its central main management based in Berlin and was divided into state, district, and local associations at the middle and lower levels. The Berlin headquarters of the DVLP employed almost 150 members at the end of 1917. According to the statutes, the state, district, and local associations were set up as required. The local associations could only communicate with the party executive through the state associations. District associations were only to be interposed when needed; they had no members and only served the regional associations as administrative bodies. In July 1918, 32 state associations, 237 district associations, and 2,536 local associations across Germany.[52][53]

Membership edit

According to its own information, the DVLP had 450,000 members in March 1918, 1,250,000 in July, and 800,000 in September. However, these numbers are considered highly exaggerated. At least, very likely, but more than half of the members belonged to "patriotic" clubs and associations affiliated with the Fatherland Party. It is also known that several higher officials - including Prussian government presidents - forced the staff of the departments and authorities they headed to join the party. The party tried harder to attract workers, especially after the January strike. A guideline for party speakers had previously stated that the worker "must gain the understanding that he is serving himself by joining our party; because our party especially serves the welfare of the workers by advocating a peace that secures our economic future." As early as January 1918, the party officially claimed to have over 290,000 "registered workers" in its ranks.[54]

References edit

Informational notes

  1. ^ Or possibly 3 September, according to historians Jeffery Verhey and Hans-Ulrich Wehler.[3]

Citations

  1. ^ Kelly, Patrick (2011). Tirpitz and the Imperial German Navy pp. 410–421. ISBN 978-0253355935.
  2. ^ Welch, David (2000). Germany, Propaganda and Total War, 1914-1918: The Sins of Omission p. 200. ISBN 978-0485004076.
  3. ^ a b Dempster 2006, p. 19.
  4. ^ Hadry, 2007. Quote: "Party leaders and assets were transferred to the German National People's Party."
  5. ^ Heinrich, August (2008). Germany: The Long Road West, 1789–1933 p. 352. ISBN 978-0199265978.
  6. ^ Dempster 2006, p. 1.
  7. ^ Dempster 2006, pp. 35–36.
  8. ^ "Adolf Hitler's First Steps In Politics - The Foundation Of The Nazi Party I THE GREAT WAR 1919 (Timestamp 11:24)". Archived from the original on 2021-12-19.
  9. ^ a b Hofmeister, Björn (2016). German Fatherland Party, in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War. ed. by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson. Freie Universität Berlin. Berlin 2016-10-26. doi:10.15463/ie1418.10992.
  10. ^ a b Dempster 2006, pp. 35, 44.
  11. ^ Wette, Wolfram (2002). The Wehrmacht: History, Myth, Reality p. 41. ISBN 978-0-674-02577-6.
  12. ^ Dassen, 2013, pp. 161–187.
  13. ^ Kruse, Wolfgang (6 May 2013). "Burgfrieden und Innenpolitik: Militärdiktatur und nationalistische Mobilisierung" [Burgfrieden and Domestic Policy: Military Dictatorship and Nationalist Mobilisation]. Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (in German). Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  14. ^ (2003). German history of society. Volume 4: From the beginning of the First World War to the founding of the two German states 1914–1949, p. 108; Historian Hans-Ulrich Wehler described the DVLP as quote, "[...] the first right-wing radical proto-fascist mass party."
  15. ^ Peck, Abraham (1978). Radicals and reactionaries: The Crisis of Conservatism in Wilhelmine Germany pp. 203–221. doi:10.1017/S0018246X00021105.
  16. ^ Bernd-Jürgen Wendt, Peter-Christian Witt (1983). German Conservatism in the 19th and 20th Century pp. 199–230.
  17. ^ Hagenlücke, Heinz (1997). Deutsche Vaterlandspartei: Die nationale Rechte am Ende des Kaiserreiches. German Studies Review. pp. 18, 402. ISBN 978-3770051977.
  18. ^ Schädlich, Karlheinz (1966) Der Unabhängige Ausschuß für einen Deutschen Frieden als ein Zentrum der Annexionspropaganda des deutschen Imperialismus im ersten Weltkrieg
  19. ^ Klein, Fritz (1964) Politik im Krieg 1914–1918. Studien zur Politik der deutschen herrschenden Klassen im ersten Weltkrieg. Berlin Akademie-Verlag. pp. 50–65
  20. ^ Jennifer Llewellyn, Steve Thompson, (2019). Alpha History; WOLFGANG KAPP
  21. ^ Wolfgang Kapp Biography
  22. ^ Judson, 2011, p. 508.
  23. ^ Ullrich, Robert (1968). Deutsche Vaterlandspartei, in: Dieter Fricke (Ed.): The bourgeois parties in Germany. Handbook of the history of the bourgeois parties and other bourgeois interest organizations from Vormärz to 1945. Leipzig, Volume 1, pp. 620–628
  24. ^ Hamilton 1984, p. 219.
  25. ^ Shirer 1960, pp. 36–37, 183.
  26. ^ Dirk Stegmann, Die Erben Bismarcks. Parteien und Verbiinde in der Spiitphase des Wilhelminischen Deutschlands Sammlungspolitik, 1897-1918 (Berlin: Kiepenheuer und Witsch, 1970).
  27. ^ Dempster 2006, p. 3.
  28. ^ Meinecke, Friedrich (1951). The German Catastrophe: Reflections and Recollections p. 30. ISBN 978-0807056677.
  29. ^ "Pan-Germanism (German political movement) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2012-01-24.
  30. ^ Fertig, Howard (1964). The Crisis of German Ideology: The Intellectual Origins of the Third Reich. ISBN 978-0865274266.
  31. ^ Dempster 2006, p. 43.
  32. ^ Manfred Weißbecker, German Fatherland Party, in: Dieter Fricke et al. (Hg.), Lexicon on party history. The bourgeois and petty-bourgeois parties and associations in Germany (1789-1945). 2nd volume, Leipzig 1984, pp. 291-403.
  33. ^ Dempster 2006, p. 35.
  34. ^ Yurievich, Klimov (2017). EDUARD MEYER IN THE YEARS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR AND THE REPUBLIC OF WEIMAR. Saint Petersburg State University. pp. 45-57.
  35. ^ a b Wheeler-Bennett 1967, p. 13.
  36. ^ Wheeler-Bennett 1967, pp. 13–14.
  37. ^ Hillgruber, Andreas (1981). Germany and the Two World Wars. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press). pp. 41–45. ISBN 978-0674353220.
  38. ^ Tuchman, Barbara (1962). The Guns of August. New York, New York: Macmillan Co. p. 321. ISBN 9780026203104.
  39. ^ "Bethmann Hollweg, Germany's War Aims". wwnorton.com. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  40. ^ Manfred Weißbecker: German Fatherland Party, in Dieter Fricke et al .: Lexicon for party history. The bourgeois and petty-bourgeois parties and associations in Germany (1789–1945). Volume 2, Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1984, pp. 397.
  41. ^ Dempster 2006, p. 20.
  42. ^ Dempster 2006, pp. 19, 21.
  43. ^ Zolling, Hermann; Höhne, Heinz (1972) [1971]. The general was a spy; the truth about General Gehlen and his spy ring. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. p. 290. LCCN 71187140. Retrieved 9 December 2021. Wherever Nicolai saw morale threatened, wherever he sensed a desire for peace, he went into the attack. He was behind the formation of the Fatherland Party with its chauvinistic and reactionary programme of conquest [...].
  44. ^ Fischer, Fritz (1967). Germany's aims in the First World War. p. 461. ISBN 9780393053470.
  45. ^ Hagenlücke, 1997, p. 164.
  46. ^ Chickering, Roger (1998). Imperial Germany and the Great War, 1914-1918 p. 165. ISBN 978-0521547802.
  47. ^ Feldman, Gerald (1966). Army, Industry, and Labor in Germany, 1914-1918 p. 429. ISBN 978-0854967643.
  48. ^ Dempster 2006, pp. 16–17.
  49. ^ Wette, Wolfram (2002). The Wehrmacht: History, Myth, Reality pp. 41-42. ISBN 978-0674025776.
  50. ^ Geoff Eley, op.cit., p.VII
  51. ^ Peter von Polenz (1999). Deutsche Sprachgeschichte 3: vom Spätmittelalter bis zur Gegenwart.: 19. Und 20. Jahrhundert (History of the German language) (in German). Walter de Gruyter. pp. 28–29. ISBN 3-11-014344-5.
  52. ^ Weißbecker, Manfred. German Fatherland Party, p. 397.
  53. ^ Hofmeister, 2011, pp. 128, 489.
  54. ^ Stegmann, Dirk (1972) Between Repression and Manipulation: Conservative Power Elites and Workers 'and Employees' Movement 1910–1918. A contribution to the prehistory of the DAP / NSDAP, in: Archiv für Sozialgeschichte, Vol. 12, pp. 351-432.

Bibliography

  • Dassen, Patrick (2013). Political Religion beyond Totalitarianism. Palgrave Macmillan, London.
  • Dempster, Troy Christopher (May 2006). "Reviving Germany: The Political Discourse of the German Fatherland Party, 1917-1918". University of Tennessee, Knoxvil. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  • Hadry, Sarah (2007). Deutsche Vaterlandspartei (DVLP), 1917/18, Historisches Lexikon Bayerns
  • Hagenlücke, Heinz (19). Deutsche Vaterlandspartei: die nationale Rechte am Ende des Kaiserreiches Doctoral Thesis, Universität Düsseldorf.
  • Hagenlücke, Heinz (1997). German Fatherland Party. The national right at the end of the Empire. ISBN 3770051971. Droste, Düsseldorf.
  • Hamilton, Charles (1984). Leaders & Personalities of the Third Reich, Vol. 1. R. James Bender Publishing. ISBN 0-912138-27-0.
  • Historisches Lexikon Bayerns: Deutsche Vaterlandspartei, 1917/18]. Historische Lexikon Bayern (in German).
  • Hofmeister, Björn (2011). Between Monarchy and Dictatorship Radical Nationalism and Social Mobilization of the Pan-German League, 1914-1939. PhD Dissertation, Georgetown University.
  • Höhne, Heinz and Zolling, Hermann (1972). The General Was a Spy. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Published in Germany as Pullach Intern (1971). Hoffman and Campe Verlag: Hamburg.
  • Jones, Larry (2020). The German Right, 1918–1930: Political Parties, Organized Interests, and Patriotic Associations in the Struggle against Weimar Democracy. Cambridge University Press.
  • Judson, Pieter (2011). Nationalism In The Era Of The Nation State, 1870-1945. History Faculty Works, Swarthmore College.
  • Müller, Tim (2016). Völkisch and Anti-Democratic Thought before 1933. Buchenwald Memorial.
  • Shirer, William L. (1960). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-62420-0.
  • Welch, David (2014) The Final Throw of the Dice. General Ludendorff: Morale, «Patriotic Instruction» and Imperial German Propaganda 1917-18. University of Kent.
  • Wheeler-Bennett, John (1967). The Nemesis of Power The German Army in Politics 1918–1945. London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-1812-3.

External links edit

  • Deutsche Vaterlandspartei LeMO Kapitel
  • Announcements from the DVLP (August 1918)
  • Short overview of the Fatherland Party
  • This Day in World War 1 History: SEPTEMBER 02, 1917
  • To the bitter end; Der Tagesspiegel
  • Wilhelmine Germany and the First World War (1890-1918)

April 08, 2024
german, fatherland, party, german, deutsche, vaterlandspartei, abbreviated, dvlp, short, lived, right, political, party, active, german, empire, during, last, phase, world, rejected, reichstag, peace, resolution, july, 1917, which, called, negotiated, peace, w. The German Fatherland Party German Deutsche Vaterlandspartei abbreviated as DVLP 11 was a short lived far right 12 political party active in the German Empire during the last phase of World War I It rejected the Reichstag Peace Resolution of July 1917 which called for a negotiated peace without annexations 13 The Fatherland Party is considered the first attempt at reconciliation and cooperation between the traditional right characteristic of the Wilhelmine Period and militant nationalists of the extreme right who would become popular during the interwar period 14 15 16 17 German Fatherland Party Deutsche VaterlandsparteiAbbreviationDVLPChairmanAlfred von Tirpitz 1 Deputy ChairmanWolfgang Kapp 2 Founded2 September 1917 a Konigsberg East PrussiaDissolved10 December 1918Merged intoDNVP de facto 4 5 Think tankAlldeutscher VerbandMembership1 250 000 July 1918 est 6 IdeologyClass collaborationConservatism German Volksgemeinschaft 7 Expansionist nationalismEconomic liberalism 8 German militarism 9 10 Political positionFar rightColours Black White RedPolitics of GermanyPolitical partiesElections Contents 1 History 1 1 Foundation 1 2 Dissolution 1 3 Subsequent influence 2 Ideology 2 1 Political positions 2 2 Foreign policy objectives 2 3 Domestic neutrality 3 Organization 3 1 Leadership 3 2 Source of funding 3 3 Party infrastructure 3 4 Membership 4 References 5 External linksHistory editFoundation edit Backed by the Pan German League 18 19 the German Fatherland Party was founded by Heinrich Class August von Donhoff Alfred von Tirpitz and Wolfgang Kapp 20 21 on 2 September 1917 3 22 On 9 September the DVLP made its existence public in newspaper advertisements The established bourgeois parties reacted inconsistently to the founding of the Fatherland Party Many conservative parties expressly welcomed them The board of the National Liberal Party offered to cooperate with the Fatherland Party and left party members the option to join it The left liberal Progressive People s Party which lost a noticeable number of members to the DVLP expressly refused to work with it The Catholic Centre Party Zentrum told party members on 12 October 1917 not to assist the DVLP 23 Dissolution edit The November Revolution effectively ended the existence of the DVLP Until 28 November the board met again and agreed to stop all public activities Furthermore the members were asked to agitate for the early convocation of a national assembly to ensure that the national forces were gathered together and for the time being to support the Council of the People s Deputies in maintaining order Finally on 10 December 1918 the Reich Committee of the DVLP which about 20 people only visited decided to dissolve the party On this occasion a three member liquidation committee was established which initiated the transfer of the party s assets to the German National People s Party DNVP and became finalized on 1 February 1919 Subsequent influence edit During World War I Anton Drexler joined the German Fatherland Party 24 After the war he would go on to form a similar organization the German Workers Party which later became the National Socialist German Workers Party better known as the Nazi Party that came to national power in January 1933 under Adolf Hitler 25 German scholar Dirk Stegmann concluded that the Fatherland Party was pre or proto fascist because of Drexler s involvement 26 It should be considered that many historians challenge this position In 1997 scholar Heinz Hagenlucke argued that the party was explicitly founded as a party and not a movement members reflected the typical picture of high Wilhelmine society in contrast to the lower class organizations of the Weimar Republic which sociologically reached the lower middle class soldiers and the youth 27 Ideology editPolitical positions edit The Fatherland Party represented pan German 28 29 national liberal conservative nationalist populist antisemitic and volkisch political circles united in their opposition against the Reichstag Peace Resolution of July 1917 It played a vital role in the emergence of the stab in the back myth and the defamation of certain politicians as the November Criminals 30 31 The Fatherland Party was decidedly monarchist and supportive of the war efforts of German Emperor Wilhelm II 32 33 34 Militarism played an essential role in the party 10 In March April 1915 Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz stated that the only thing that was keeping Germany from winning the war was the poor leadership of the Chancellor and the Emperor His solution was a plan in which Bethmann Hollweg would be sacked and the office of Chancellor abolished the Kaiser would temporarily abdicate and Generalfeldmarschall Hindenburg be given the new office of Dictator of the Reich concentrating all political and military power into his hands to win the war 35 These positions continued to receive support from the Fatherland Party Internally there were calls for a coup d etat against the German government led by Hindenburg and Ludendorff even against the Emperor if necessary Though the Tirpitz plan was not implemented the very fact it was mooted showed the extent of military dissatisfaction with the existing leadership and the strength of the state within the state in that Tirpitz was not punished despite having essentially called for deposing the Emperor 35 In August 1916 Germany became a de facto military dictatorship under the duumvirate of Generalfeldmarschall Hindenburg and Generalquartiermeister Ludendorff who ruled Germany until 1918 36 During the rule of the silent dictatorship of Hindenburg and Ludendorff the German government advocated a set of imperialist war aims calling for the annexation of most of Europe and Africa that in many ways were a prototype for the war aims of the Second World War 37 Foreign policy objectives edit nbsp Alleged map of German plans for a new political order in Central and Eastern Europe nbsp Possible outcome of a German victory in Africa with German pre WW1 possessions in dark blue and gains in medium blueThe official purpose for the existence of the Fatherland Party was to end the war victoriously and secure a German peace 9 On 24 September 1917 Tirpitz had demanded a correct solution to the Belgian question a safeguarding of the open sea lanes physical compensation and a place in the sun secured for Germany In the months that followed the following ideas gradually emerged 38 39 Annexation of Luxembourg Belgium Briey and the Longwy ore basins The Netherlands should be brought into a closer relationship to Germany while avoiding any appearance of coercion up to annexation Buffer states created in territory carved out of the western Russian Empire such as Poland and the Baltic states which would remain under German sovereignty The German colonial empire was to be expanded The German possessions in Africa would be enlarged to create a contiguous German colony across central Africa Freedom of the seas in the sense that the German fleet must be able to safeguard German interests worldwide France must pay a war indemnity of 10 billion German Marks with further payments to cover veterans funds and to pay off all of Germany s existing national debt France will partially disarm by demolishing its northern fortsThe war aims of the DVLP were concerted at every possible opportunity in countless meetings and a flood of declarations appeals writings demands and telegrams to the Kaiser the government the Reichstag the Supreme Army Command and to the public became known and popularized Above all this should create the impression of a primitive popular movement 40 Domestic neutrality edit In the first few months of its existence the DVLP repeatedly emphasized its national character and its alleged domestic political neutrality The call to members and supporters which was still little veiled in the Great Appeal to stand up against a Prussian electoral reform the parliamentarization of Reich policy and the government s commitment to the DVLP line were deleted on 24 September 1917 without comment The party promised not to put up its own candidates for Reichstag elections and the internal dispute should rest until the war s end However this demonstration of disinterest was merely a tactical tool that arose from the DVLP s political concept The main domestic political goal of the party leadership was clearly to force a dissolution of the Reichstag by employing extra parliamentary pressure This was justified with a populist and pseudo democratic argument that parliament no longer portrayed the will of the people Organization editLeadership edit The party s leaders were Wolfgang Kapp 41 who would later play a key role in the failed coup in 1920 known as the Kapp Putsch and Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz 42 a naval minister and post war party leader Walter Nicolai head of the military secret service was also supportive 43 Media baron Alfred Hugenberg was also a prominent member and Duke John Albert of Mecklenburg 44 was made Honorary Chairman The party included many leading industrialists large landowners and business association officials including Georg Wilhelm von Siemens Carl Duisberg Ernst von Borsig Hugo Stinnes Emil Kirdorf and Hermann Rochling but also humanities scholars such as Eduard Meyer The Fatherland Party held two congresses on 24 September 1917 and 19 April 1918 in Berlin The statute did not provide a delegation procedure and every party member could participate in the party congresses which were purely forums for acclamation The Select Committee called a party congress In addition there was a Reich Committee composed of the Executive Board the Select Committee and 50 individuals to be determined by the party congress but only met three times In addition to Tirpitz Johann Albrecht and Kapp the DVLP board of directors was made up of the following people Gottfried Traub August Rumpf Heinrich Beythien Carl Pfeiffer Lambert Brockmann Wilhelm von Siemens Dietrich Schafer Franz von Reichenau Ernst Schweckendieck Otto Hoffmann Ulrich von Hassell and Stephan von Nieber The party executive of the DVLP had a powerful almost independent position it could not be changed from within the party and chose new members if necessary Decisions were made in small groups according to the statute the committee had a quorum when two from April 1918 three members were present 45 The Select Committee abolished in April 1918 later included the eight people appointed in September 1917 Source of funding edit The party s political influence peaked in the summer of 1918 when it had around 1 250 000 members 46 Close ties existed between the Fatherland Party and the Supreme Army Command Oberste Heeresleitung with the military providing the party s main source of funding 47 48 and featuring statements from the party in the military s official publication Militar Wochenblatt Many former officers joined the DVLP those on active duty were not permitted to participate in any political party 49 The party was officially dissolved during the German Revolution on 10 December 1918 Most of its members later joined the German National People s Party DNVP the major national conservative party in Germany during the Weimar Republic Before the rise of the Nazi Party it was the major conservative and nationalist party in Weimar Germany Head of the noticeably large head office of the party with its last nine departments and up to 137 employees were one after the other Kapp s close confidants Georg Wilhelm Schiele Franz Ferdinand Eiffe and Konrad Scherer Huge sums of money were incurred for the maintenance and activities of the DVLP party apparatus which were completely unusual for other contemporary parties In addition the party gave the bulk of its literature and other propaganda material completely free of charge This effort could not possibly be covered only by membership fees and occasional donations In the spring of 1918 alone the sum of the initially uncovered expenses averaged 142 000 marks per month In addition to the support from the Pan German League the Fatherland Party also received additional support from a number of nationalist organizations and pressure groups Among them were the German Eastern Marches Society German Navy League German Colonial Society German Anti Semitic Organization and the Defence League 50 51 These organizations became collectively known as the nationale Verbande Party infrastructure edit The DVLP had its central main management based in Berlin and was divided into state district and local associations at the middle and lower levels The Berlin headquarters of the DVLP employed almost 150 members at the end of 1917 According to the statutes the state district and local associations were set up as required The local associations could only communicate with the party executive through the state associations District associations were only to be interposed when needed they had no members and only served the regional associations as administrative bodies In July 1918 32 state associations 237 district associations and 2 536 local associations across Germany 52 53 Membership edit According to its own information the DVLP had 450 000 members in March 1918 1 250 000 in July and 800 000 in September However these numbers are considered highly exaggerated At least very likely but more than half of the members belonged to patriotic clubs and associations affiliated with the Fatherland Party It is also known that several higher officials including Prussian government presidents forced the staff of the departments and authorities they headed to join the party The party tried harder to attract workers especially after the January strike A guideline for party speakers had previously stated that the worker must gain the understanding that he is serving himself by joining our party because our party especially serves the welfare of the workers by advocating a peace that secures our economic future As early as January 1918 the party officially claimed to have over 290 000 registered workers in its ranks 54 References editInformational notes Or possibly 3 September according to historians Jeffery Verhey and Hans Ulrich Wehler 3 Citations Kelly Patrick 2011 Tirpitz and the Imperial German Navy pp 410 421 ISBN 978 0253355935 Welch David 2000 Germany Propaganda and Total War 1914 1918 The Sins of Omission p 200 ISBN 978 0485004076 a b Dempster 2006 p 19 Hadry 2007 Quote Party leaders and assets were transferred to the German National People s Party Heinrich August 2008 Germany The Long Road West 1789 1933 p 352 ISBN 978 0199265978 Dempster 2006 p 1 Dempster 2006 pp 35 36 Adolf Hitler s First Steps In Politics The Foundation Of The Nazi Party I THE GREAT WAR 1919 Timestamp 11 24 Archived from the original on 2021 12 19 a b Hofmeister Bjorn 2016 German Fatherland Party in 1914 1918 online International Encyclopedia of the First World War ed by Ute Daniel Peter Gatrell Oliver Janz Heather Jones Jennifer Keene Alan Kramer and Bill Nasson Freie Universitat Berlin Berlin 2016 10 26 doi 10 15463 ie1418 10992 a b Dempster 2006 pp 35 44 Wette Wolfram 2002 The Wehrmacht History Myth Reality p 41 ISBN 978 0 674 02577 6 Dassen 2013 pp 161 187 Kruse Wolfgang 6 May 2013 Burgfrieden und Innenpolitik Militardiktatur und nationalistische Mobilisierung Burgfrieden and Domestic Policy Military Dictatorship and Nationalist Mobilisation Bundeszentrale fur politische Bildung in German Retrieved 26 January 2024 2003 German history of society Volume 4 From the beginning of the First World War to the founding of the two German states 1914 1949 p 108 Historian Hans Ulrich Wehler described the DVLP as quote the first right wing radical proto fascist mass party Peck Abraham 1978 Radicals and reactionaries The Crisis of Conservatism in Wilhelmine Germany pp 203 221 doi 10 1017 S0018246X00021105 Bernd Jurgen Wendt Peter Christian Witt 1983 German Conservatism in the 19th and 20th Century pp 199 230 Hagenlucke Heinz 1997 Deutsche Vaterlandspartei Die nationale Rechte am Ende des Kaiserreiches German Studies Review pp 18 402 ISBN 978 3770051977 Schadlich Karlheinz 1966 Der Unabhangige Ausschuss fur einen Deutschen Frieden als ein Zentrum der Annexionspropaganda des deutschen Imperialismus im ersten Weltkrieg Klein Fritz 1964 Politik im Krieg 1914 1918 Studien zur Politik der deutschen herrschenden Klassen im ersten Weltkrieg Berlin Akademie Verlag pp 50 65 Jennifer Llewellyn Steve Thompson 2019 Alpha History WOLFGANG KAPP Wolfgang Kapp Biography Judson 2011 p 508 Ullrich Robert 1968 Deutsche Vaterlandspartei in Dieter Fricke Ed The bourgeois parties in Germany Handbook of the history of the bourgeois parties and other bourgeois interest organizations from Vormarz to 1945 Leipzig Volume 1 pp 620 628 Hamilton 1984 p 219 Shirer 1960 pp 36 37 183 Dirk Stegmann Die Erben Bismarcks Parteien und Verbiinde in der Spiitphase des Wilhelminischen Deutschlands Sammlungspolitik 1897 1918 Berlin Kiepenheuer und Witsch 1970 Dempster 2006 p 3 Meinecke Friedrich 1951 The German Catastrophe Reflections and Recollections p 30 ISBN 978 0807056677 Pan Germanism German political movement Britannica Online Encyclopedia Britannica com Retrieved 2012 01 24 Fertig Howard 1964 The Crisis of German Ideology The Intellectual Origins of the Third Reich ISBN 978 0865274266 Dempster 2006 p 43 Manfred Weissbecker German Fatherland Party in Dieter Fricke et al Hg Lexicon on party history The bourgeois and petty bourgeois parties and associations in Germany 1789 1945 2nd volume Leipzig 1984 pp 291 403 Dempster 2006 p 35 Yurievich Klimov 2017 EDUARD MEYER IN THE YEARS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR AND THE REPUBLIC OF WEIMAR Saint Petersburg State University pp 45 57 a b Wheeler Bennett 1967 p 13 Wheeler Bennett 1967 pp 13 14 Hillgruber Andreas 1981 Germany and the Two World Wars Cambridge Harvard University Press pp 41 45 ISBN 978 0674353220 Tuchman Barbara 1962 The Guns of August New York New York Macmillan Co p 321 ISBN 9780026203104 Bethmann Hollweg Germany s War Aims wwnorton com Retrieved 2020 04 23 Manfred Weissbecker German Fatherland Party in Dieter Fricke et al Lexicon for party history The bourgeois and petty bourgeois parties and associations in Germany 1789 1945 Volume 2 Bibliographisches Institut Leipzig 1984 pp 397 Dempster 2006 p 20 Dempster 2006 pp 19 21 Zolling Hermann Hohne Heinz 1972 1971 The general was a spy the truth about General Gehlen and his spy ring New York Coward McCann amp Geoghegan p 290 LCCN 71187140 Retrieved 9 December 2021 Wherever Nicolai saw morale threatened wherever he sensed a desire for peace he went into the attack He was behind the formation of the Fatherland Party with its chauvinistic and reactionary programme of conquest Fischer Fritz 1967 Germany s aims in the First World War p 461 ISBN 9780393053470 Hagenlucke 1997 p 164 Chickering Roger 1998 Imperial Germany and the Great War 1914 1918 p 165 ISBN 978 0521547802 Feldman Gerald 1966 Army Industry and Labor in Germany 1914 1918 p 429 ISBN 978 0854967643 Dempster 2006 pp 16 17 Wette Wolfram 2002 The Wehrmacht History Myth Reality pp 41 42 ISBN 978 0674025776 Geoff Eley op cit p VII Peter von Polenz 1999 Deutsche Sprachgeschichte 3 vom Spatmittelalter bis zur Gegenwart 19 Und 20 Jahrhundert History of the German language in German Walter de Gruyter pp 28 29 ISBN 3 11 014344 5 Weissbecker Manfred German Fatherland Party p 397 Hofmeister 2011 pp 128 489 Stegmann Dirk 1972 Between Repression and Manipulation Conservative Power Elites and Workers and Employees Movement 1910 1918 A contribution to the prehistory of the DAP NSDAP in Archiv fur Sozialgeschichte Vol 12 pp 351 432 Bibliography Dassen Patrick 2013 Political Religion beyond Totalitarianism Palgrave Macmillan London Dempster Troy Christopher May 2006 Reviving Germany The Political Discourse of the German Fatherland Party 1917 1918 University of Tennessee Knoxvil Retrieved 2 August 2022 Hadry Sarah 2007 Deutsche Vaterlandspartei DVLP 1917 18 Historisches Lexikon Bayerns Hagenlucke Heinz 19 Deutsche Vaterlandspartei die nationale Rechte am Ende des Kaiserreiches Doctoral Thesis Universitat Dusseldorf Hagenlucke Heinz 1997 German Fatherland Party The national right at the end of the Empire ISBN 3770051971 Droste Dusseldorf Hamilton Charles 1984 Leaders amp Personalities of the Third Reich Vol 1 R James Bender Publishing ISBN 0 912138 27 0 Historisches Lexikon Bayerns Deutsche Vaterlandspartei 1917 18 Historische Lexikon Bayern in German Hofmeister Bjorn 2011 Between Monarchy and Dictatorship Radical Nationalism and Social Mobilization of the Pan German League 1914 1939 PhD Dissertation Georgetown University Hohne Heinz and Zolling Hermann 1972 The General Was a Spy New York Coward McCann amp Geoghegan a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Published in Germany as Pullach Intern 1971 Hoffman and Campe Verlag Hamburg Jones Larry 2020 The German Right 1918 1930 Political Parties Organized Interests and Patriotic Associations in the Struggle against Weimar Democracy Cambridge University Press Judson Pieter 2011 Nationalism In The Era Of The Nation State 1870 1945 History Faculty Works Swarthmore College Muller Tim 2016 Volkisch and Anti Democratic Thought before 1933 Buchenwald Memorial Shirer William L 1960 The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich New York Simon amp Schuster ISBN 978 0 671 62420 0 Welch David 2014 The Final Throw of the Dice General Ludendorff Morale Patriotic Instruction and Imperial German Propaganda 1917 18 University of Kent Wheeler Bennett John 1967 The Nemesis of Power The German Army in Politics 1918 1945 London Macmillan ISBN 978 1 4039 1812 3 External links editDeutsche Vaterlandspartei LeMO Kapitel Announcements from the DVLP August 1918 Short overview of the Fatherland Party This Day in World War 1 History SEPTEMBER 02 1917 To the bitter end Der Tagesspiegel Wilhelmine Germany and the First World War 1890 1918 nbsp Germany portal Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title German Fatherland Party amp oldid 1203631047, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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