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Max Weber influenced German society and politics in the late 1910s. Some of his speeches and articles made a big impression on his listeners; such as "Science as a Vocation" and "Politics as a Vocation" delivered at the University of Munich in the late 1910s. Weber was a prolific speaker and lecturer, and delivered many speeches in his roles as an academic, politician, and German nationalist.
Chancellor von Bethmann Holweg founded the German National Committee to give the opposition to large scale annexation a voice. Right-wing groups were pushing the government to demand large conquests for Germany and a total defeat of the allies. They wanted no compromises towards the allies.
Weber became a member of this committee, which was powerless from the beginning, because the war goals were not discussable for this committee. Weber broke the rule during his first speech in Nuremberg.
He told his listeners that he was not a member of the committee. He wanted the German politics to do what is just. The war shouldn't take an hour too long, because many people are suffering in the trenches. Weber openly declared to be against the unrestrained submarine war.
Three lessons could be learned from the war. First is that money was a main reason why the war came into being. Secondly, industry and capitalists were very important for the war efforts. Thirdly, the state is more important than the nation, because the state rules over the life and death of its subjects. But when state and nation are combined, the state has more power. The poor results of Austria-Hungarian war efforts compared to Germany were an example of this.
Germany fought this war to become a major power in Central Europe. Germany should responsible for an honourable treatment of the small nations in Central Europe and to prevent political subdual. He wanted the small nations to remain mainly politically independent, but German economy should be predominant. This way Germany could have a lasting result when it wins the war.
After hearing of the near collapse of Austria-Hungary, Weber advocated peace during a mass meeting in Munich.
'I don't speak as a scientist but as a politician. As a professor at a university, I have no special authority in politics, just like an admiral when he can't see the most important things, or a common worker. The threat of the 'Alldeutschen' is that they usually have the strongest influence on the government. The Alldeutschen are proud that they saw this war coming for a long time. They were not the only ones, but they were among the instigators of the war. They believed that politics should be made with a big mouth. The small efforts of German politics were achieved with a lot of noise; our enemies have achieved much more without noise. The Alldeutsche politics, for example, during the Boer War prevented our coming to an agreement with England. The hate against England was mainly directed towards the English constitution. 'For god sake no alliance with England, that would only bring us parliamentarianism'. This way domestic political motives became the basis for foreign policy or other any policy.
Hand in hand with these fears of the English constitution was a worthless wooing of the Tsar's Russia, which brought us the hate of the Russian liberals and the despise of the autocratic ruler. The domestic political motives are responsible for this foreign policy, is proven by the submarine-agitation of the Alldeutschen. It began when the electoral reform was announced. Was this coincidence? In both questions we see the same enemies of Bethmann. From the moment that the submarine war was a political and diplomatic possibility, the prophecies came. The military leaders never joined the agitation, but they accepted it. They knew that the end of the prophecies would have more effect on morale than a peace resolution could. Together with the submarine war came the Mexico telegram. Who defended Zimmermann after this capital blunder? It was always the same group!
Today they accuse the majority of the parliament of wanting a 'Hungerfrieden' (literally "hunger peace"). We should never accept a "hunger peace," but if foreign countries think that we will accept a "hunger peace," then this group is responsible for discrediting the policy of the parliament with the word "hunger peace."
The Alldeutschen want us to follow a politics of annexation without any consideration of our allies. The young emperor Charles of Austria-Hungary complained after the Russian revolution that he has nothing to say. Emperor Charles has a different opinion than Italy and Romania, who declared war on Germany, but an alliance between Austria and an Alldeutschen Germany would be very weak. The consideration of our allies was one of the most important reasons for the decision of the parliament on 19 July; today it can easily be said. The enemies of an agreement know that the parliamentary majority had to keep their motive secret; their agitation was therefore even more condemnable.
The Alldeutschen, who call themselves Fatherland-party today—even the name is an infamy—are affectionately pointing to the mood on the front. Our soldiers don't need the pacifists and the warmongers. They say: 'If politics was pragmatic instead of goddamned babble, then the war would stop when security had come for our fatherland!' They should ask the question about a peace agreement during a national referendum or a vote on the front!
The bureaucratic system that ruled us until now has now come up with the appointment of Count Hertling (the new chancellor of Germany). We'll have to find out if he is a partyman or a statesman in domestic politics. But we welcome his appointment, because he responded to the papal proposition that he is in favour of a peace agreement. We welcome him also, because the strongest party in the parliament (the conservatives) can't deny responsibility anymore. We expect from Count Hertling, that he maintain a strong backbone against an irresponsible shadow government. Bismarck often complained about the interference of the military in politics. Our military leadership is brilliant; we have the full confidence in our military, but not when it comes to political questions.
We expect that Count Hertling keep a strong connection between government and parliament, so that a failure of communication like 19 July can be prevented. When this connection between government and parliament exists, we don't need a controlling body like the Siebenerausschuss anymore, which is headed by Michaelis. We hope that Count Hertling will understand the need for democracy. This democracy will not agree to a shameful peace; our successors will not condone it. We want to conduct world politics, but only a Herrenvolk (nation of leaders) is capable of this. Not a Herrenvolk in the sense of the Alldeutschen idiocy, but just simply a nation that strongly controls its own administration. The Alldeutscher movement will only lead to a new de-politization of the nation. Like a free ripe nation, we want to enlist in the group of the Herrenvoelker of the earth.'
Theobald Theodor Friedrich Alfred von Bethmann Hollweg was a German politician who was Chancellor of the German Empire from 1909 to 1917. He oversaw the German entry into World War I and played a key role during its first three years. He was replaced as chancellor in July 1917 due in large part to opposition to his moderate policies by leaders in the military.
Risto Heikki Ryti was a Finnish politician who served as the fifth president of Finland from 1940 to 1944. Ryti started his career as a politician in the field of economics and as a political background figure during the interwar period. He made a wide range of international contacts in the world of banking and within the framework of the League of Nations. Ryti served as prime minister during the Winter War of 1939–1940 and the Interim Peace of 1940–1941. Later he became president during the Continuation War of 1941–1944. After the war, Ryti was the main defendant in the Finnish war-responsibility trials (1945–1946), which resulted in his conviction for crimes against peace.
The Fourteen Points was a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I. The principles were outlined in a January 8, 1918 speech on war aims and peace terms to the United States Congress by President Woodrow Wilson. However, his main Allied colleagues were skeptical of the applicability of Wilsonian idealism.
Appeasement, in an international context, is a diplomatic policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power to avoid conflict. The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the British governments of Prime Ministers Ramsay MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain towards Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy between 1935 and 1939. Under British pressure, appeasement of Nazism and Fascism also played a role in French foreign policy of the period but was always much less popular there than in the United Kingdom.
Georg Michaelis was the chancellor of the German Empire for a few months in 1917. He was the first chancellor not of noble birth to hold the office. With an economic background in business, Michaelis' main achievement was to encourage the ruling classes to open peace talks with Russia. Contemplating that the end of the war was near, he encouraged infrastructure development to facilitate recovery at war's end through the media of Mitteleuropa. A somewhat humourless character, known for process engineering, Michaelis was faced with insurmountable problems of logistics and supply in his brief period as chancellor.
Georg Friedrich Karl Freiherr von Hertling, from 1914 Count von Hertling, was a German politician of the Catholic Centre Party. He was foreign minister and minister president of Bavaria, then chancellor of the German Reich and minister president of Prussia from 1 November 1917 to 30 September 1918. He was the first party politician to hold the two offices; all the others were non-partisan.
Events from the year 1920 in France.
Arthur Zimmermann was State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the German Empire from 22 November 1916 until his resignation on 6 August 1917. His name is associated with the Zimmermann Telegram during World War I. He was also closely involved in plans to support rebellions in Ireland and in India, and to assist the Bolsheviks to undermine Tsarist Russia.
Gottlieb von Jagow was a German diplomat. He served as the State Secretary of the German Foreign Office between January 1913 and 1916.
Matthias Erzberger was a German writer and politician, the minister of Finance from 1919 to 1920.
Concluded on 30 October 1918 and taking effect at noon the next day, the Armistice of Mudros ended hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I. It was signed by the Ottoman Minister of Marine Affairs Rauf Bey and British Admiral Somerset Arthur Gough-Calthorpe, on board HMS Agamemnon in Moudros harbor on the Greek island of Lemnos.
The July Crisis was a series of interrelated diplomatic and military escalations among the major powers of Europe in the summer of 1914, which led to the outbreak of World War I. The crisis began on 28 June 1914, when Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb nationalist, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg. A complex web of alliances, coupled with the miscalculations of numerous political and military leaders, resulted in an outbreak of hostilities amongst most of the major European nations by early August 1914.
During World War I, the German Empire was one of the Central Powers. It began participation in the conflict after the declaration of war against Serbia by its ally, Austria-Hungary. German forces fought the Allies on both the eastern and western fronts, although German territory itself remained relatively safe from widespread invasion for most of the war, except for a brief period in 1914 when East Prussia was invaded. A tight blockade imposed by the Royal Navy caused severe food shortages in the cities, especially in the winter of 1916–17, known as the Turnip Winter. At the end of the war, Germany's defeat and widespread popular discontent triggered the German Revolution of 1918–1919 which overthrew the monarchy and established the Weimar Republic.
Max Weber was a German sociologist. He described himself as a left-wing liberal. An example of his 19th-century liberal views is staunch nationalism based on classical republicanism, and that a nation with freedom for individuals is maintained by the virtues and character of its citizens. He also had a strong belief in the benefits of capitalism. Weber's assertion that capitalism had deep Christian origins was, ultimately, a political defense of the market system. His work stands in sharp contrast to socialists like Werner Sombart or RH Tawney, who argued that capitalism was fundamentally un-Christian.
The Pan-German League was a Pan-German nationalist organization which was officially founded in 1891, a year after the Zanzibar Treaty was signed.
The German Imperial War Council of 8 December 1912 was an informal conference of some of the highest military leaders of the German Empire. Meeting at the Stadtschloss in Berlin, they discussed and debated the tense military and diplomatic situation in Europe at the time. As a result of the Russian Great Military Program announced in November, Austria-Hungary's concerns about Serbian successes in the First Balkan War, and certain British communications, the possibility of war was a prime topic of the meeting.
The Reichstag Peace Resolution passed by the Reichstag of the German Empire on 19 July 1917 was an attempt to seek a negotiated peace treaty to end World War I. The resolution called for no annexations, no indemnities, freedom of the seas and international arbitration. Although it was rejected by the German High Command and the Allied powers and thus had no effect on the progress of the war, it helped shape internal German politics by bringing the moderate parties that supported the resolution into a group that would shape much of the Weimar Republic's politics. The conservative parties that opposed the resolution were those that tended to be hostile to the republic.
The diplomatic history of World War I covers the non-military interactions among the major players during World War I. For the domestic histories of participants see home front during World War I. For a longer-term perspective see international relations (1814–1919) and causes of World War I. For the following (post-war) era see international relations (1919–1939). The major "Allies" grouping included Great Britain and its empire, France, Russia, Italy and the United States. Opposing the Allies, the major Central Powers included Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and Bulgaria. Other countries also joined the Allies. For a detailed chronology see timeline of World War I.
Germany entered into World War I on August 1, 1914, when it declared war on Russia. In accordance with its war plan, it ignored Russia and moved first against France–declaring war on August 3 and sending its main armies through Belgium to capture Paris from the north. The German invasion of Belgium caused Britain to declare war on Germany on August 4. Most of the main parties were now at war. In October 1914, Turkey joined the war on Germany's side, becoming part of the Central Powers. Italy, which was allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary before World War I, was neutral in 1914 before switching to the Allied side in May 1915.
The 9 January 1917 Crown Council meeting, presided over by German Emperor Wilhelm II, decided on the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare by the Imperial German Navy during the First World War. The policy had been proposed by the German military in 1916 but was opposed by the civilian government under Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg who feared it would alienate neutral powers, including the United States.