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German-American Elite Networking, the Atlantik-Brücke and the American Council on Germany, 1952-1974

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German-American Elite Networking, the Atlantik-Brücke and the American Council on Germany, 1952-1974 Northumbria Research Link Citation: Zetsche, Anne (2016) The Quest for Atlanticism: German-American Elite Networking, the Atlantik-Brücke and the American Council on Germany, 1952-1974. Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University. This version was downloaded from Northumbria Research Link: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/31606/ Northumbria University has developed Northumbria Research Link (NRL) to enable users to access the University’s research output. Copyright © and moral rights for items on NRL are retained by the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. 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The full policy is available online: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/policies.html The Quest for Atlanticism: German-American Elite Networking, the Atlantik-Brücke and the American Council on Germany, 1952-1974 Anne Zetsche PhD 2016 The Quest for Atlanticism: German-American Elite Networking, the Atlantik-Brücke and the American Council on Germany, 1952-1974 Anne Zetsche, MA A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Northumbria at Newcastle for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Research undertaken in the Department of Humanities August 2016 Abstract This work examines the role of private elites in addition to public actors in West German- American relations in the post-World War II era and thus joins the ranks of the “new diplomatic history” field. It studies the Atlantik-Brücke and the American Council on Germany (ACG) from the early 1950s to the mid-1970s – a history that has hitherto been neglected. The focus on private elites and their contributions to fledgling public-private networks within each country and across the Atlantic helps to shed light on the ways hostilities between West Germany and the US were addressed. Based on original archival research and applying tools of Social Network Analysis (SNA), this thesis starts from the assumption that international relations are conducted by elites. These elites are not only composed of democratically legitimized politicians and diplomats. Private actors representing business, industry, media, and academia are also involved, albeit hidden from public scrutiny. Private actors are enabled to do so because they are integral parts of dense state-private networks. The state-private network concept is innovatively transferred to the transnational level. The network term emphasises the fact that those connections are neither limited in quantitative terms nor are they confined to national boundaries. The analysis illuminates three sustainable achievements of the ACG and Atlantik- Brücke. Firstly, they contributed to forging a bipartisan foreign policy consensus at whose core has been a strong West-German-American relationship. Key in achieving this was the redirection of West German Social Democracy away from anti-militarism, neutralism, and socialism. Secondly, in fulfilling an elite coordination function, the organisations helped to secure the transatlantic partnership consensus by conveying it into business, trade and 1 industry circles in the US as well as in West Germany. Thirdly, by utilizing their manifold links to media and academia they assisted in manifesting this consensus in public discourse. 2 Contents List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................. 6 List of tables .............................................................................................................................. 8 List of illustrations ................................................................................................................... 9 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. 10 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 15 The beginnings of an unlikely alliance ................................................................ 16 The role of the Atlantik-Brücke and the ACG in the quest for Atlanticism........ 22 Historiography ..................................................................................................... 24 Primary sources and methodology ...................................................................... 28 Outline of thesis ................................................................................................... 30 Chapter 1: Unlikely friends: the founders of an unfolding transatlantic elite network .. 33 The elite concept .......................................................................................... 35 A transatlantic commuter: Eric Moritz Warburg, 1900–1990 ............................. 37 The Warburg dynasty ................................................................................... 38 New York apprenticeship in the 1920s ........................................................ 40 Brief return to Germany, a country in upheaval .......................................... 41 Starting anew in the US ............................................................................... 42 A transatlantic commuter’s life .................................................................... 44 A German-born Jew with an American passport reviving West German industry ........................................................................................................ 47 Unofficial service to the cause of German-American relations ................... 49 Germanophile Cold Warrior: Christopher Temple Emmet, 1900–1974 ............. 51 The “bourgeoisie“ of the United States: Emmet’s family background ........ 52 Emmet’ political activism ............................................................................ 53 Emmet and the CFR ..................................................................................... 54 The “Committee” Cold Warrior ................................................................... 55 Fighting Communism by opposing US foreign policy in occupied Germany ...................................................................................................................... 57 The East Prussian countess: Marion Dönhoff, 1909–2002 ................................. 59 “Ancient aristocratic lineage”: Dönhoff’s family background .................... 60 The countess’ educational career ................................................................. 61 The countess’ 20 July connection ................................................................ 62 Starting anew: the countess turned journalist .............................................. 64 3 Crossing the Atlantic again .......................................................................... 66 Dönhoff’s networks ..................................................................................... 69 The most unlikely Atlanticist ....................................................................... 71 Hanseatic merchant and politician: Erik Blumenfeld, 1915–1997 ...................... 73 Hamburg merchants and Danish gentry ....................................................... 74 From bourgeois dandy life to the “parade grounds of concentration camps” ...................................................................................................................... 76 Reviving business in Hamburg .................................................................... 78 Entering politics speaking out on economic issues ...................................... 79 Adenauer’s unofficial foreign policy adviser .............................................. 81 The Atlanticist looking East......................................................................... 82 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 85 Chapter 2: The “good” Germans and their American friends: the Atlantik-Brücke’s and the ACG’s membership ............................................................................. 87 Prelude: 1950–1954 ............................................................................................. 89 The Atlantik-Brücke ............................................................................................ 96 The 1950s: Establishing a white-washing agency for West German industry ...................................................................................................................... 96 The 1960s: The politicisation of a private elite club .................................. 106 The American Council on Germany .................................................................. 113 The American friends of the “good” Germans .......................................... 113 The ACG struggling with a changing zeitgeist .......................................... 123 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 129 Chapter 3: Mastering a tainted past: The funders of German-American public diplomacy efforts
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