Wilhelminism and Its Legacies German Modernitia, Impeialism, and the Meaningsof Reform, lBg0-1g30
Essaysfor Hartmut Poggevon Strandmann
Edited by GeoffEley andJames Retallack
/A Z Bnghahn Boohs New York . Oxford Fbst publishedin 2oo3 uy COntentS Bagbah Booh: www.berdahnbooks.com
O2O03 G€o{TBley and lames Retallack
AI nghts reserr€d.Bxc€pt for the quotatlor ot short passag€sfor the pu4ose of Rttmrd crltlcismand revie{', no part ot tbis bookmay bereproduced ln any form or by by yo&d R. Beryid}n or mechadcal, iucludiu8 pholocopylng.recordinS, or any rneans,eleclronlc tI ^ , , , ant lrfomation storageaM retdeval systen now know; or to be lnvented, Acknwledgoos wlthout written perml$loDof th€ publisher, : lnrtodlcdon
Libraryorcongrcsscatarorrns-rn-pubrrcatronData r. J'fr11i:,j1"ff*:Tf-n"".,**n,0" in Mlhel4ine c'cmatrv i{,rh.rnrnrsnind rtsr.38.6 : c.rmn ndidtr[i.i l'nFdaus, andrhe nernhgr of EIorD,r s9c19lo : e@'. IorHrrhut Pqs. vonstradndn /.dlLd bycdolT Flct and Ga[ EIq l6 R'ralacl lane 2. Membenhip, Organization, and wilfielmine Modenisn: Courrucring Eononic Ir.rtrdd brbrrosraphjcarctue.c.! andtrd.L Demcracy rhrcqh Coperation IS8Nl-5718r-221-7 (61k. p!pd) Brctt Fotrbaim 34 l Cermlr-Pollo6udgft mn.nt-1333J918,2, 'Few 3 betier fdmcE iD Etrrcpe"? Roductivig NodomusF6.rMny-r{5rdy-19rhdrury1cflfly-sdiat Charye' and Modqniation in condirionFr8Tr,rer s. 4.6€rnanr-&dmrc !o[cy-18a3-ler B. t. : Est_Elbian Asriculturc, | 870- | 9 t 3 Inpedorhn-trrrrory-l9thcentufr, r, Poss.eor shndrann. tl, (Hdtnut) IL El.y, okrb.r Grcat 5l 6.ofi, re4e- Iu.Retau.ck,tawsN. ' 4. T[evithetininc Reeimc and rhe Robtem ofReform: DD!2E.w5srurr Germai D.bares abour Modc.n Narion_sraiei e4r.os4_d.2r 2002041662 Ma,*He'!,it,r,n 73 5. l4,.tudo'm: A Middle"Clals Artidor. ro Withcthini.m? Maulrca ldaict Brldsh filrrary catatoguing in publlcadon Data , 9l 6' Inpcnah Socialismof tlc Chair: Gusrav A catalogu€ rccord for thls book ts availabl€ hom the Brittsh Library Schmollq and G€rnu lrFolilit t697-t905 Ellt Cd,nmerSolern 107 Printedin UnitedKingdom by Biddles/IBTGlobal. 7. "Our naturalally": Anglo-GermanRelations and the Contradictorv Agendasof WilhelmineSocialism, 1897-1900 Paul Probert t23 -6-
Imperialist Socialism of the Chair GusfcuSchmoller and CermanW eltltolitih,I 897- 1905
Erur GruuueR-Solsu
Introduction
-l- h" intenseinvolvement of Mlhelmine academicson behalfof theGerman navy I has alwaysbeen both fascinatingand troubling-fascinating becauseof the sophisticatedorganization and broad infuence'of this activity,and troublinggiven thesepolicies' undoubted contribution to the rising tide of internationaltensions beforeJuly l914. The involvementof universityteachers as "agitators" for theGer- man high seasfeet hasbeen perceptively investigated.l Yet the specificmotivations and activitiesof a leading"Navy professor"and colonialenthusiast, the economist and socialreformer Gustav Schmollec have not beenexplored, and thedense and [as- cinatingweb of domesticand internationalcontacts in which he wasenmeshed dur- ing this activityhas remained obscure. This gap in the historiographyis surprising, giventhat a prominent"socialist of thechair" suchas Schmoller would seeman ideal candidatefor testingthe conceptof Wilhelmine"social imperialism." The historianEckart Kehr washimself well awareof Schmoller'simportance in shapingpublic opinionon behalfof the feet. Yet Kehr's analysisof his specificrole remainedboth superficialand ambiguous,in effectasserting that men suchas Schmollerhad supported the feet for vagueand poorlyconsidered reasons. Schmoller, accordingto Kehr, had consequentlybeen blinded to thesocial imperialistic domestic agendaof thoseclasses benefiting from and pressingfor the high seasfeet.2 While WolfgangMarienfeld warned against interpreting academic involvement on behalfof thefleet as a politicaltactic or outcomeof manipulation,3the Kehrite interpretationof socialimperialism facilitated by bourgeoisapologists such as Schmollerhas found a
Notes for this sectionbegin on page 120. Erik Grimmer-Solenr | 08 lmperialistSocialisn oJ'theChair 109 firm place in Hans-Ulrich Wehler's DeutscheGesellschaftsgeschichte, and hence has Throughhis deceased father-in-raw siepkeI haveknown Secretary o[ StateTirpitz since becomesomething of a permanent fixture in German historiography.a old times.He recentlysent I ieutenant boro,il;r;;; H;;;;;'; iirt rr, ,,.* onecould, and betterthan hitherto, The question that this chapter addressesis whether or not it can be said that awakenin broadercircles in ,;i;;.;l;* ," muchfor fleetplans as forthe "., Gustav Schmolleracted as cog in the machineryof socialimperialism. More speci6- cerman colonies,exports, the signi6cance of international powerstruggles with Engrand,etc. sinceon thewhore I * ,i. ,",n.'*nipoin, u, cally, did he directly or indirectly instrumentalize Weltpolitikfor a domestic social and he is and also havefound in previous ",n conversationswith rirpitz that he has crearand political agenda,a palliative to ongoing socialistagitation, thereby distracting from the sensibleviews abour our rradeporicv, etc., I thereforegludly i..L;;l-., *irri"ur.r, ." political be helpful,vet I did not conceai backlogof overduesocial and reforms?Moreover, can it be said that he was thai under th. lrr..nt governmentail eifortsto guickry gain somerhingfor rhe fleetwould fttile. manipulatedto placatepowerful materialinterests and lend credibility to the existing .be Cap. v. H ;**.J ;;;;l;;frl"i *0.",.a his intentionwith precision:voting in the regime) These are intriguing questions,given that it is beyond dispute that fear of nextbu'dget y"u., i, r.r, *. ui,nit-,u,,.""rtu"trv producinga change in viewsabout the signifi.lnceof ou, .*t"rnJ'-trui.,--c.r*un socialistrevolution was an important impulsefor the socialreform activitiesSchmoller exports,the colonies,the powerquestions.bnry a permanentchange in the whoreof prominent publicopinion can guarantee had organizedand directedsince the early 1870s,the most examplebeing usthe sort of f""t iuiiling r,uii ;, itselfover generation.s ,pr.ua the Verein fiir Sozialpolitik.5 Equally, the policy writings and activities of Schmoller a "."i"i'unJro before lB95 were focusedalmost entirely on domesticsocial policy, in particular,fac- As this letter makes clear, from tory legislation,trade unionism, vocationaltraining, social insuranceschemes, and the very beginning, and at least as far back as schmoller's first discussionswith agricultural reform.6We would thereforecome to expect a continuation of these rirpitz , the matter of the fleetwas linked very closely to colonial policy, German exports, themesin his activitiesas a German imperialist.Yet, as this essaywill demonstrate, and an internationar power struggrewith England. Indeed, theseappear very much the ends this doesnot turn out to be the case. of any of the [eet 1at least, as was presented to Schmoller "rpan.ion The following pages seek to illuminate the specific involvement of Gustav by Tirpitz and Heeringen) and therefore also seem to be the basis for consensuswith Schmollerin German Weltpolitil
Schmoller'sbroadening out of the Navy League to include Naumannite liber- being interwoveninto the world economy,and the threatsposed by this dependence als and social reformerswould suggestthat social reform and social imperialism on the world market receded to the degree that a state had colonies and naval power. "impotence would be themesin Schmoller's own writings on the navy,yet remarkablythis was Germany's on the seas"would thereforehave to end. with the stagna- not the case.Schmoller's speechesfor the Free Union for Naval Lectures were in fact tion of exports over the last twenty-five years, only the highest degree of technical, particularlyrevealing for how consistentlythey emphasizedthe importanceof the bat- intellectual,organizational, and socialpolitical progresswould lead to export expan- tle fleetto Germany's internationalpower struggleswith the United States,Russia, sion,but only on the basisofa far-sightedtrade policy and good trade treaties,so that pro- production and especially,England; the struggle for export marketsin a rising climate of the of food and colonial goods, as well as the importation of German tectionism;and the role of the feet in sustainingand expandingGerman commercial industrialgoods in the colonies,were secured. All of thesethings necessitated a larger and colonial interests. fleet. Aided by the feet, colonial developmentcould also retain for Germany the In his capacityas a memberof the Free Union, Schmoller himselfcrisscrossed twenty million emigrantsprojected for the twentiethcentury.24 Germany in late 1899 and early 1900 on a lecture tour that generatedextensive Schmoller'sspeech was predicatedupon an interpretationof mercantilismthat German and internationalpress attention.20 The speechSchmoller gave in Berlin, emerged from his historical researchon the economic policy of Russia in the eigh- Strasbourg,and Hanover was later published in a separatecollected volume by the teenthcentury publishedin the mid l8B0s, excerptsof which he had republishedin (Tiade "The Free Union under the appropriate title Handeh- und Machtpolitift and Power 1898 as Mercantile system in its Historical signi6cance."25In it, he had Politics).21In it, Schmollerbegins his discussionunder the pall of the disappointing defined mercantilism as a doctrine neither of money nor of trade balancesor protec- tionism, "in economicupswing of lB94-1900 and the admonitionthat Germany had betteraccus- but as its innermostcore nothing but statebuilding-not simply state building tom itself to a more difflcult internationaleconomic climate or elsebroaden its eco- but insteadsimultaneous state and economybuilding, statebuilding in the modern nomic horizons and securea sufficienteconomic basis, particularly in light of its sense,which createsout of a political society an economic society."26ln other words, rapidly growing population. With growth of I percent yearly, Schmoller projected no seventeenth-and eighteenth-centurystates had createdlarger consolidatedeco- nomic fewerthan 104 millionsouls by 1965,and asmany as 208 millionbv2135, a demo- units-national economies.Much of the remainderof Schmoller'sspeech was graphic expansion that demanded an international outlet, given the European terri- basedupon this insight,one used in refutingthose who would believethat trade pol- icy torial stricturesof the Reich. More fearsomethan thesefigures were those he cited of could still be pursued independently of the power politics of states.only by fol- lowing the Frenchdemographer Leroy-Beaulieu, who predictedno fewer than 200 million the most ruthless piracy, destruction of rival shipping, seizureof colonies. and fraudulent Germans bv 1999. Interestingly,Schmoller was positivelyenthusiastic about this trade treaties, through harsh navigation laws, steep tariffs, and import- export prohibitions, population surplusas it assuredGermany's place in the international"Wassenacn- he recalled, had England emergedfollowing the Napoleonic wars with derung" for new settlements,a developmentthat had yet to reach its climax and a consolidatedeconomy and an unchallengedinternational position. This had facilitated would ultimatelydetermine the rank of nations.22In light of the vast sizeof the pop- the spread of the liberal economicdoctrine that becamethe basis for the long era peace ulationsof the three greatworld empires,growth in the German population to 100- of from l8l5 to 1870 that had so benefitedGermang providing the condi- 150 million was "neither a fantasynor undesired.It should, it will, it must come, if tions for the humane commercial interaction of statesin the modern world economy.2T we want to remain a great and powerful people. And it cannot be accommodated This, he reminded,was possibleas long as Cobden's ideasheld sway and Gladstone 'We exclusivelyin the old homeland. must havefarmer coloniesand territoriesof cul- led Britain. Had Britain abandonedits feet and coloniesas cobden and Gladstone tivation that can absorb this surplus. Let us see to it if and by how much we can had proposed, schmoller noted, Germany would not have any "Flouensorgen,"28 increaseour homepopulation."2s There is not much hand wringing hereabout demo- Schmollerbelieved that rising internationalcompetition and growing populations graphictime bombsand their socialimplications for Germany. after 1870, combined with a new scramblefor coroniarpossessions and protected Equally interestingabout this speechis that Schmollerwas resignedto the fact spheresof influence,demonstrated that internationalcompetitive struggles remained that German agriculturalproductivity had strict limits and that thereforeGermany power struggles.Britain under Disraeli helpedto initiatean era in which prohibitions, tariffs,blockades, would remaina country that imports a substantialportion of its food grains.Unlike searchand seizureof shipping, and prohibitionson the use of sea cablesand agriculture,however, he noted that industry had no such strictures,encouragingly coaling stationshad becomethe order of the day. while announcingin 1876 that mentioningthat the latest economicupswing was based much more on a boost in Britain was satiated and not an aggressivepower, Disraeli had seized Natal, cvprus, domesticconsumption than on exportsof industrialgoods. Nevertheless, with rising Erypt, and Burma. The territory of Great Britain betweenlg66 and | 899, population density,exports needed to expand to ensure the importation of foodstuffs, schmoller mentioned,had grown from 12.6 to 27 .g million squarekilometers, thirty times raw materials,and colonial goods (Kolonialuaaren). The fact was, he asserted,that that of the German Empire. The United Statesbetween lB00 and | 900 grew from g99 no largenation could exist and progresswithout vast imports and exports,without over2 to 9.3, and Russiabetween | 866 and I from 12.9 ro 22.4 mil- I 14 Erik Litnnter-Solent Intperialist Socialism ol the Clnir I I5 lion squarekilometers. He believedthat eventsover the last generationhad createda reform, nor is there much, if anything,that could be construedas socialimperialism. wholly changedworld and a differentfuturdation for internationaleconomic relations. The striling consistencywith the themesoutlined in the lettersbetween Schmoller, peaceful world empires In placeof a communityof equal and states,three conquering Brentano,and Tirpitz aboveshould be notedonce again. Just as importantly thejus- emerged agairtstwhich all other smaller statespaled. Only France and Germany had tifications forWeltpolitift and the fleet were neither vague nor had they been quickly a position in between these three "conquering and colonizing empires" and the cookedup to servea naval agenda;they were basedupon scholarlyconvictions that smallerstates.2e And it was in the freeststates, Britain and the U.S., that tendencies had emerged out of research that predated considerably the proposals for the high to conquest,plans for imperialism, and hostility to up-and-comingeconomic com- seasfleet. petitors had emergedout of popular sentimentfanned by unscrupulousplutocratic leaders.The conquestby the United Statesof Cuba and the Philippines and its ten- dency to seekto exclude the Europeans from North and South American markets, as Schmoller and the New Mercantilism well as Britain's war againstthe Boersand its plans to dominatesub-Saharan Africa and bring the British Empire into a closerunion to the exclusionof others,all neces- The prospectof a protectionistand imperialistUnited Statesexcluding Europe from sarily led to greater conflicts with other states.30 North and South American marketsas well as a neomercantilistBritain carving up In the frnal sectionsof his speech,Schmoller assertedthat the dangersto Ger- the lion's shareof what remainedof the earth for itselfwas, as I havejust outlined, a justifications many's trade and coloniesby a "relapseto mercantilism"had long been there and major theme in Schmoller's for a larger fleet. As also suggested, were hardly created by plans for a larger fleet. But Germany, he claimed, did not Schmoller'scontributions as a scholarof mercantilismundoubtedly played an impor- tant role aspire to a chauvinistic Weltmachtspolitifr;it did not wish to become a naval and colo- in his assessmentsof the internationalsituation and his proposalsfor reme- dies-in particular, nial power of the rank of Britain but only to expandits trade and industry,support a that stateshad a role to play in securingand consolidatingworld growing population,defend its colonies,and acquirea farmer colony somewhere.It markets, and that trade was to be seen in strategicterms. This next section will was Germany's aim, he asserted,to opposethe exaggerated"robber mercantilism" explorethe extentto which this logic figured in Schmoller'ssubsequent writings and and divisionof the earth by the threegreat world empires.To do so, a largerfleet was activitiesand their possiblelines of infuence. needed;the larger fleet would deter attack from thesepowers and at the sametime win The history of the emergenceof heightenedinternational economic tensions over over the smaller and medium-sizedstates ,,i Europe, who by joining into peaceful.:co- the courseof the nineteenthcentury remained a topic on which Schmollerwrote after nomic union with Germany could have their own coloniesprotected. In any case, the turn of the century,and in thesepieces many of the themesthat had been men- accordingto Schmoller,Germany had becometoo large and powerful, and its com- tioned in his historicalanalysis of mercantilismand his FreeUnion speechwere rert- petition too uncomfortable to the great world empires, to allow the competitive strug- erated.34Schmoller described this new era as one in which a synthesisbetween gle to be conductedwithout proper naval armaments.sl mercantilismand free trade had been established.Indeed, he evenwrote as ifsuch a Some of Schmoller's concluding proposals were not without Pan-German rebalancebetween national special interests and an internationaldivision of labor had accents,such as his call to establisha largeGerman settlercolony in southernBrazil beenbound to developand was thereforequite normal.l5Schmoller here could speak and to forge a customsunion with Switzerland, Austria, Scandinavia, and Hol- from authoritv, as he had himself played a role in both free trade and protectionism, land.3zCloser customs,trade, and colonialties to Holland were particularlyenticing pressing for the free trade treaty between the Zollverein and France in the early to Schmoller;Germany could gain accessto colonial ports, coaling stations,and sea 1860s (an act that had ended all prospectsfor a careerin his nativewiirttemberg), cablesin return for guaranteeingHolland's political independenceand colonial pos- aswell as participatingin the passageof protectivetariffs in the late 1870s.36Indeed, sessions.More broadly, Schmoller asserted,it was only through a fleet and with he had come to occupy a pragmaticmiddle ground in betweendoctrinaire free trade treatyports suchas Kiautschouin China that the East Asian and Middle and South and ruthlessmercantilism, justifying moderateprotective tariffs for agricultureon the American markets,with such promisefor the future, could be held open'33 groundsof preservingand modernizingGerman farming in the face of fierce inter- We see,then, that Schmoller's speechis noteworthyfor the degreeto which it nationalcompetition-thereby avoidingmassive foreclosures and the sort of dire rural remainsfocused on internationaleconomic competition and tensions,particularly on povertyhe knew of in Britain-yet mindful that suchtariffs could and shouldbe used the strategicthreats of the new imperialismfor Germany which he saw increasingly as a negotiating tool to securebeneficial trade treaties,as they had been in signing the squeezedby the United States, Russia, and, especially,Great Britain. Schmoller Caprivi treaties.3TAs far back as the early lB80s, Schmollerhad alsobeen advocat- envisionedGe.many as a player in this internationalbig league,and it was implicit, ing the strategictrade goal of creatinga Central European customsunion.38 if not alwaysexplicit, that he sought to establishGermany as the fourth great world Just such a position was stakedout by schmoller in 190 | during a Verein fiir 'fhere empire. is no mention of what such Weltpolitiftwould contribute to social Sozialpolitik debateover the Biilow tariff bill. In it, he clearlyarticulated that trade Erik Grimmer-Solent I nrperia list Socialism of the Cha i r policy was a tool of power in an international competitivestruggle, which, *hen cies, the set of argumentspresented on the issueof trade policy meshedseamlessly often with those applied correctly and moderately, could foster a national economy.While trade developedearlier on behalf of the fleet.The common thread here, if worn gains a little thin in places,was Schmoller'sinterpretation of mercantilism,particularly b.n"frt"d both parties, the formation of prices and distribution of the share of that weaker statesand state power could be used to secureand consolidatemarkets on terms more could be determined by the relative power of the trading parties, and here the pro- beneficialthan would otherwisebe possible.And here it is important to emphasize party, particularly the "undeveloped nation," as he put it, had a right and duty to a that in Schmoller'smind protectionismwas not an end in itselfbut only a means-a iect itself.leSchmoller continued by noting that while in 1879 he had supported "agrarian meansto internationaltreaties. position in favor of moderate industrial and agrarian tariffs becauseof the hope that In forming his opinions about trade and its relationship to German Weltpolitift and industrial crisis," his primary motivationfor supportingthem was his He noted early in the century, Schmollerwas privy to an extensiveinternational set of contacts they would be used as a negotiating chip to arrive at favorabletrade treaties' by inter- that he maintainedthroughout his life. One of Schmoller'sformer studentsfrom the that he had warned of the dangers posed by escalatingprotectionism driven great care U.S., Henry W Farnam, a professorof economicsat Yale [Jniversity and a Ro- estedparties-that tariffs were a cumbersomeinstrument to be used with tariffs gressivewho had written a doctorate on French dirigisme at Strasbourg University and discretion. He recalled that he had become very skeptical when higher in the under Schmoller's supervisionin the late lB70s,a5frequently related his interpreta- were negotiatedthan he had wanted, especiallywith subsequentincreases As in the tion of eventsin America to Schmoller.Farnam wrote in September1898 his plea- rates,which he saw as an excessiveburden on consumersand industry. of in Ger- sure at the successfulcompletion of the Spanish-American more democraticstates, France and the U.S., the tariffs had been exploited War and his view that had Puerto Rico and Cuba should be linked to the union, given the close many to forge parliamentary majorities. For this reason,the caprivi trade treaties economicties, yet he could not fail to add his displeasurewith the widespreadand extremeimperi- had his hearty support.ao treaty, alistand jingoisticsentiments in America.a6Three yearslater Farnamwrote of Amer- While he could support moderateincreases as a preparationfor a trade Reich ica's "bad example" with respect to protective tariffs and his belief that "the world is he viewed the current bill with increasing concern. The official organs of the opinions surely large enough for both peoples and Cermans], and each had for years now taken a narrowly protectionist position and privileged the [Americans can the bill had advance without necessarily harming the other."a7 Intriguingly, Farnam, who was of iron industrialistsand largeestate owners; worse, the preparationsfor Ger- under the infuence of the theoriesof stateadministration Schmoller had developed been shrouded in bureaucrati. se.re.y.4l Following the bad French example, obstructed from his historical writings on Russia, was also a strong advocateof civil service man tariffs had become so extensiveand complex that they delayed and logic of the reform and the expansion of the jurisdiction of the federal government in cross-bordertrade. Schmoller noted that he had tried to understandthe the United As such, he States.Farnam later wrote that he stronglysupported Theodore Roosevelt current bill but had failed-it remained "a book with sevenseals."42 on those 'concluded. within very grounds.4SAs is known, it was an attemptby the governmentto win "all voicesoutside and Schmoller had some influenceon the developmentof American Rogressivism through the many future American university the Reichstag."a3 teachershe the ori- trained, and Progressiveswere, with some exceptions, supporters of an expanded At this point Schmollerreiterated his interpretationof mercantilismand felici- American navy,protectionism, and imperialism.4gThis is not to claim that Schmoller gins of *hui he called "Neomerhantilumus."While protectionism,deployed regressedinto necessarilyacted as a catalystfor thesedevelopments in the U.S.; while that possi- t-ourly,.ould be beneficial, Russia, France, and the United States had power and violence bility exists,the lines of influencewere reciprocaland complex. One can certainly a,,Hochschutzzollsgstem," and indeed "to a trade policy of raw trade imagine Farnam'sletters having an impact on Schmoller'sviews on trade and Ger- of the worst kind." Under suchcircumstances, Germany had to employ certain many's relationswith the "countermeasures,"which he hoped could then be usedto securebetter trade treaties' United States. trade treaties Similar linesof contactand influenceexisted between Schmoller and the British Neomercantilism,he emphasized,would haveto be foughtby meansof ..to just entire economistWilliam Ashley, a former studentof Arnold Toynbee'sat Oxford.50Ash- bring about a reasonablemeasure of equitableand trade policy in the ley had beenan admirer of Schmoller'swork sincethe 1880s.51In particular,he was internationalcommerce of the civilizedworld.''aa intimately familiar with Schmoller's oeuvre; indeed, he was so impressed with one might be excusedfor seeing a double standard underlying schmoller's neomercantil- Schmoller'swork on the history of mercantilismthat he actually took the trouble to argument:only the protectionismof the U.S., France,and Russiawas and escalat- translateand publish this piece in English in 1896.52Schmoller himself later wrore ism, not that of Germany. The possibility of a retaliatory cycle of tariffs in his a letter of referencefor Ashley, which enabled him to securea new professorshipat ing tradewars was alsoclear. Recall alsothat Schmollerhad explicitlyasserted secure the Facultyof Commerceat the LJniversityof Birmingham, which had been founded Fre" Union speechthat it was one of the purposesof the high seasfleet to help to secure byJoseph Chamberlain.5lAs lettersto Schmollerreveal, in his capacityas a profes- trade treaties for Germany. Just how Schmoller imagined it being deployed inconsisten- sor at Brimingham, Ashley sought to defusegrowing tensionsbetween Britain and treatieswith thesecountries is an interestingquestion. Yet despitethese Inperialist Socialism ol'tlrc Chair I 19 I 18 Erik Grimmer-Solent That being said, Schmollerclearly had somethinganalogous to mercantilismin Germany. He wrote: "l do hope that in my new positionI may do somethingto draw mind when justifuing German power politics to negotiate trade treaties, to create a England & Germany more closely together.They are natural allies-if we look at the Central European customs union, and to securea German Weltuirtschaft within the large tendenciesof economicdevelopment and away from the pressingcauses of fric- contextof the heightenedtensions of the new imperialism.Schmoller did not create tion." Yet in the'verynext line Ashley went on to observe:"l havelearnt very much thosetensions, but he did not do much to lessenthem, either. I would nevertheless o[ late from your paper in Macht und Handelspolifit [sic]," a referenceto Schmoller's suggestthat what is most striking about Schmoller'strade policy as it related toWeIt- speechfor the Free Union.5a How much he would have learned in this tract about politifr is not its German peculiaritybut rather its thoroughgoingconventionality- peaceand understandingbetween Germany and Britain is of coursequestionable. that is, its direct comparabilitywith prevailingEuropean and American thinking on Nevertheless,Ashley seemsto have been a very good student of both Schmoller's the relationshipbetween navies, empire, and trade around the turn of the century. writings on mercantilism and his new Weltpolilift: two years later Ashley would write that his own sympathieswere stronglywith Chamberlain.s5 revealedin Ashley's 1903 book TheThriff Problem,which Justhow stronglywas Conclusion promoted an imperial system of preferential tariffs to draw the British Empire into just the thing Schmollerhad frettedabout in his speechesfor closereconomic union, A studyof Schmoller'sWeltpolilift reveals a pictureat oddswith someof thecore the Free Union only three years prio..56 The irony is capped by what Ashley wrote assumptionsunderlying the concept of social imperialism. There is little evidence to Schmollerin April 1904, just as the EntenteCordiale betweenBritain and France that Gustav Schmoller was manipulated to lend his hand to the fleet-buildingcam- was being signedand schmoller was penning a reviewof Ashley's book for his own paign. Despite his statusas a leadingWilhelmine socialreformer, there is a striking ahrb u ch f ur G esetzgeb u n g;57 J absence of any discussion of how the fleet and German Weltpolilift would further policy provide specific or political people. You will find many indicationsof the way in which I havebeen affectedby German social or social benefitsto the German methodsof thought.Unlucky I do not find muchdirecl assistancein dealingwith our Neither is there evidencethat stabilizingand legitimatingthe existingregime or pla- problemsin currentGerman writing. German literature deals mainly with the desir- cating infuential material interestsplayed an appreciablerole in motivating him to & in a lesserdegree with the questionof uUitityof agriculturalprotection in Germany lend his scholarlyweight to the campaignfor the fleet,nor does this play an explicit indurt.iul protectionin its relationto a givenstate. Our problemhere-or so I conceive role in his arguments.Instead, there is every reasonto believethat this involvement it-is that of binding togetherthe very looselyconnected members of a world empireby was born of strong personalconvictions and a view gleaned economiclinks. of the world from his You will be glad to hearthat thereis nowvery little aversereference to Germanyin the own scholarship.Schmoller'sWeltpolitiftwas nothing more and nothing lessthan an publicdiscussion of fiscalpolicv.. . . international assertionof German economic and political power. The two were PS: You may,perhaps, have noticed that the well known sociologicalwriter, Mr. Ben- closelyintermeshed. jamin Kidd, ias b"en ref"rring to your essayon Mercanlihsm;& at Mr. Kidd's request This view is supported by considering the remarkable consistencybetween to the Rime Minister.But I do not know whetherhe has i senta copyof my translation Schmoller's letter to Brentano of 1897, the speechesfor the Free Association of readit.t8 1899-1900, and his commentson the Biilow tariff bill of l90l.lndeed, what emergesis a picture of surprisingconsistency and clarity, certainlyat odds with the Certainly, Ashley had learned much from Schmoller' and Rime Minister Balfour view o[ Kehr and othersthat men like Schmollersupported the feet for vagueand ill- might have read the book Ashley sent him with interestand instruction. This of considered reasons,This hardly means that the views expressedby Schmoller were course raises the intriguing question to what extent Schmoller the scholar of mercan- nonproblematicor always consistent;indeed, the contradictionsand ironies in tilism might have contributed to the very problems that Schmoller the Weltpolilifter Schmoller's Weltlrolitift have been highlighted. Nevertheless,a consistent logic confronted.Neverthless, caution is calledfor. Schmoller'sscholarly influence in reha- informed thesepolicies.'We have good reason,then, not to attach the label "irra- bilitating the reputation of mercantilism does not suffice to make Schmoller a neomer- tional" to the campaign to build the fleet and German Wellpolilift. cantilist or, as has been claimed, a "spokesmanfor neomercantilistideas of world While not irrational, Schmoller's economic Weltpoliliftwas certainly dangerous: empire."59Writing about mercantilism,even acknowledging the contributionsof mer- it was an assertionof power that assumedfrom the outset that British hegemony cantilismto statebuilding and the creationof nationaleconomies, is one thing, advo- would be challenged.Schmoller did not unknowingly drift into this position. If we cating such policies,another, and it is to his credit that Schmoller repeatedly assumethat hegemonyis a zero-sumgame, this assertionof German power was denouncedthe practiceso[ the mercantilistage as unsuitedto the modern era.60Nor, bound to antagonizeBritain, and it is hard to imaginea policy of accommodationon as we have seen,was he blind to the nefariouspotential of German Scmmlungspoli- mutually agreeableterms, given the prevailing strategicassumptions and attitudes lift to precipitatea regressionto mercantilism. 120 Erik Grimnter-Solenr Inrperiolist Socialismol tlte Chair l2l about naval power. Indeed, the case of Gustav Schmoller's Wehpolilik lends weight be urged-in any €se, however,I can only emphasizemy assurancesof yesterdaythat this resig- to the argumentthat by the very first yearsof the twentiethcentury a coursehad likely nationwill be securedunder all circumstances." 19. Russian L,andtag,Stenographische Berichte, Haus der Abgeordneten,vol. 3, 75th session(4 alreadybeen set for somekind of future confict betweenGermany and Britain.6l Mav | 897), 2380-83; Russian Landtag, StenographischeBerichte, Herrenhaus, vol. | , l gth ses- sion(28 May 1897),382-88. These and otheraltacls in thepress were motivated by theopposi- tion o[ the socialistsof the chair to repressivelegislation against striking workers,support of the Hamburg dockworkes' strike in 1896, and Schmoller'sdefense as rector of Berlin Univenity of the Social Democraticphysicist Leo Arons in 1897. 20. "Rofessor Schmolleriiber die Flotte," HamburgerischerCorrespondent, no. 560 Abend-Ausgabe (29 Nou f 899); "Eine Flottenredevon GustavSchmoller," Brulouu Zeitung, no. 841 Morgen- Ausgabe (30 Nov. lB99); Die deutschenUniversiteten und die Flottenbewegung,"Hamburg- Notes eriscAerCorrespondent,no.2S0,Morgen-Ausgabe (l0June 1900); "TilkofGerman Future,"IAe ChicagoTiibune 59, no. 195 (l 4 Julv | 900). -1906," I . WolfgangMarienfeld, "Wissenschaft und Schlachtflottenbauin DeutschlandlB97 Marine 2 f . Gustav Schmoller,Mu Sering, and Adolf Wagner,eds., FreieVereinigung fir Flotlenoortrcigc. RundschauBeihelt2 (April 1957)t l-125. Handels-und Machtpolitift.Reden und AufsiiLze(Stuttgart, 1900). 2. EckartKehr, SchlachlflottenbouundParlei-Poliliftl894-190l.VersurleincsQucrs&niltsdurchdie 22. GustavSchmoller, "Die wirtschaftlicheZukunft Deutschlandsund die Flottenvorlage"[ | 900], in innenpolilischen,sozialen und ideologischenVorausselzungenda deutschenImperialismus (Berlin, Zu:anzigJahreDeutscherPolitift(1897-1917). Aufsatze undVortriige uon GuslauScfrmoller, ed. 1930),41523. LucieSchmoller (Munich and Leipzig, 1920), l-6. 3. Marienfeld, "Wissenschaftund Schlachtflottenbau,"8, 57. Reiteratedmore recentlyby Konrad 21. tbid.,6. Canis, Von Bismarcftzur Weltpolitift. DeutscheAulhnpolitih I 890 bk 1902 (Berlin' 1997) ' 335. 24. tbid..6-9. "Studien 4. Hans-Uh'ichWehler, Deulsche Gesellschalsgescfrichte, vol. 3,Von der "DeulschenDoppelreoolu- 25. GustavSchmoller, ilberdie wirtschafdichePolitik Friedrichs des GroRen und ReuBens tion"bis zum Beginnt)u ErslenWeltftriessl849-1914 (Munich, 1995)' ll29'l145, especiallv ilberhaupt von I 680- I 786," Jahrbucht'iir Gesetzgebung,Verualtung und Volftsairtschaftim (hereaftercitedas/b,GVli) l l3 tff. DeutschenReicAe B (1884): l-61,345-421,999-1091; idem,"Das 5. For example,Gustav Schmoller,"Die SozialeFrage und der PreussischeStaat" [18741, in Zur Merkantilsystemin seinerhistorischen Bedeutung," in Umrisseund lJntersuchungenzur Verlos- (Leipzig, -60. Socicl-undGeu.rerbepolitiftilerCegenuart.RelenundAut'siitze (Leipzie, 1890)'37-61. sungs-,Veraaltungs- und Wirtschaftsgescf,icf,te I 898), | "Das 6. See Erik Grimmer-Solem,Ifre Rise of HistoricalEconomics and Social Rehrm in Cermang, 26. Schmoller, Merkantilsystem,"37. I 864-I 894 (Oxford, 2003). 27. Schmollea"Die wirtschaftlicheZukunft Deutschlands." 9- 12. 7. Wilhelm Deist, Flotrenpolitih und Flottenpropogonila.Dos Nachrichlenbureoudes ReicAs- 28. tbid..r2. marineamlu| 897-19 | 4 (Stuttgart, 1976), 102. 29. lbid..r3. B. Schmollerto Brentano,23 Julv 1897, BundesarchivKoblenz (hereafterBAK), N l00l Nl 30. tbid.,r4. Brentano.Nn 57. Bl. 107-8. 3t. Ibid.,l4-t9. 9. Brentanoto Schmoller,27 luly 1897, GeheimesStaatsarchiv ReuBischer Kulturbesitz (hereafter 32. Ibid..r9. GSIA P$, \'1. HA Nl Schmoller,Nr. I 14, 81.275-76. Ashort excerptof this letterwas quoted 33. tbid-20. by JamesJ. Sheehan,Thc Careerof Lujo Brentano:A Study ol Liberalismond Social Relormin 34. GustavSchmoller, "Die Wandlungenin der europd,ischenHandelspolitik des 19.Jahrhunderts. ImperialCermans (Chicaeo and London, I 966), I 80. Eine Sakularbetrachtung,",fElCW 2 4 (l 900) : 373 -82. I 0. Tirpitz to Schmoller,28 Julv | 897, GSIA PK, VI. HA Nl Schmoller,Nn | 89a' Bl. 83-84. 35. tbid..378. I L Ceoff Ef ev,Re haping the CermanRigfrt, Rcdicol Na tionaksmond Politicol Changeafter Bismarck 36. [GustavSchmoller] , Derlran ziisischeHandekoerlrog und seineGegner. Ein Wortder Verstiindigung (New Haven,l9B0; reprint,Ann Arbor, l99l)' 85. oon einemSiiddeutschen (Frankfurt a.M., l862); Gustav Schmoller,"Korreferat tiber die Zoll- 12. Foruample,"WaslehrenunsdieVorgengeinSamoa?"DieWochel'no.5(1899).Schmoller tarifoorlage,"Schrilten du Vcreinst'iir SocialpolitiftI 6 ( | 879) : I 9-29. Otto was asked in January lBgB to mite an article in the NeuesleNachrichlcn by the editor, 37. Custav Schmoller,"Neuere Litteratur iiber unserehandelspolitische Zukunft," ]blCW l5 FriedrichKoch, under the heading"Was ist unsChina)" Koch to Schmoller'4 Jan. 1898' GSIA (lB9l):275-82. PK, Vl. HA Nl Schmoller,Nn 190a,Bl.216-17. 38. GustavSchmoller, "Die amerikanischeKonkurrenz und die Lageder mitteleuropiiischen,beson- 13.Kehr, Sclrlochfottenbau,l0l-2; Deist, Flottenpolitilt,| 13. den derdeutschenLandwirlschaft," ]blCW 6 (1882):247-84,her.e 283. ta. GustavSchmoller, ed., "Uber wirtschaftlicheKartelle in Deutschlandund im Auslande," Schnfen 39. StandigerAusschuB des Vereins ftir Socialpolitik,ed., "Verhandlungender Generalvemammlung dcsVcreins /r.ir Soc ialpolitih60 ( | 894). Von Halle's contributionon American trustsis on 93-322. in Miinchen,23.,24., und 25. Septembert901," Schriftend.esVereins /rir Socialpolitift98 15. Schmollerto Schweinburgldraft], I 5 June | 898, GSIA PK' Vl. HA Nl Schmoller,Nn | 90c, (1902):264-65. Bl. f 7l. See also Kehr, Schlschlflottenbau,l7l; Deist, Flotlenpolitift,153; Elev, Rahoping thc 40. lbid.,265-66. CermonRisfrt, 85-86. 4t. tbid.,267. 16. Marienfeld,"Wissenschaft und Schlachtflottenbau,"86. /1 Ibid.,268. 17. Deist, Flottenpolitift,103. 41. lbid.,269. I B. Secretariatof the GermanNavy Leagueto Schmoller,14 Dec. 1899,GSIA PK' VI. HA Nl 44. lbid.,27| . Schmoller,Nr. I 9l b, Bl. | 70-7 | : "Regardingthe retirementfrom the managingcommittee of Frei- 45. HenryWi Farnam,"Die Innerefranz,iisische GewerSepolitik von Colbert bis Tirrgot," Slaats- und herr Ze,llrtz, negotiationsarc still pendingabout the form in whichhis voluntaryresignation should sociolrrissenschofliche Forschungen l, no. 4 ( I 878). t22 Erik Grinuner-Solem
46. Farnamto Schmoller,7 Sept. 1898, C'stA PK, VI. HA Nl Schmoller,Nr. 190b, Bl. 184-85. 47. Farnamto Schmoller,4 Aug. | 90 | , GSIA PK, VI. HA Nl Schmoller,Nr. | 94a, Bl. 3-6. 48. Farnamto Schmoller,l9July 1904, GSIA PK M. FIA Nl Schmoller,Nr. 196b, Bl. 15-39; see afsoGustav $chmoller, "DieAmerikaner," JbFW28 (|904): |477-94, 49. William E. Leuchtenberg,"Progrcssivism and lmperialism:The ProgressiveMovement and Amer- icanForeignPolicy|898-|9|6,"IheMrsissippiVallegHisloricolReoiea39 (December|952): 483-504;Jurgen Herb,st, The Cerman Hktofirr,lSchoolin Ameican Sciolarsiip: A Study in ihe Tiansferof Cullure (lthaca, | 965); Daniel T. Rodgen, Atlanlic Crossings.'Social Politics in a Pro- gressiueAge (Cambridge,Mass. and London, 1998); Axel R. Schafer,Ame dcan Prograsioa and CermanSocialRe/om, 1875-1920: Social Ethics,MoralConlrol, and lhe RegulalorgState in a Tiansatlantic Context (Stuttgart, 2000). 50. On Ashley and Toynbee, seeAlon Kadish, T[e Ox/onl Economistsin the Late Ninteenlh Century (Oxford, I 982); on historicaleconomics in Englandmore generally, see Gerand M. Koot, Englisfr Historicol Economics,1870-1926: The Rise of EconomicHistorg and Neomerconlilism(Cam- bridge, | 987). 5f . AshfeytoSchmoller,24Nov1887,GSIAPK,Vl.HANl Schmoller,Nn 153,Br1.2526. 52. GustavSchmoller, The Mercantile Ssstem ond Is Histoical Significanceillustrated Chiefls from PrussianHistoryr trans. William J. Ashley(New York and London, | 896). 53. Ashleyto Schmoller,3 | July 1901,GSIA PK, VL FIA Nl Schmoller,Nr. 193,Bl. 109. 54. Ibid. 55. Ashleyto Schmoller,19 Sept. 1903, GSIA PK Vl. HA Nl Schmoller,Nr. 195b,Bl. 58-59. 56. WilliamJ.Ashley, l"he Thiff hoblem(London, 1903). 57. GustavSchmoller, "Die kiinftigeenglische Handelspolitih Chamberlain und der Imperialismus,' lblcw 28 (1904):829-52.Schmoller was very kind in hisreview and went some way to try to defusetensions between the huo countries by playing down the threat posed to Germanyofan impe rialcustoms union. See especially 850-52. 58. Ashleyto Schmoller,9 Apr. l 904,GSIA PK VL HA Nl Schmoller,Nr. l 96a,Bl. l 7-18. 59. Canis,Von Bismorcft zur Weltpolitk, 333. 60. Schmoller,TheMercanlileSgstem,T9;idem,"DieWirtschaftlicheZukunftDeuechlands,"l0-12. 61.Canis,Von Bismarcft zur Weltpolitik,396-40 l.
I tI