Kurt Riezler's Grundzüge Der Weltpolitik in Der
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KURT RIEZLER’S GRUNDZÜGE DER WELTPOLITIK IN DER GEGENWART: A CASE STUDY OF GERMAN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, Chico In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in History by © Bryce Jeffrey Havens Spring 2011 KURT RIEZLER’S GRUNDZÜGE DER WELTPOLITIK IN DER GEGENWART: A CASE STUDY OF GERMAN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY A Thesis by © Bryce Jeffrey Havens APPROVED BY THE DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND VICE PROVOST FOR RESEARCH: Katie Milo, Ed.D. APPROVED BY THE GRADUATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE: Laird Easton, Ph.D., Chair Kate Transchel, Ph.D. Christine Goulding, Ph.D. PUBLICATION RIGHTS No portion of this thesis may be reprinted or reproduced in any manner unacceptable to the usual copyright restrictions without the written permission of the author. iii DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this thesis to my parents. Without their constant support and encouragement, I never would have made it this far. Thanks mom and dad. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS No written work of history or any academic career is ever the product of one person. Accordingly, there are many people I would like to thank, without whom this thesis would not have been possible, nor would my six years at California State University, Chico have been nearly as enjoyable or inspiring. Concerning this thesis, my first thanks go to Dr. Laird Easton. I came to Dr. Easton about a year ago with a few broad ideas about modern German history and he knew instantly that they were all too broad and not especially interesting. After he thought for a moment, this project was more or less born. Though it changed conceptually a few times, I would like to think that it is still in the realm of what we set out to do. Despite some complaints and misgivings of mine as to whether or not I was ready for such a project, Dr. Easton stuck by me and proved to be a much-needed source of intellectual inspiration. In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Kate Transchel and Dr. Christine Goulding for serving on my committee, reading my thesis draft, and offering me many suggestions as to how I could clarify and improve my writing. Special thanks must also be given to Dr. Goulding. She helped me on many occasions with translations, and without her, I probably never would have learned German in the first place or spent a wonderful year studying abroad in Germany. That experience proved invaluable to this endeavor. Lastly, I would like to thank a host of wonderful professors in the history department at CSU, Chico: Dr. Lawrence Bryant, Dr. Robert Tinkler, Dr. Steve Lewis, Dr. Clifford Minor, and Dr. James Matray. All of these professors have influenced and inspired me v in many ways over the years, be it with their intellect, their amazing lectures, their mentorship, their kindness, or just by offering their time for a jovial chat. I consider them all both great scholars and friends. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Publication Rights................................................................................................................. iii Dedication............................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements.............................................................................................................. v Abstract................................................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER I. Introduction............................................................................................................ 1 II. The Philosophy of Kurt Riezler................................................................................ 5 III. The National Tendency........................................................................................... 21 IV. The Cosmopolitan Tendency.................................................................................. 29 V. Imperialism, War, and Public Opinion.................................................................... 39 VI. Conclusion.............................................................................................................. 50 Bibliography.......................................................................................................................... 61 vii ABSTRACT KURT RIEZLER’S GRUNDZÜGE DER WELTPOLITIK IN DER GEGENWART: A CASE STUDY OF GERMAN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY by © Bryce Jeffrey Havens Master of Arts in History California State University, Chico Spring 2011 This thesis offers a thorough examination of Kurt Riezler’s 1914 work Grundzüge der Weltpolitik in der Gegenwart (The Fundamental Features of Contemporary World Politics). Riezler was both a classically trained philosopher and the personal secretary to German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg from 1909 to 1917. His work Grundzüge der Weltpolitik, published shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, was his most significant contribution to the field of political philosophy. Given Riezler’s position as a philosopher and politician, his work offers a unique insight into the world of German intellectual and political history during the early years of the twentieth century. The book has yet to be translated into English and is in need of careful examination by both historians and political scientists. A proper study of Grundzüge der Weltpolitik in der Gegenwart requires both an assessment of Riezler’s philosophy and an inspection of the historical context in which it viii was written. As a political theorist, Riezler was heavily influenced by the great minds in the traditions of German philosophy and history such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, and Leopold von Ranke. He conceived of politics as an ongoing struggle between two forces, one national and one cosmopolitan. These forces contended with one another during the organic process of growth and expansion of the nation-state, which Riezler believed was the culmination of human history. Given the historical context in which it was written, Grundzüge der Weltpolitik offers many unique insights into the prevailing ideas that occupied early twentieth century German politics and philosophy such as: cosmopolitanism, nationalism, the growth of the German Empire, the role of culture and economics in the development of nation-states, and the likelihood of war in a world of contending Great Powers. As a philosopher-politician, Riezler offers a traditional, philosophical treatise, but one that was uniquely shaped by his time serving as secretary and confidant to the Chancellor. ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION With the exception of scholars of modern German history, few people have heard the name Kurt Riezler. Despite his relative obscurity, Riezler played a unique and significant role in German history. As the personal assistant and confidant of Theobald von Bethman- Hollweg, the Chancellor of the German Empire from 1909 to 1917, Riezler performed many political duties. He served as a speechwriter and advisor on foreign policy. He wrote the September Program, which stated the war goals of Germany for the First World War. During the war, he worked as a foreign attaché in Stockholm and in Moscow after the Bolshevik Revolution. After the war and the collapse of the Empire, he became a strong supporter of the Weimar Republic, going so far as to help undermine the conservative Kapp Putsch and the communist Bavarian Soviet Republic. In addition, he briefly served as the chief advisor to President Friedrich Ebert until finally leaving politics in 1920 to devote the rest of his life to writing philosophy and teaching.1 Although the events of his life have been well documented, Riezler’s written works have received considerably less attention. Historical examinations of German foreign policy, Imperial Germany, and Germany’s role in the First World War almost always mention Riezler, albeit briefly and generally without great detail.2 Wayne Thompson’s work In the Eye of the 1 Wayne C. Thompson, In the Eye of the Storm: Kurt Riezler and the Crises of Modern Germany (Iowa 2 See examples such as Fritz Fischer, Germany’s Aims in the First World War (New York: W. W. Norton, 1967); Immanuel Geiss, German Foreign Policy, 1871-1914 (Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1976); Hans- 1 2 Storm: Kurt Riezler and the Crises of Modern Germany, published in 1980, remains to date the only book-length study of his life. Although the work is mostly biographical, it does provide a brief overview of some of Riezler’s most important pre-war works. Thompson admits, however, that an examination of these works “would be *a+ study in itself.”3 One of Riezler’s most important, widely read, and somewhat controversial pre-war works was Grundzüge der Weltpolitik in der Gegenwart (The Fundamental Features of Contemporary World Politics).4 Written in late 1913 and published only months prior to the outbreak of the First World War in July 1914, Grundzüge der Weltpolitik was a work of political philosophy. Riezler sought it to function both as a socio-politico-economic examination of contemporary European and world affairs and as support for the moderate political agenda of the Bethmann-Hollweg government. As such, Grundzüge der Weltpolitik was primarily concerned with the maintenance of peace in an industrial age fraught with growing political movements such as nationalism and socialism, imperialism, the economic interdependence of nations, and the decline of German power, prestige, and culture. Riezler