Private Men and Public Intellectuals: UK Historians and Changing Perceptions of Interwar Germany
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Private Men and Public Intellectuals: UK Historians and Changing Perceptions of Interwar Germany A Thesis submitted by James Stenzel, BA (USQ), BA Honours (First Class) (USQ) For the award of Doctor of Philosophy 2016 i Abstract UK historians’ work in the interwar era demonstrates their particular significance in shaping the UK’s relationship with Germany. UK interwar historians served in roles that touched upon high politics, and in occupations that gave them unique access to the public space. The thesis explores why UK historians studied Germany, and with what impact on public perceptions. It also assesses how their engagement with Germany contributed to their reputations as public intellectuals. The thesis argues that UK interwar historians were an influential collection of individuals, whose writings on Germany helped consolidate a shifting public space. It examines UK historians’ capacity to analyse, prescribe and advocate. UK historians emerged in the interwar period as an identifiable body of public intellectuals. Several factors fostered the development of this collective. These factors were strongly influenced by analyses that reflected UK historians’ understandings of interwar Germany, and included perceptions of Germanness, Germany’s democracy, Germany’s power and the Nazi Party. Ultimately, the thesis examines UK interwar historians’ commitment to analysing Germany, albeit with diverse opinions. Historians’ evolution as public intellectuals was key in this phenomenon. ii CERTIFICATION OF THESIS I hereby certify that the ideas, analysis and conclusions reported in this submission are entirely my own except where acknowledged. This work is original and has not been previously submitted for any purpose. Signature of Candidate: Date: Signature of Supervisor: Date: iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to acknowledge the assistance and support of my supervisory team, but particularly the efforts of Dr Robert Mason, whose insights and wise counsel were incalculable throughout the course of this thesis. His assiduous work in getting the thesis to this stage is appreciated. Thank you, to Dr Lindsay Henderson and Dr Catherine Dewhirst, for their guidance and advice. I am beholden to them all, as they offered me their time and erudition, and encouraged me whenever resolve was weakening. The moral support of all those at the School of Arts and Communication at USQ, including the mateship of my fellow postgraduates, is also appreciated. Thank you, also to my family. iv Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND APPROACHES………….……………..1 SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CAPITAL: BOURDIEU……………………………7 USING BOURDIEU AS A FRAMEWORK……………………………………..17 METHODOLOGY………………………………………………………………... 23 UK HISTORIANS OF INTERWAR GERMANY………………………….…....27 HISTORIANS AND UNIVERSITIES…………………………………………….30 HISTORIANS, POLTICAL PARTIES AND INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENTS……………………………………………………………………..40 HISTORIANS AND THE FORMATION OF FOREIGN POLICY…………….50 HISTORIANS, THE PRESS AND ASSOCIATION……………………………61 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………..…………………..68 HISTORIES OF THE INTERWAR UK……………....………………………….68 CLASS ……………………..……………………………………………………...70 THE GROWTH OF ANGLO-SAXONISM IN THE INTERWAR UK…………80 THE ROLE OF THE UK PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL…………………………..90 THE ROLE OF THE UK HISTORIAN…………………………………………..93 CULTURAL HISTORY……………………………………………………….....100 CHAPTER 3: VIEWS OF DEUTSCHTUM…………………………………....105 CONTESTED INTERPRETATIONS OF GERMANNESS…………………..106 ANGLO-SAXON IDENTITY…………………………………………………....106 CONFESSIONAL PERCEPTIONS…………………………………………....108 MILITARISM……………………………………………………………..………110 INTELLECTUALISM……………………………………………………………116 RECOGNITION OF THE PECULIARITIES OF GERMANY’S POLITICAL CULTURE………………………………………………………………………..121 VULNERABILITY AND HUMILIATION……………………………………….123 CHAPTER 4: GERMAN DEMOCRACY……………………………………...132 FOUNDING A DEMOCRACY: DEMOCRATISATION……………………...132 FOUNDING A DEMOCRACY: DEMOCRATISING HISTORY……………..137 FOUNDING A DEMOCRACY: GERMAN REVOLUTION………………….140 INTERPRETING A DEMOCRACY: VERSAILLES AND WAR GUILT……144 INTERPRETING A DEMOCRACY: PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM………..149 INTERPRETING A DEMOCRACY: THE PUBLIC SPACE………………...151 v CHAPTER 5: GERMAN POWER BEYOND AND ALONG ITS BORDERS………………………………………………………………………..157 RENEGOTIATING GERMANY’S BORDERS AND THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS…………………………………………………………………………158 LEAGUE OF NATIONS AND COLONIES……………………………………165 THE RESHAPING OF GERMANY’S BORDERS……………………………173 CHAPTER 6: ETHICS, MORALITY AND THE NAZI PARTY……………...186 UNDERSTANDING THE NAZI IDEOLOGY………………………………….186 THE NAZI SEIZURE OF POWER……………………………………………..193 MEDIA CLIMATE………………………………………………………………..205 SECURITY AND NAZISM’S RISE…………………………………………….209 SYMPATHY TO NAZI GERMANY…………………………………………….211 HOSTILITY TO NAZI GERMANY…………………………………….............218 CHAPTER 7: THE CONCLUSION……………………………......................223 BIBLIOGRAPHY:……………..………………………………………..............231 vi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND APPROACHES On 15 April 1937, British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin’s private secretary took receipt of a memorial addressed to the Prime Minister, and which was authored by several prominent British historians of Germany.1 One of the historians who co- authored the document, William Harbutt Dawson, also appended a personal note to the memorial, meant for Baldwin. In it, he outlined what he hoped his correspondence would achieve, and in so doing, outlined what he believed to be the position and role of British historians in interwar Britain: …It falls to me to send this memorial to you. It is due to a deep conviction that these questions hold the key not only to friendship with Germany but to the peace of Europe. I have known Germany intimately for over fifty years – from my student days in Berlin, when A. Chamberlain simultaneously matriculated there...have closely followed the colonial movement, and written in The Times without number. I know, therefore, how intensely, even passionately, the Germans feel on this subject, but I know, too, how strongly they trust English generosity. I believe they would respond wonderfully to a decision in the service of this memorial. I believe, too, that the more steps all the world over would be informed for such a gesture…I have tried to serve my country and the course of international peace for over half a century, and my quest is to help avoid our drift into another catastrophe like that of 1914-19.2 Dawson’s memorial to Baldwin gave insight into the lack of consideration for the complexity of Germany’s position in Europe. Dawson felt that misinformed views about Germany were rising in the United Kingdom, views which he had hoped to help dissuade by appealing to the Prime Minister. The extent of UK historians’ 1 A statement of facts as the basis of a petition. 2 William Harbutt Dawson’s Note to the Memorial to Baldwin, 15 April 1937, Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives, Stanley Baldwin’s Private Papers, Baldwin 89, ff., F2. 1 public roles involving Germany was belied by Dawson’s personal note and co- authorship of the memorial, which emphasised to Baldwin that their correspondence was not meant for publication.3 However, Dawson’s communication to Baldwin at a crucial period in Anglo-German relations shows that an appeal to a leading politician could be decisive and revealed historians’ capacity to navigate between the public and private spaces that affected foreign policy. The wider interwar period demonstrates an ambitious assertion of public intellectuals’ roles by UK historians in the interwar era. The note and accompanying memorial’s inspiration was the conviction, adopted by Dawson and his colleagues, that a punitive peace had been imposed on Germany after World War I. They used this belief to give urgency and credence to their analyses and commentary about Germany, and thereby to enhance their roles as public intellectuals. World War I provided the immediate context for British historians’ perspectives on Germany, and offers a prism through which to comprehend their analyses. An analysis of British historians in the interwar era shows the influence that they, as a collection of individuals, wielded in the UK’s relationship with Germany, and indicates their collective importance in bringing foreign affairs to the attention of the British public. In the period I analyse, some historians often self- identified as ‘English’ as opposed to ‘British’. Hereafter, I use United Kingdom (UK) when referring to the state, and defer to the historians’ own terminology within quotations. I argue that UK historians acted as an effective collection of individuals, whose interest in interwar Germany created the context for their work across different fields of knowledge, thereby accentuating their public role. They fulfilled this function while maintaining a variety of beliefs. In the process, UK historians sought to raise Britons’ awareness of a collective sense of grievance held by Germans. In the interwar period, historians occupied roles that affected decisions of high politics, and served in capacities that gave them access to the public. The thesis considers UK historians and their ability to marshal analytical, prescriptive and advocacy skills. It investigates the role of UK historians in influencing public opinion and foreign policy on interwar Germany. 3 Ibid. 2 The focus of the thesis is on UK historians and public intellectuals of interwar Germany in order to ascertain the extent to which their public commentary and histories contributed to the shaping of UK public opinion and to British foreign policy towards Germany.