A volume in THE DOCUMENTARY HISTORY of WESTERN CIVILIZATION Germany from Empire to Ruin, 1913-1945 Germany from Empire to Ruin, 1913-1945 edited by HENRY CORD MEYER Palgrave Macmillan Introductory essay, editorial notes, chronologies, bibliographies and translations by the editor Copyright© 1973 by Henry Cord Meyer Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1973 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission. First published in the United States 1973 First published in the United Kingdom 1973 Published by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD. London and Basingstoke Associated companies in New York, Dublin, Melbourne, Johannesburg and Madras SBN: 333-07959-0 ISBN 978-0-333-07959-1 ISBN 978-1-349-00537-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-00537-6 For Hank, Chris, and Jane: "There is within us a basic human substance which changes less than is sometimes imagined." Anatole France Acknowledgments I am particularly indebted to Mrs. Agnes F. Petersen of the Hoover Institution, Stanford, California, for consultations and assistance with bibliographical details. My colleague, Professor Jon S. Jacobson, was ever-helpful in scanning material and text. Valuable translation assistance was given by Evelyn Champagne, Gunter Mende, George Harlow Mills, and John T. Walker. Finally, I appreciate the painstaking typing of Mrs. Mary Stechow, Mrs. Betty Beth, and Miss Dee Gerald. Villa Serbelloni Bellagio, Italy October 1972 Contents Introduction 1 Prologue 27 1. German Youth from Confidence to Skepticism 28 I. THE GERMAN EMPIRE IN PEACE AND wAR, 1913-1918 40 2. The Kaiser's Proclamation of Gratitude in Contemplation of His Silver Jubilee 41 3. Socialist Reaction to the Silver Jubilee 42 4. Liberal-Bourgeois Commentary on the Reign of William II 45 5. Selected Documents on Prewar German Foreign Policy 49 6. A Socialist Records the Coming of the War 56 7. The Psychological Impact of World War I upon Germany 63 II. REvOLUTION, CoNsTITUTION, AND PEACE TREATY, 1918-1919 71 8. A Memoir of the Revolution and the Spartacist Revolt 72 9. Politics and Democracy in the Making of the Weimar Constitution 91 10. TheTraumaofVersailles 102 III. THE CoNsoLIDATION oF THE WEIMAR REGIME, 1920-1929 117 11. Conditions for Conversion to National Socialism 118 12. From Inflation to Corruption 128 13. Gustav Stresemann and the Locarno Pact 13 7 14. Out of the Wilderness 146 xii CONTENTS IV. DEPRESSION AND PoLITics, 1930-1932 152 15. From the Heart of Germany, 1931 153 16. Nazi-Communist Cooperation to Destroy the Weimar Republic 158 17. Hitler's Address to the Industriekluh, January 27, 1932 165 18. TheWa ning of the Weimar Era 171 V. THE "CoNsERVATIVE REvoLuTioN" AND NATIONAL SociALISM, 1930-19.33 179 19. A Theory of the "Conservative Revolution" 180 20. Ideals and Aims of a "Conservative Revolutionary" 183 21. Warnings from an Anti-Nazi Conservative 191 VI. NATIONAL SociALisM SEIZES PowER, 193 3 198 22. Hitler's Proclamation to the German Nation, February 1, 1933 199 23. Pages from Goebbels' Diary, January-May, 1933 203 24. Final Reichstag Address of Otto Wels, March 23, 1933 216 25 . Against the Un-German Spirit 219 26. Anti-Semitic Hate Propaganda 221 VII. THE NATIONAL SociALIST CoNSOLIDATION OF VICTORY, 1933-1937 226 27. An Australian Views the Third Reich 226 VIII. THE RoAD TO WAR, 1936-1939 245 2 8. Fuhrer Memorandum on the Tasks of a Four-Year Plan, 1936 246 29. Minutes of the Conference in the Reich Chancellery, Berlin, November 5, 1937 250 30. Hitler Speaks to the German Press after the Humiliation of Czechoslovakia, November 10, 193 8 2 56 31. The Fuhrer Conference of May 23, 1939 263 32. Speech by the Fuhrer to the Commanders-in-Chief, August 22, 1939 268 CONTENTS ntl ss IX. THE EMERGENCE OF THE STATE, 1939-1945 272 33. The SS Takes over the Third Reich, 1939-1944 273 34. Heinrich Himmler on Germany's Future in the East, 1942 277 35. A Memoir of Life in Concentration Camps 284 X. CoLLAPSE AND PERSPECTIVES FOR RENEWAL, 1943-1945 300 36. Soviet Russia Anticipates the Post-Nazi Era 301 37. Objectives of the Anti-Nazi Conspiracy, July 20, 1944 303 38 . A Journal of Defeat and Retribution, 1945 311 39. German Confession, 1945 326 40. Our Most Urgent Task, 1945 331 Chronological List 3 36 Bibliography 342 Index 349