German Fatherland Party

The German Fatherland Party (German: Deutsche Vaterlandspartei, DVLP^[16]) was a short-lived far-right^[17] political party active in the German Empire during the last phase of World War I. Its purpose was to mobilize the political right in a broad catch-all movement (Sammlungsbewegung)^[18] and promote maximum German war goals. In terms of organizational history, the Fatherland Party is considered the first attempt at reconciliation between the traditional right, characteristic of the Wilhelmine Period, and radical nationalists who would become popular during the interwar period.^{[19][20][21][22]}

The dissolution of the Fatherland Party predicted the failure of the traditional politics of notables (Honoratiorenpolitik) of the "old right" from Imperial Germany, which, during the Weimar Republic, found itself competing with "new" movements and parties over leadership, propaganda and mass mobilization.^[23]

Political positions and influence

The party represented conservative, nationalist, antisemitic and völkisch political circles, united in their opposition against the Reichstag Peace Resolution of July 1917. It played a vital role in the emergence of the stab-in-the-back myth and the defamation of certain politicians as the November Criminals.^[24][25]

Militarism played an essential role in the party.^[26] In March–April 1915, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz stated that the only thing that was keeping Germany from winning the war was the poor leadership of the Chancellor and the Emperor. His solution was a plan in which Bethmann-Hollweg would be sacked and the office of Chancellor abolished; the Kaiser would "temporarily" abdicate; and Generalfeldmarschall Hindenburg be given the new office of "Dictator of the Reich", concentrating all political and military power into his hands in order to win the war.^[27] These positions continued to receive support from the Fatherland Party. Internally, there were calls for a coup d'etat against the German government, to be led by Hindenburg and Ludendorff, even against the Emperor if necessary.

Though the Tirpitz plan was not implemented, the very fact it was mooted showed the extent of military dissatisfaction with the existing leadership, and the strength of the "state within the state" in that Tirpitz was not punished despite having essentially called for deposing the Emperor.^[27] In August 1916, Germany became a de facto military dictatorship under the duumvirate of Generalfeldmarschall Hindenburg and Generalquartiermeister Ludendorff, who ruled Germany until 1918.^[28] During the rule of the "silent dictatorship" of Hindenburg and Ludendorff, the German government advocated a set of imperialist war aims calling for the annexation of most of Europe and Africa that in many ways were a prototype for the war aims of the Second World War.^[29]

Foreign policy objectives

Alleged map of German plans for a new political order in Central and Eastern Europe

Possible outcome of a German victory in Africa with German pre-WW1 possessions in dark blue and gains in medium blue

The official purpose for the existence of the Fatherland Party was to end the war victoriously and to secure a "German peace". The war aims, however, were not laid out in any specific program and remained flexible in scope and outlook as the party focused on domestic politics to propagate a "Siegfrieden" (victorious war).^[30] On September 24, 1917, Tirpitz had demanded a "correct solution to the Belgian question", a "safeguarding of the open borders", "physical compensation" and a "place in the sun" secured for Germany. In the months that followed, the following ideas gradually emerged:^[31][32]

• Annexation of Luxembourg, Belgium, Briey and the Longwy ore basins
• The Netherlands should be brought into a closer relationship to Germany while avoiding any appearance of coercion (up to annexation)
• Buffer states created in territory carved out of the western Russian Empire, such as Poland and the Baltic states, which would remain under German sovereignty
• The German colonial empire was to be expanded. The German possessions in Africa would be enlarged to create a contiguous German colony across central Africa
• "Freedom of the seas" - in the sense that the German fleet must be able to safeguard "German interests" worldwide
• France must pay a war indemnity of 10 billion German Marks, with further payments to cover veterans' funds and to pay off all of Germany's existing national debt
• France will partially disarm by demolishing its northern forts

Foundation, leadership and funding

Backed by the Pan-German League, the German Fatherland Party was founded by Heinrich Claß, August von Dönhoff, Alfred von Tirpitz and Wolfgang Kapp^[33][34] on 2 September 1917 on the 47th anniversary of Sedan Day, a holiday that commemorated the German victory over France in 1870. The event took place in the Yorck room of the city hall in Königsberg.^[35][36] Other names considered for the party were the Bismarck Union, the Bismarck Party and the Hindenburg Party.^[37][38] However, these names "would have been considered a snub of the Kaiser" and were rejected.

The party's leaders were Wolfgang Kapp^[39] – who would later instigate the failed attempted coup in 1920 known as the Kapp Putsch – and Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz,^[40] a naval minister and post-war party leader. Walter Nicolai, head of the military secret service, was also supportive.^[41] Media baron Alfred Hugenberg was also a prominent member.

The party's political influence peaked in the summer of 1918 when it had around 1,250,000 members.^[42] Close ties existed between the Fatherland Party and the Third Supreme Command with the military providing the party’s main source of funding and featuring statements from the party in the military’s official publication Militär-Wochenblatt. A large number of former officers joined the DVLP; those on active duty were not permitted to be members of any political party.^[43] The party was officially dissolved during the German Revolution on 10 December 1918. Most of its members later joined the German National People's Party (DNVP), the major right-wing conservative and nationalist party of the Weimar Republic.

Organization

The DVLP had its central main management based in Berlin and was divided into state, district and local associations at the middle and lower levels. The Berlin headquarters of the DVLP employed almost 150 members at the end of 1917. The state, district and local associations were to be set up as required according to the statutes. The local associations could only communicate with the party executive through the state associations. District associations were only to be interposed when needed; they had no members and only served the regional associations as administrative bodies. In July 1918 there were 32 state associations, 237 district associations and 2,536 local associations across Germany.^[44][45]

Propaganda strategy

The organizers of the Fatherland Party were new in the intensity of their belief that propaganda was crucial in controlling public opinion within Germany. The party administration organized priests, journalists, and teachers to act as traveling lecturers spreading the message of the party throughout the Reich. They were sent to specific regions according to their religion and place of birth, the better to make contact with the masses. For example, a Catholic Bavarian would be sent to Bavaria to address a predominantly Catholic audience. Kapp even suggested letting "several lecturers speak at once in order to reach a broader audience."^[46]

The party also founded a press department under the control of Dr. Klemens Klein, a professional historian and the chief editor of the Dusseldorf Zeitung from 1907–1915, that disseminated propaganda via newspapers and other printed media. In order to reach the broadest audience possible, the party wanted to publish its propaganda in leftist and liberal newspapers, but many of these newspapers were not willing to print the Fatherland Party's announcements.

As a result of this (scarcely surprising) refusal, the majority of the Fatherland Party's propaganda was found in rightist papers. The propaganda contained in these conservative and right-wing newspapers highlighted themes similar to those initially found in the party's first manifesto and public rally, such as the need to unify the people of Germany, to increase the will to victory within the German population, to ensure the future prosperity of Germany by achieving a victory peace, and to reassure the citizens that the German military remained strong and triumphant in the field.^[47]

Dissolution

The November Revolution effectively ended the existence of the DVLP. It was not until November 28 that the board met again and agreed to stop all "public activities". The members were asked to agitate for the early convocation of a national assembly, to ensure that the "national forces" were gathered together, and, for the time being, to support the Council of the People's Deputies in "maintaining order". On 10 December 1918, the Reich Committee of the DVLP, which was only visited by about 20 people, decided to dissolve the party. On this occasion, a three-member liquidation committee was established, which initiated the transfer of the party's assets to the DNVP and became finalized on 1 February 1919.

Subsequent influence

During World War I, Anton Drexler joined the German Fatherland Party^[48] but quickly grew disillusioned with what he saw as its lack of genuine interest in the plight of the working-class.^[49] After the war he would go on to form a similar organization, the German Workers' Party, which later became the National Socialist German Workers' Party, better known as the Nazi Party, that came to national power in January 1933 under Adolf Hitler.^[50]

Notes

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Dempster, Troy Christopher (2006). Reviving Germany: The Political Discourse of the German Fatherland Party, 1917-1918. Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
• Hadry, Sarah (2007) Historisches Lexikon Bayerns: Deutsche Vaterlandspartei, 1917/18. Historische Lexikon Bayern (in German).
• Höhne, Heinz and Zolling, Hermann (1972). The General Was a Spy. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Published in Germany as Pullach Intern (1971). Hoffman and Campe Verlag: Hamburg.
• Judson, Pieter (2011). Nationalism In The Era Of The Nation State, 1870-1945. History Faculty Works, Swarthmore College.
• Hofmeister, Björn (2011). Between Monarchy and Dictatorship Radical Nationalism and Social Mobilization of the Pan-German League, 1914-1939. PhD Dissertation, Georgetown University.
• Dassen, Patrick (2013). Political Religion beyond Totalitarianism. Palgrave Macmillan, London.
• Müller, Tim (2016). Völkisch and Anti-Democratic Thought before 1933. Buchenwald Memorial.
• Jones, Larry (2020). The German Right, 1918–1930: Political Parties, Organized Interests, and Patriotic Associations in the Struggle against Weimar Democracy. Cambridge University Press.

External links

• Deutsche Vaterlandspartei LeMO Kapitel

• Announcements from the DVLP (August 1918)

• Short overview of the Fatherland Party

• This Day in World War 1 History: SEPTEMBER 02, 1917

• To the bitter end; Der Tagesspiegel

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