German Big Business and the Rise of Hitler

526 Pages·1985·15.143 MB·English

by  Henry Ashby Turner Jr.

German Big Business
and the Rise of Hitler
INSTRUMENT IN THE HAND OF GOD?
PUPPET IN THE HAND OF THYSSEN!
“The Führer regards himself as God’s in­ The great industrialist Fritz Thyssen,
strument in the completion of his mission." owner of a fortune of 125 million marks,
(Kube, Prussian State Councillor, Governor leader of one of the largest German trusts,
of Brandenburg, National Socialist leader has been named economic dictator of Ger­
in the Prussian State Parliament) many's most important industrial region.
Rhineland-Westphalia.
Photomontage by John Heartfield from the Communist .4r bei ter-1IIustnerte Zeitung. Cour-
tesy International Institute for Social History, Amsterdam.
GERMAN BIG BUSINESS
AND
THE RISE OF HITLER
HENRY ASHBY TURNER, JR.
New York Oxford
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Copyright © 1985 Oxford University Press, Inc.
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc, 200 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Turner, Henry Ashby.
German big business and the rise of Hitler.
Bibliography: p. Includes index.
1. Industry and state—Germany—History.
2. Big business—Germany—History.
3. Germany—Politics and government—1918-1933.
4. Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter—Partei—History.
5. National socialism—History. 1. Tide.
HD3616.G35T87 1985 943 085 84-5645
ISBN 0-19-503492-9
Printing (last digit): 98765432 1
Printed in the United States of America
To
William Alexander Jenks
and
James Graham Leyburn
Exemplars
Acknowledgments
So many institutions and individuals have contributed to this undertak­
ing as to preclude an expression of gratitude to each in this limited
space. But despite the risk of an oversight, I do want to acknowledge
some of those who have rendered especially valuable help. The research
that has culminated in the volume was made possible by grants from the
following institutions: The German Fulbright Commission, the German
Marshall Fund of the United States, the Guggenheim Foundation, the
Historische Kommission zu Berlin, the Lehrman Institute, the National
Endowment for the Humanities, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the
Yale Center for International and Area Studies. The Lehrman Institute
seminars, at which draft chapters of the book were discussed by panels
of scholars, proved extremely helpful, and I want to thank the partici­
pants, the moderator, Charles S. Maier, and the executive director of the
institute, Nicholas X. Rizopoulos. The Institut für Wirtschafts- und So­
zialgeschichte of the Free University of Berlin several times provided me
with hospitality, helpful criticism, and practical assistance, and I want to
acknowledge my gratitude to its director, Wolfram Fischer, and his col­
leagues.
I am especially indebted to the archivist of the Gutehoffnungshütte,
Bodo Herzog, for opening to me that treasure trove of high-quality doc­
umentation and for helping me to gain access to other company ar­
chives. Four fellow pioneers in those archives—Gerald D. Feldman,
Larry Eugene Jones, Ulrich Nocken, and Reinhard Neebe—generously
shared information with me. Further help in locating and obtaining ac­
cess to documentation came from Fritz Klein, Hans Mommsen, Werner
Jochmann, Max Koch, John Taylor, and Robert Wolfe. My colleague
Vil
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Hans W. Gatzke proved an unfailing source of sound advice. My stu­
dents Peter Hayes and William L. Patch, Jr., provided many a stimulat­
ing suggestion. So did Tim Mason and David Schoenbaum. William
Sheridan Allen and Richard F. Hamilton followed the development of
the book closely and offered invaluable guidance at countless junctures.
Hans-Ulrich Wehler gave the penultimate version a close critical reading
and spared me quite a few blunders. Finally, I owe more than I can
express to my colleague Peter Gay, who saw me through times of dis­
couragement and gave generously of his time and talents in closely scru­
tinizing my drafts; in the process he has improved, at least somewhat, my
usage of the language that is his second but my first.
Contents
INTRODUCTION
1. The Issues and the Sources, xi
2. Big Business in the Weimar Context, xv
I BIG BUSINESS DURING THE DECADE
OF WEIMAR DEMOCRACY
1. German Capitalism Survives a Revolution, 3
2. Money Versus Votes, 18
3. Assets, 31
4. Liabilities, 37
II THE EARLY PARTY, BUSINESSMEN,
AND NAZI ECONOMICS
1. Patrons of the Fledgling Movement, 47
2. The Cacophony of Nazi Economic Policies, 60
3. Hitler’s Economics, 71
4. An Abortive Courtship of Ruhr Industry—Nazism in Disrepute, 83
III PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY ENDS
AND NAZISM BREAKS THROUGH
1. The Great Coalition Gives Way to Presidential Rule, 100
2. The Wherewithal of the Nazi Breakthrough, 111
3. A “Long Guessing Game” Begins, 124
4. Capitalist Fellow Travelers and Subsidized Nazis, 142
CONTENTS IX
IV CAPITALISTS, NAZIS, AND THE POLITICS
OF DEEPENING DEPRESSION
1. Disillusionment with Brüning—The “Harzburg Front”—
Capitalists in Fear of the Ruler, 158
2. Ruhr Coal: Canards and Calculations, 171
3. The Proliferating Forks of Nazism’s Tongue, 181
4. Nazis and Lesser Businessmen, 191
V POLITICS AND ECONOMICS
IN THE POWER VACUUM
1. Hitler’s Industry Club Speech and Its Aftermath, 204
2. Big Business Approaches the Political Maelstrom in Disarray, 219
3. Attempts at Dialogue with the Nazi Hydra, 233
4. Insurance Premiums and Protection Money for Potential Rulers, 253
VI BIG BUSINESS AND THE TRIUMPH
OF NAZISM
1. Nazis as Champions of Parliament and the Workers—
The Capitalists Find Their Chancellor, 272
2. Political Money in the Fall Election Campaign—
Maneuvers in the Twilight of Weimar, 291
3. Capitalists Adjust to a “Red General” in the Chancellery, 304
4. Big Business Experiences the Birth of the Third Reich, 313
CONCLUSIONS
1. Capitalists, Nazis, and Guilt, 340
2. Myths, Preconceptions, and the Misuse of History, 349
ABBREVIATIONS USED IN NOTES, 360
NOTES, 362
BIBLIOGRAPHY, 472
INDEX, 495