Pan-German Association
Pan-German Association
1. Brief description
The ‘Alldeutscher Verband’ was a non-partisan political agitation organisation which espoused imperialist, völkisch and, over the years, increasingly explicitly anti-Semitic views. The organisation, founded on 9 April 1891 in Berlin as the ‘Allgemeiner Deutscher Verband’ (ADV) in Berlin and renamed the ‘Pan-German Association’ (AV) in July 1894, was dissolved by the National Socialist government on 13 March 1939.
2. History of the Association
The founding of the ADV in the German Empire coincided with a period of radicalisation of German nationalist ideas and ideologies. In Austria, too, the ‘Pan-German Movement’ (renamed the ‘Pan-German Association’ in 1896) was founded in 1891 under Georg von Schönerer (1842–1921) as a breakaway from the German National Party. Schönerer’s Greater German-oriented policies were regarded by many members of the AV as exemplary and cemented the shared goal of creating a‘Central Europe’ under German leadership.
The specific catalyst for the founding of the ADV was the Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty (Treaty between the German Empire and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland concerning the colonies and Heligoland) of 1890, which right-wing nationalist circles regarded as detrimental to Germany. They accused the government of betraying Germany’s imperial interests. For its part, the ADV sought to strengthen Germany’s influence on the world stage.
After only a short time, the ADV was already struggling with financial and staffing problems. It was only the reorganisation under Ernst Hasse (1846–1908) in 1893–94 (which culminated in the organisation being renamed the ‘Pan-German League’) that brought the organisation out of the crisis. Under Hasse’s chair, the AV focused, on the one hand, on strengthening German identity – that is, on supporting Germans and German culture abroad whilst simultaneously combating national minorities in Germany – and, secondly, on expanding Germany’s position as a world power by strengthening the fleet and pursuing plans for overseas expansion. The AV regarded France, England and Russia as enemies of the German Empire.
Over the years, the AV’s positions became increasingly radical. At the association’s conference in Plauen in 1903, the AV shifted from selective criticism of the government to ‘national opposition’. The new constitution also explicitly enshrined racial ideology. The organisation’s stance towards Jews – whose membership was controversial but allowed – hardened until Jews were completely excluded from the AV in 1919. Heinrich Claß (1868–1953), in particular, engaged in fierce agitation against them; he took over the Chair of the AV in 1908 and retained it until its dissolution in 1939.
Under his leadership, the AV’s colonial ambitions were largely replaced by the aim of creating a strong‘Central Europe’led by Germany in alliance with Austria-Hungary: ‘There was a shift from global to continental policy’[1]. The outbreak of the First World War was hailed as a ‘sacred hour’[2]. Now the AV’s objectives seemed within reach: On the one hand, colonial holdings in Africa were to be expanded; on the other, a broad strip of territory to the west (Lorraine, Flanders) and east (the Baltic states) of the German Empire was to be annexed for the purpose of consolidating‘Central Europe’. Whilst the radical Germanisation of non-German population groups within the Reich had already been advocated previously, the AV now called for the resettlement of these people.
The defeat of the German Empire and the founding of the Weimar Republic marked a turning point for the AV. Its influence waned, as did its membership numbers. Many members of the AV joined the German-nationalist ‘Deutscher Schutz- und Trutzbund’, founded in 1919. At the same time, the tone of the Pan-Germans became more strident. In the early years of the Republic, Heinrich Claß toyed with the idea of coup attempts, but by the mid-1920s at the latest, he had turned to legal methods to undermine democracy and bring about its collapse.
Whilst comparable to the National Socialists in terms of this development and their ideology, these two groups differed fundamentally in their organisation and modus operandi. The NSDAP was a modern party seeking to appeal to a broad audience, whilst the AV remained a small, pre-modern association of old men. Consequently, it was the NSDAP that turned its back on the AV. However, as a pioneer of National Socialist ideology, the AV received special treatment after the seizure of power in 1933 and was not brought into line. It was not until 1939 that the government dissolved it, on the grounds that the objectives pursued by the AV had now been achieved and its continued existence was superfluous.
3. Organisation
The AV was not a mass organisation. Membership, which stood at 22,000 in 1901, rose to 36,000 during the First World War. After 1918, it declined steadily: by the time the association was dissolved in 1939, it had only 8,000 members.
As an elitist, anti-socialist organisation, the AV had no interest in members from the working class or the lower classes. However, only a small percentage of its members came from the upper classes: Owing to its völkisch and anti-capitalist orientation, the AV held little appeal for the aristocracy or major industrialists. Its predominantly male members were mostly drawn from the Protestant-influenced educated middle classes – senior civil servants, teachers, self-employed professionals, journalists and professors. Germans living abroad were also able to join. Despite its relatively small size and limited financial resources, the AV was able to disseminate its ideas throughout society, for ‘many Pan-Germans held influential positions in industry, the civil service or the education sector that enabled them to spread propaganda.’[3]
The AV was organised into local groups (with at least 30 members, and from 1903 onwards at least ten), which operated with relative autonomy and were permitted to adopt statutes, although these had to be submitted to the committee for approval. In addition to the local groups within the German Empire, there were up to 30 local groups comprising Germans living abroad. The central executive committee, which met twice a year, elected both a committee and a central leadership (comprising between three and seven people), from which a chairman was in turn selected. The position of this chairman was unchallenged, as can be seen not least from Heinrich Claß’s 31-year tenure. Rainer Hering sums it up: “The AV practised the ‘Führer principle’ long before the NSDAP […].”[4]
The AV was funded by membership fees and donations, which together barely covered the association’s costs. From 1903 onwards, therefore, a voluntary levy was introduced for members with sufficient means, known as the ‘Pan-German Defence Fund’. Funds from Rhineland-Westphalian industry, channelled under the leadership of Heinrich Claß, were also vital to the association’s survival.
From 1894, the AV’s official publication was the weekly *Alldeutschen Blätter*. After 1920, due to financial difficulties, it was published only fortnightly. The last issue is dated 5 March 1939. The AV also published numerous pamphlets as well as, between 1897 and 1911, 16 issues entitled *Der Kampf um das Deutschtum* (The Struggle for German Identity). Of particular significance are the widely read writings of Heinrich Claß. Among other works, he published *Wenn ich Kaiser wär* (*If I Were Emperor* ) in 1912 under the pseudonym Daniel Fryman, as well as the pamphlet *Zum deutschen Kriegsziel* (*On Germany’s War Aims*) in 1917 .
4. The Pan-German League and ‘Mitteleuropa’
“Remember that you are a German” was the motto when the ADV was founded. The German nationalist orientation was evident from the outset in the ADV’s statements and objectives. The aim was to strengthen the German community abroad and to pursue a strict policy of Germanisation within the borders of the German Empire. This served above all as a defence against the much-vaunted ‘Pan-Slavic threat’. As stated in a speech by the Agitation Committee in 1891: ‘In the face of the Pan-Slavic onslaught threatening our eastern borders, the Germanisation of our Ostmark is more important than the unreliable friendship of the Poles, who are, at the bottom of their hearts, hostile to Germany.’[5] In 1899, the Agitation Committee proclaimed: ‘The struggle against the Polish people is one of the colossal battles we still have to fight’[6].
The Agitation Committee increasingly justified the necessity of this struggle with racist arguments. As early as 1894, the *Alldeutsche Blätter* stated:
We must gain room to manoeuvre to the east and south-east in order to secure for the Germanic race the living conditions it requires for the full development of its powers, even if this means that such inferior little peoples as the Czechs, Slovenians and Slovaks […] were to forfeit their existence, which is of no use to civilisation […]. German colonisation, German industrial diligence and German education […] are to serve as a binding force as far as Asia Minor, through which large and promising economic regions will become affiliated with us […].[7]
This text reveals the original aim of creating ‘Greater Germany’ through a union with the northern and western parts of Austria-Hungary (Cisleithania; also unofficially known as ‘German Austria’) at the expense of the non-German population living there. To achieve this objective, the various groups of the German minority in the east and south of the Danube Monarchy were to be brought into line with German nationalist ideology; however, this did not succeed to the AV’s satisfaction, as many members of the German minority felt a greater sense of belonging to the Crown in Vienna than to the German Empire. Consequently, efforts were henceforth directed towards ‘the “Germanising” permeation of the entire state’[8]. This was sought through support for various associations and institutions, including the ‘Hungarian-German People’s Party’ (UDVP), founded in 1906. However, its influence was insufficient to achieve the desired objectives.
Under the chair of Heinrich Claß, the plans for a ‘Greater Germany’ gave way to more moderate intentions of close cooperation between Germany and Austria-Hungary, whereby the position of Germans within the Danube Monarchy was to be significantly enhanced. Not all members of the Association followed Claß down this path, and this internal strife considerably weakened the AV. With the end of the First World War, the dreams of a German-dominated‘Central Europe’initially lost their significance, as the primary task was to combat the hated republic. Owing to its dwindling influence, the AV was no longer able to champion grand foreign-policy visions. Its demands, however, paved the way for the ideology of ‘livingspace in theEast’ espoused by the National Socialists.
Bibliography
- Edgar Hartwig: The Pan-German League (ADV) 1891 to 1939. In: Dieter Fricke, Werner Fritsch (eds.): Encyclopaedia of Party History: The Bourgeois and Petty-Bourgeois Parties and Associations in Germany (1789–1945). Vol. 1. Leipzig 1983, p. 13–47.
- Rainer Hering: The Constructed Nation. The Pan-German League 1890 to 1939. Hamburg 2003 (Hamburg Contributions to Social and Contemporary History 40).
- Björn Hofmeister: Radical Nationalism and the Political Public Sphere. The Pan-German League and the *Alldeutschen Blätter*. In: Michel Grunewald, Uwe Puschner (eds.): Perceptions of Crisis in Germany around 1900. Journals as Forums of a Time of Upheaval in Wilhelmine Germany. Bern 2010 (Convergences 55), pp. 263–279.
- Michael Peters: The Pan-German League on the Eve of the First World War (1908–1914). A Contribution to the History of ‘Völkisch’ Nationalism in Late Wilhelmine Germany. 2nd, revised ed. Frankfurt am Main 1996 (European University Publications, Series 3, History and its Auxiliary Sciences 501).
- Geert Naber: Bridging the Gap between Colonial and ‘Völkisch’ Ideology – The ‘Pan-German League’ 1891 to 1939. In: freiburg-postkolonial.de, February 2010, expanded March 2011. URL: www.freiburg-postkolonial.de/pdf/2010-Naber-Alldeutscher-Verband.pdf.
Notes
[1] Hering: *Konstruierte Nation*, p. 128.
[2] Alldeutsche Blätter, 3 August 1914. Quoted in Hering: Konstruierte Nation, p. 133.
[3] Naber: *Brückenbauer*, p. 3.
[4] Hering: *Konstruierte Nation*, p. 168.
[5] Executive Committee of the Pan-German League (ed.): 20 Years of Pan-German Work and Struggles. Leipzig 1910, p. 1.
[6] Central Executive Committee: 20 Years (note 5), p. 59.
[7] Quoted from Hartwig: Pan-German League, p. 19.
[8] Günter Schödl: The Pan-German League and German Minority Policy in Hungary 1890–1914. On the History of German ‘Extreme Nationalism’. Frankfurt am Main et al. 1978 (Erlangen Historical Studies 3), p. 191.
Citation
Berit Pleitner: Pan-German Association. In: Online Encyclopaedia on the Culture and History of Germans in Eastern Europe, 2014. URL: ome-lexikon.uni-oldenburg.de/p32854 (as at 21 June 2021).
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