The Weimar Century: German Émigrés and the Ideological Foundations of the Cold War
How ideas, individuals, and political traditions from Weimar Germany molded the global postwar order

The Weimar Century reveals the origins of two dramatic events: Germany's post–World War II transformation from a racist dictatorship to a liberal democracy, and the ideological genesis of the Cold War. Blending intellectual, political, and international histories, Udi Greenberg shows that the foundations of Germany’s reconstruction lay in the country’s first democratic experiment, the Weimar Republic (1918–33). He traces the paths of five crucial German émigrés who participated in Weimar’s intense political debates, spent the Nazi era in the United States, and then rebuilt Europe after a devastating war. Examining the unexpected stories of these diverse individuals—Protestant political thinker Carl J. Friedrich, Socialist theorist Ernst Fraenkel, Catholic publicist Waldemar Gurian, liberal lawyer Karl Loewenstein, and international relations theorist Hans Morgenthau—Greenberg uncovers the intellectual and political forces that forged Germany’s democracy after dictatorship, war, and occupation.

In restructuring German thought and politics, these émigrés also shaped the currents of the early Cold War. Having borne witness to Weimar’s political clashes and violent upheavals, they called on democratic regimes to permanently mobilize their citizens and resources in global struggle against their Communist enemies. In the process, they gained entry to the highest levels of American power, serving as top-level advisors to American occupation authorities in Germany and Korea, consultants for the State Department in Latin America, and leaders in universities and philanthropic foundations across Europe and the United States. Their ideas became integral to American global hegemony.

From interwar Germany to the dawn of the American century, The Weimar Century sheds light on the crucial ideas, individuals, and politics that made the trans-Atlantic postwar order.

"1129970818"
The Weimar Century: German Émigrés and the Ideological Foundations of the Cold War
How ideas, individuals, and political traditions from Weimar Germany molded the global postwar order

The Weimar Century reveals the origins of two dramatic events: Germany's post–World War II transformation from a racist dictatorship to a liberal democracy, and the ideological genesis of the Cold War. Blending intellectual, political, and international histories, Udi Greenberg shows that the foundations of Germany’s reconstruction lay in the country’s first democratic experiment, the Weimar Republic (1918–33). He traces the paths of five crucial German émigrés who participated in Weimar’s intense political debates, spent the Nazi era in the United States, and then rebuilt Europe after a devastating war. Examining the unexpected stories of these diverse individuals—Protestant political thinker Carl J. Friedrich, Socialist theorist Ernst Fraenkel, Catholic publicist Waldemar Gurian, liberal lawyer Karl Loewenstein, and international relations theorist Hans Morgenthau—Greenberg uncovers the intellectual and political forces that forged Germany’s democracy after dictatorship, war, and occupation.

In restructuring German thought and politics, these émigrés also shaped the currents of the early Cold War. Having borne witness to Weimar’s political clashes and violent upheavals, they called on democratic regimes to permanently mobilize their citizens and resources in global struggle against their Communist enemies. In the process, they gained entry to the highest levels of American power, serving as top-level advisors to American occupation authorities in Germany and Korea, consultants for the State Department in Latin America, and leaders in universities and philanthropic foundations across Europe and the United States. Their ideas became integral to American global hegemony.

From interwar Germany to the dawn of the American century, The Weimar Century sheds light on the crucial ideas, individuals, and politics that made the trans-Atlantic postwar order.

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The Weimar Century: German Émigrés and the Ideological Foundations of the Cold War

The Weimar Century: German Émigrés and the Ideological Foundations of the Cold War

by Udi Greenberg
The Weimar Century: German Émigrés and the Ideological Foundations of the Cold War

The Weimar Century: German Émigrés and the Ideological Foundations of the Cold War

by Udi Greenberg

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Overview

How ideas, individuals, and political traditions from Weimar Germany molded the global postwar order

The Weimar Century reveals the origins of two dramatic events: Germany's post–World War II transformation from a racist dictatorship to a liberal democracy, and the ideological genesis of the Cold War. Blending intellectual, political, and international histories, Udi Greenberg shows that the foundations of Germany’s reconstruction lay in the country’s first democratic experiment, the Weimar Republic (1918–33). He traces the paths of five crucial German émigrés who participated in Weimar’s intense political debates, spent the Nazi era in the United States, and then rebuilt Europe after a devastating war. Examining the unexpected stories of these diverse individuals—Protestant political thinker Carl J. Friedrich, Socialist theorist Ernst Fraenkel, Catholic publicist Waldemar Gurian, liberal lawyer Karl Loewenstein, and international relations theorist Hans Morgenthau—Greenberg uncovers the intellectual and political forces that forged Germany’s democracy after dictatorship, war, and occupation.

In restructuring German thought and politics, these émigrés also shaped the currents of the early Cold War. Having borne witness to Weimar’s political clashes and violent upheavals, they called on democratic regimes to permanently mobilize their citizens and resources in global struggle against their Communist enemies. In the process, they gained entry to the highest levels of American power, serving as top-level advisors to American occupation authorities in Germany and Korea, consultants for the State Department in Latin America, and leaders in universities and philanthropic foundations across Europe and the United States. Their ideas became integral to American global hegemony.

From interwar Germany to the dawn of the American century, The Weimar Century sheds light on the crucial ideas, individuals, and politics that made the trans-Atlantic postwar order.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780691159331
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication date: 01/04/2015
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 288
Product dimensions: 6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Udi Greenberg is assistant professor of history at Dartmouth College.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction 1

The "Miracle" of Germany’s Reconstruction 5

The Foundations of Postwar Thought: The Weimar Republic and Its Discontents 11

Émigrés and the American Cold War: Knowledge and Power 17

Chapter I: The Search for "Responsible Elites": Carl J. Friedrich and the Reform of Higher Education 25

Protestant Legitimacy and Elite Education in Heidelberg 28

The Heidelberg Mission in the United States: The Creation of a New American Academia 45

Cold War Universities: "Responsible Elites" in Cold War United States and Germany 56

Chapter II: Socialist Reform, the Rule of Law, and Labor Outreach: Ernst Fraenkel and the Concept of "Collective Democracy" 76

Democracy, Labor, and Law in Frankfurt and Berlin 79

Social Democracy and U.S. Power: Fraenkel in the United States and Korea 89

The German Left and the Cold War 107

Chapter III: Conservative Catholicism and American Philanthropy: Waldemar Gurian, "Personalist" Democracy, and Anti-communism 120

Catholicism, "Personalism," and Democracy in the Rhineland: The Origins of Gurian’s Thought 122

The Path to the "Theory of Totalitarianism": The Personalist Campaign against Nazism in Exile 134

Personalism and American Philanthropy: Transatlantic Democracy and Anti-communism 144

Chapter IV: Individual Liberties and "Militant Democracy": Karl Loewenstein and Aggressive Liberalism 169

The Internal Struggle of Liberal Democracy 172

"Militant Democracy" and U.S. Diplomacy in Latin America 181

"Militant Democracy" in the Cold War: Liberalism and Anti-communism in West Germany 198

Chapter V: From the League of Nations to Vietnam: Hans J. Morgenthau and Realist Reform of International Relations 211

International Politics, Law, and War 213

Morgenthau and the Cold War Establishment 225

Power and Morality: Opposition to the Intervention in Vietnam 237

Conclusion 256

List of Abbreviations 263

List of Archives 265

Index 267

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This remarkable book describes how a group of German intellectuals who were persecuted by Hitler helped defeat Fascism and redefined the postwar world. Drawing on groundbreaking research and bringing key figures to life, Udi Greenberg shows how these individuals created a Cold War community in the West that defeated Communism and set the stage for our contemporary era. This is one of the most important books written on the history of our times."—Jeremi Suri, author of Liberty's Surest Guardian

"Although postwar Germans often protested that 'Bonn is not Weimar,' Udi Greenberg allows us to see the extent to which they erred, but in a surprising way. Examining the critical role five émigrés played in establishing the democratic culture of West Germany, Greenberg shows that their experiences before being forced by the Nazis to leave the country still informed their thinking after they returned. Greenberg demonstrates how the constructive lessons of their Weimar past, refracted through exile in America, enabled the political miracle of the Federal Republic."—Martin Jay, University of California, Berkeley

"An extraordinary and highly original study of two historical fronts: the fate of German political theorists exiled by Hitler, and the shaping of American Cold War ideology by those same Weimar intellectuals. With his remarkable archival discoveries and brilliant interpretations, Udi Greenberg has written a dramatic book that will reshape scholarship."—Susannah Heschel, author of The Aryan Jesus

"Dramatizing the exile of Germans to a United States about to rise to global leadership after World War II, this ingeniously conceived study shows how these intellectuals ushered much of the world into their ‘Weimar century.' In our era of transnational and global history, Udi Greenberg demonstrates that traffic in ideas across long distances needs to be studied in both directions. No other book does what this one does—and with such impressive success."—Samuel Moyn, Harvard University

"The Weimar Century is a lucid, balanced, and carefully researched book about five German intellectuals who developed ideas of democracy and anti-Communism in the Weimar era. Demonstrating a worldly sensitivity, it shows how these intellectuals, as émigrés to the United States, came to exercise tremendous influence over the ideological and strategic self-understanding of the West during the Cold War."—Peter E. Gordon, Harvard University

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