„National, Sozial, Christlich“: Der Evangelische Reichsausschuß der Deutschnationalen Volkspartei in der Weimarer Republik
The German National People's Party (DNVP), founded in November 1918, was widely regarded as representing Protestant interests throughout the Weimar Republic. Despite the fact that Protestants exercised a disproportionately large influence in the party a special "Protestant National Committ...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | German |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
1993
|
| In: |
Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte
Year: 1993, Volume: 6, Issue: 2, Pages: 290-311 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The German National People's Party (DNVP), founded in November 1918, was widely regarded as representing Protestant interests throughout the Weimar Republic. Despite the fact that Protestants exercised a disproportionately large influence in the party a special "Protestant National Committee" of the party was established in 1921, whose task was to ensure that "protestant interests" were well cared for in the formation of the party strategy. Although nominally the party was inter-denominational, this committee sought to gain the upper hand over the influence of the National Committee of German National Catholics, which had been founded in 1920. Both committees concentrated their attention on cultural policy, especially the future of education or on matters of public morality, as well as on the question of the relationship between Church and State. Its work was supported by various sections amongst the Protestants. The Christian-Social group, consisting of the followers of Adolf Stoecker, was notably influential. When the government took up discussions and negotiations about a Concordat with the Catholic Church, including one for Prussia, the Protestant Committee was very active in demanding a similar status for both denominations. The party was successfully persuaded to adopt these demands, which represented a blow to the interests of the German National Catholics. Up to 1929 the committee played an important role in blocking attempts to establish a separate Protestant party as such. But after the election of Alfred Hugenberg as chairman of the DNVP, who ordered a strict policy of opposition without any compromises, the internal divisions became too great. In December 1929, one section of the party split off, mainly those Protestants associated with the Christian-Social group. The reasons lay in the policies and personality of Hugenberg, whose cheap journalistic press empire caused much misgiving. Many Protestants could not agree with Hugenberg's strategy of using cultural policy to advance his own political goals. Since they believed their basic Christian ideological position was endangered, they regarded as secondary more pragmatic or opportunistic considerations for the preservation of the party's size and influence. This split and the subsequent establishment of the Christian Social People's Service party marked the failure of the attempt to maintain a deliberately Protestant stance in the DNVP. But it also marked the failure of the basic presuppositions of such a policy. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2196-808X |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte
|