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127-532: Heinrich Aloysius Maria Elisabeth Brüning ( pronounced [ˈhaɪnʁɪç ˈbʁyːnɪŋ] ; 26 November 1885 – 30 March 1970) was a German Centre Party politician and academic, who served as the chancellor of Germany during the Weimar Republic from 1930 to 1932. A political scientist and Christian social activist, he entered politics in the 1920s and was elected to the Reichstag in 1924. In 1930, he

254-515: A Grand Coalition administration, comprising the Centre, both Liberal parties and the Social Democrats, which lasted until November, when the Social Democrats left the coalition and the Centre's Wilhelm Marx became chancellor of a cabinet of the remaining parties. In January 1925 the non-affiliated Hans Luther was appointed chancellor and formed a coalition between the Centre, both Liberal parties,

381-586: A " United States of Europe " by demanding full equality for Germany, refusing offers of French financial assistance to help Germany's deteriorating economy. Brüning's nationalist foreign policy chilled investment in Germany and hindered his efforts to achieve foreign loans. In 1931 plans for a customs union between Weimar Germany and the First Austrian Republic were shattered by French opposition. Brüning responded by issuing an aggressive communique demanding

508-484: A Nazi as Chancellor, provided he could gain the trust of the President, which at that time seemed quite a difficult task. The negotiations were bound for failure, since the aims of the two groups were largely incompatible. The Centre argued that the vote of July had "called Hitler not to dictatorship but to responsibility, to getting in line with law and constitution". They hoped to "build a strong government without touching

635-496: A broad outline of his government's objectives, Hitler used the questionnaire presented by Kaas to declare the talks a failure and obtain the President's approval for calling for new elections for the third time in about half a year. These elections in March 1933 were already marred by the SA 's terror, after the Reichstag fire and civil rights had been suspended by President Hindenburg through

762-555: A candidate for chancellor and his war service as a front-line officer made him acceptable to Hindenburg. The government faced the Great Depression . At the same time, the 1929 Young Plan had greatly reduced war reparations owed by Germany, but paying the remainder required severe austerity measures. Brüning disclosed to his associates in the German Labour Federation that his chief aim as chancellor would be to liberate

889-517: A coalition with the Centre Party, promising an equal share in government. Since this went too far for the Centre's national leadership, the negotiations were transferred to the national level, where Heinrich Brüning conferred with Gregor Strasser . During that period the anti-Nazi polemics ceased in order not to disturb the negotiations. Since the NSDAP was the larger party, the Centre was willing to accept

1016-665: A devaluation of the Reichsmark , while others point to the Hoover Moratorium as a sign that the Allies understood that the situation had changed fundamentally and further German reparation payments were impossible. Brüning expected that the policy of deflation would temporarily worsen the economic situation before it began to improve, quickly increasing the German economy's competitiveness and then restoring its creditworthiness. His long-term view

1143-688: A herder. Therefore, focusing on the contradictions and ambivalences of civil society will provide the real reason for the rise of the NSDAP . Centre Party (Germany) The Centre Party ( German : Zentrum ), officially the German Centre Party (German: Deutsche Zentrumspartei ) and also known in English as the Catholic Centre Party , is a Christian democratic political party in Germany . It

1270-522: A manifesto, the number of Catholic representatives in the Prussian Diet rose considerably. In December 1870, they formed a new "Centre" faction, also called the "Constitution Party" to emphasise its adherence to constitutional liberties. Three months later, early in 1871, the Catholic representatives to the new national parliament, the Reichstag , also formed a "Centre" faction . The party not only defended

1397-475: A monarchy, with Hindenburg as regent. Upon Hindenburg's death, one of Crown Prince Wilhelm 's sons would have been invited to assume the throne. The restored monarchy would have been a British-style constitutional monarchy in which real power would have rested with the legislature. He managed to garner support from all of the major parties except the Nationalists, Communists, and Nazis, making it very likely that

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1524-538: A nationalist-right foreign policy. He wanted to build two battlecruisers for the Reichsmarine , and expanded German influence in central and eastern Europe, signing bilateral trade treaties with the Kingdom of Hungary and the Kingdom of Romania . Brüning tried to alleviate the burden of reparation payments and to achieve German equality in the rearmament question. In 1930, he replied to Aristide Briand 's initiative to form

1651-438: A personal conflict of interest as owner of a highly indebted Junker estate, refused to sign any further emergency decrees. As a consequence, Brüning and his cabinet resigned on 30 May 1932, "100 metres before the finish". Brüning was the first Weimar chancellor removed at the request of the president rather than parliament. After Brüning resigned as chancellor, Centre Party chairman Ludwig Kaas asked Brüning to replace him, but

1778-417: A plan to form a broad-based Christian party. The party was an ideologically diverse coalition of Catholic politicians, comprising republicans like Matthias Erzberger and Joseph Wirth as well as right-wingers like Franz von Papen . As a result of the party's flexibility, it participated in every government between 1919 and 1932, both with parties to their left and to their right. The Centre mainly provided

1905-488: A professor of political science at the University of Cologne until he retired in 1953. Partly because of his dissatisfaction with Chancellor Konrad Adenauer 's policies, he returned to the U.S. in 1955. There he revised the manuscript of his Memoirs 1918–1934 , which was edited by his longtime assistant, Claire Nix. Due to the memoirs' highly controversial content, they were not published until after his death in 1970. Parts of

2032-471: A strong favorite to succeed him. In his posthumously published memoirs Brüning claims, without support of contemporaneous documents, that he hit upon a last-ditch solution to prevent Hitler from taking power: restoring the Hohenzollern monarchy. He planned to persuade the Reichstag to cancel the 1932 German presidential election and extend Hindenburg's term. He would have then had the Reichstag proclaim

2159-468: A success would have led to a presidential crisis, as Hindenburg was unwilling to have a coalition parties dictate the administration. In September he ended all speculations by dissolving the Reichstag again, almost immediately after its first meeting. Papen's act did not end the negotiations between the Centre and the NSDAP. In fact, it made further meetings possible, since the Centre Party's leadership blamed

2286-531: A successful conclusion, Hitler used the Centre negotiations in order to put pressure on the Papen administration. The negotiations were also met with criticism from within the Centre Party. Some rejected them as "currying favour with the National Socialists" and giving credence to Hitler's strategy of legality. Catholic journalists Fritz Gerlich and Ingbert Naab dismissed as "illusionary" the attempt to "uphold

2413-736: A visiting professor at Harvard University , and he was the Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Government at Harvard from 1939 to 1952. He became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1938. He warned the American public about Hitler's plans for war, and later about Soviet aggression and plans for expansion, but in both cases his advice went largely unheeded. In 1951, he returned to Germany, settling in Cologne in West Germany , where he taught as

2540-498: A working parliament by cooperation with the National Socialists, since the three parties together had attained 53% of the seats. When Papen called upon the people to "reject the dictatorship of a single party", the Centre Party agreed "without reservation", but it also stated that "with the same resolution we reject the dictatorship of the nameless party, now in power … even if cloaked with the illusion of non-partisanship". After Papen failed to get Hitler's support for his administration,

2667-549: Is a popular theory that economic performance and democratic government are positively correlated (more resources and workers as a result of industrialization stimulating economic growth), it is not the sole factor that popularized support for the NSDAP . In her paper, "Civil Society and the Collapse of the Weimar Republic", Sheri Berman states instead that Hitler was able to infiltrate civic groups and grow his base that way, citing

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2794-639: The AfD and joined the Centre Party. The Centre Party belongs to the political spectrum of " Political Catholicism " that, emerging in the early 19th century after the turmoil of the Napoleonic wars, had changed the political face of Germany. Many Catholics found themselves in Protestant dominated states. The first major conflict between the Catholic Church and a Protestant state was the "Colonian Church conflict", when

2921-581: The Crusades to sponsor connection between these groups. Catholic corporatism has its origins in the counter-revolutionary catholic circles in continental Europe. These movements attacked the outcomes of the French Revolution; liberalism, democracy, secularism and anti-clericalism. These attacks were also directed at the Manchester school of economics , and so there was a desire for corporations that were like

3048-511: The German entry into World War I , the party also used the debates about war bonds to push for a repeal of the last remnants of anti-Jesuit laws. In 1916, the Reichstag adopted a resolution introduced by the Centre Party, calling on the government to follow the Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL) 's recommendation on the use of submarines. The OHL's policy of resuming unrestricted submarine warfare

3175-726: The Landtag of Prussia . In 1929, after his election as leader of the Centre Party group in the Reichstag , his party's agreement to the Young Plan was made conditional on a guarantee of tax increases that would ensure a balanced budget. This earned him President Paul von Hindenburg 's attention. In March 1930, the grand coalition under the Social Democrat Hermann Müller collapsed. Hindenburg appointed Brüning chancellor on 29 March 1930. Brüning's financial and economic acumen combined with his openness to social questions made him

3302-673: The Prussian government interfered in the question of mixed marriages and the religious affiliation of children resulting from these. This led to serious aggressions against the Catholic population of the Rhineland and Westphalia and culminated in the arrest of the Archbishop of Cologne . At that time, one of the founding fathers of Political Catholicism was journalist Joseph Görres , who called upon Catholics to "stand united" for their common goals, "religious liberty and political and civil equality of

3429-677: The Reichstag , saw this event as the "failure of parliament", and with Brüning's consent he called new elections, to be held in September. In the meantime, Brüning's measures were implemented in the summer by presidential emergency decrees ( Notverordnung ) under Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution . The deflationary measures led to a trade surplus , but increased unemployment and poverty . As unemployment continued to rise, Brüning's cuts in both wages and public assistance, combined with rising prices and taxes, increased misery among workers and

3556-752: The Reichstag Fire Decree . Still the Centre Party campaigned hard against the Hitler administration and managed to preserve their former vote of roughly 11 per cent. The government parties NSDAP and DNVP however jointly won 52 per cent of the vote. This result shattered the Centre Party's hopes of being indispensable for obtaining a majority in parliament. The party was now faced with two alternatives – either to persist in protesting and risk reprisals like Communists and Social Democrats, or to declare their loyal cooperation, in order to protect their members. As shown by subsequent events, though deeply uncomfortable with

3683-713: The Roman Catholics , Protestants and Christian democrats . The rise of the Christian Democratic movement tempered the more authoritarian Corporatism in the 1800s. Economic application of Christian corporatism has promoted consultations between employers and workers. During the Middle Ages , the Roman Catholic Church sponsored the creation of various institutions including brotherhoods, monasteries, religious orders, and military associations, especially during

3810-663: The Social Democratic Party (SPD). The Centre's Constantin Fehrenbach was elected president of the National Assembly. The party actively cooperated with Social Democrats and left-liberal German Democratic Party (DDP) in drawing up the Weimar Constitution , which guaranteed what the Centre had been fighting for since its founding: equality for Catholics and autonomy for Catholic Church throughout Germany. The party

3937-640: The Stab-in-the-back myth , as well as for the humiliations of the Versailles Treaty and reparations. Erzberger himself, who had signed the armistice, was assassinated by right-wing extremists in 1921. The parties of the Weimar Coalition (Social Democrats, Centre and the left-liberal German Democratic Party (DDP) were the base of the Weimar Republic but lost their majority in the 1920 elections. After this, majority governments were rare as they required

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4064-584: The Weimar Coalition . This combination, however, lost its majority in the 1920 elections . The formation of the new Christian People's Party in Rhineland (May 1920) caused considerable concern among the Centre leadership. Seeing the exodus of conservative Catholics caused by a sharp left turn of the Centre at the end of war, Adam Stegerwald proposed his "Essen program" (September 1920) that promised Germany to become "Christian, democratic, German, and social" and

4191-405: The working community , and the more complete development of social organism, starting at the lowest level of the individual shop and extending upward to regional organizations and finally, all of the way to the level of a national economic council . This latter body then must lay the groundwork for legislation by the political parliament. This differentiation of levels of economic organization

4318-506: The " Ruhrkampf ". Brüning joined the Centre Party and in 1924 was elected to the Reichstag , representing Breslau . In the Reichstag , he quickly made a name for himself as a financial expert and managed to push through the so-called Brüning Law, which restricted the workers' share of income taxes to no more than 1.2 billion Reichsmarks . From 1928 to 1930, Brüning served as a member of

4445-566: The "New Era" governments of Wilhelm I adopted more lenient policies, the club renamed itself "Fraction of the Centre" in order to open itself up to include non-Catholics. This name stemmed from the fact that in the Landtag the Catholic representatives were seated in the centre, between the Conservatives on the right and the Liberals on the left. Faced with military and constitutional issues, where there

4572-680: The "most monstrous resolution ever demanded of a parliament." But having received assurances from Hitler that the Centre Party would not be banned, he yielded to party discipline and voted in favour of the bill. With the Communist deputies already banned from the Reichstag , only the Social Democrats voted against the act. Kaas, a priest, moved to Rome in 1933 to help the Vatican negotiate with Germany. So in May 1933 he resigned as party chairman, and Brüning

4699-550: The BVP and, for the first time, the right-wing German National People's Party (DNVP). The Centre, the BVP and the DNVP jointly supported legislation to expand religious schools. In the same year, Wilhelm Marx was the Centre's candidate in the presidential elections . In the second round, combining the support of the Weimar coalition parties, he gained 45.3% of the vote and finished a close second to

4826-401: The Catholic gentry met at Soest and drew up an election programme. The main points were: There were also more general demands such as for a more federal, decentralised state, a limitation of state expenditure, a just distribution of taxes, the financial strengthening of the middle classes and the legal "removal of such evil states, that threaten the worker with moral or bodily ruin". With such

4953-426: The Catholic nobleman Franz von Papen as Chancellor, a member of the Centre's right wing and former cavalry captain. The intention was to break the connection of the Centre with the other republican parties or to split the party and integrate it into a comprehensive conservative movement. However, the Centre refused to support Papen's government in any way and criticised him for "distorting and abusing good old ideals of

5080-525: The Catholic population. Following Bismarck's 1879 turn from free trade to protectionism and from the National Liberal party to the Conservative parties, he also abandoned the unsuccessful Kulturkampf . The Centre party remained a party of opposition to Bismarck, but after his resignation in 1890, it frequently supported the following administrations' policies in the Reichstag , particularly in

5207-693: The Centre Party in 1888. In the age of nationalism, Protestant Germans, whether Conservative (like Otto von Bismarck ) or Liberal, accused the Centre of Ultramontanism or having a greater loyalty towards the Pope than to the German nation. After the First Vatican Council , Bismarck launched the Kulturkampf ("cultural struggle") against the Catholic Church. Catholics fought back vigorously and with near-unanimity. The Centre party gained greater support from

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5334-423: The Centre Party still did not give up building a broad coalition government. Since the new administration was still lacking a majority in parliament, the Centre was ready to support it, either by toleration or by coalition. Hitler intended to minimise non-Nazi participation, but feigned a willingness to cooperate with the Centre and blamed Papen and Hugenberg for denying cabinet posts to the Centre. When Kaas requested

5461-434: The Centre began their own negotiations with the National Socialists. They started in the state of Prussia , where the Weimar Coalition had just lost its majority. An alternative majority could be not found and the Papen administration had seized this opportunity to assume control of Germany's largest state in the " Prussian coup " via presidential decree. Now, the National Socialists proposed to end this direct rule by forming

5588-615: The Centre remained, by the composition of its members, politicians and voters, an essentially Catholic party. Loyal to the Pope in church matters, the Centre party steered a course independent of the Holy See on secular matters. This became apparent in the "septennat dispute" of 1886. Since the Centre Party rejected Bismarck's military budget, the Chancellor negotiated with the Holy See and promised to abolish some Kulturkampf -related laws and to support

5715-522: The Centre, acting as the representative of reactionary circles". Papen forestalled being expelled by leaving the party. Following Brüning's resignation, the Centre Party entered the opposition. Though they also opposed the Nazi Party , their energies were directed mainly against the renegade Papen. Some Centre politicians were soothed by Hitler's strategy of legality into downplaying the Nazi threat. In regard to

5842-611: The Church's liberties, but also supported representative government and minority rights in general, in particular those of German Poles , Alsatians , and Hannoverians . The Centre's main leader was the Hannoverian advocate Ludwig Windthorst and other major figures included Karl Friedrich von Savigny , Hermann von Mallinckrodt , Burghard Freiherr von Schorlemer-Alst , the brothers August Reichensperger and Peter Reichensperger , Franz von Ballestrem and Georg Count Hertling . The party

5969-532: The Constitution. This allowed him to circumvent parliament, as long as the Social Democrats - who feared another election - tolerated this practice. For this way of government based on both the President and cooperation of parliament, Brüning coined the term "authoritarian democracy". By this time, the party had become increasingly ambivalent toward democracy. Many elements of the party, including Kaas, had come to believe that only an authoritarian regime could protect

6096-624: The DDP and the DVP. In May 1921 the Weimar Coalition once again joined forces with the Centre's Joseph Wirth as Chancellor, but this minority government collapsed again in November 1922. After this, the Centre participated in the non-affiliated Wilhelm Cuno 's "government of the economy", together with both liberal parties and the Bavarian People's Party (BVP). In August 1923, the DVP's Gustav Stresemann formed

6223-462: The Encyclical is taken as the Church blessing trade unions. However some dispute this and argue that the papacy was really talking about workers relief organizations, instead of the modern trade union. The pope also condemned any workers associations with bad principles and people coerced workers into joining these workers associations. Instead he called for Catholic workers to form their own associations. Many corporatist unions in Europe were backed by

6350-410: The German economy from the burden of reparations and foreign debt. This would require tight credit and a deflationary rollback of all wage and salary increases ( internal devaluation ). These policies had begun under the Müller cabinet but would be pursued much more extensively under Brüning. The Reichstag rejected Brüning's measures within a month. Hindenburg, already bent on reducing the influence of

6477-405: The Great Depression. In summer 1932, after Brüning's resignation, his successors reaped the fruits of his policy at the Lausanne conference , which reduced reparations to a final payment of 3 billion marks. Negotiations over rearmament failed at the 1932 Geneva Conference shortly before his resignation, but in December the "Five powers agreement" accepted Germany's military equality. Hindenburg

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6604-409: The National Socialists", but did not comment on an alternative Chancellor, since he considered that the "personal prerogative of the President". Hindenburg's negotiations with Hitler failed, but so did Kaas's attempt to form a coalition in parliament. By avoiding a clear statement, Hitler managed to pin the blame for this failure on the DNVP's Alfred Hugenberg , who had rejected Kaas's proposals. Since

6731-557: The Party's autonomy, which the Pope had accepted, and by interpreting the published letters as expressions of papal confidence in the party. As the Kulturkampf declined, debates about the character of the party emerged culminating in the Centre dispute, in 1906, after Julius Bachem had published the article "We must get out of the tower!" He called upon Catholic politicians to fulfill Windthorst's word and get out of their perpetual minority position by an effort to increase Protestant numbers among their representatives in parliament. His proposal

6858-424: The Pope in the Roman question , if the Vatican persuaded the Centre Party to accept his bill. Despite this agreement, the Centre Party rejected the budget and Bismarck called new elections. He also published the letters with the Vatican, intending to drive a wedge between Catholic voters loyal to the Pope and the Centre Party with the slogan: "The Pope against the Centre!" Windhorst managed to avert this by reaffirming

6985-484: The Roman Catholic Church to challenge the rise of anarchist , Marxist and other radical unions, with the corporatist unions being fairly conservative in comparison to their radical rivals. Furthermore, the pope calls for mixed worker-owner associations with a specific emphasis on Catholicism to help the working class. One of the most influential Catholic corporatisms was Heinrich Pesch's Solidarism, whose thought greatly influenced Christian Democratic thought. Pesch

7112-404: The Social Democrats as the largest party in the Reichstag . As Communists and National Socialists together had won the majority of seats, no government coalition could be formed without one of them. Papen tried to justify his authoritarian style of government by pointing out that parliament could no longer function properly. Countering this reasoning, the Centre and the BVP tried to re-establish

7239-404: The Union de Fribourg, this group developed a number of positions that reflect corporatism. When in 1888 the Pope gave them an audience, they affirmed the dignity of labor, and made notes on property ownership and market speculation. They also gave detail reports on a moral minimum wage, Credit and interest, and an early elaboration on the corporative organization of society. However at these stages,

7366-483: The alignment with the Nazi party. As David Rieff states, civil society being a uniting force is true to the extent that people will be inherently good in their ideals. By using the heads of the civic committees, Hitler was able to spread his message in the groups and further his agenda without actually campaigning. Due to a "lack of any basic consensus about the past, present and future of the German state and society", civic association groups were sheep waiting to be led by

7493-433: The brutality, intolerance, and demagogy of the Communists and Nazis rendered them unfit for government, and Brüning believed the government was strong enough to steer Germany through the crisis without the support of the Nazis. Nonetheless, he negotiated with Hitler about toleration or a formal coalition, without yielding to the Nazis any position of power or full support by presidential decree. Because of these reservations

7620-426: The cabinet had refused to support Papen's planned coup d'état by a permanent dissolution of the Reichstag, in December Hindenburg appointed General Kurt von Schleicher as Chancellor. Schleicher tried to form a " Querfront " (an alliance involving willing members of both left-wing and right-wing parties), which failed. Schleicher then revived Papen's proposed coup d'état, which the Centre Party refused to condone, as did

7747-436: The conflict and led to considerable ill-feeling between Hindenburg and his trusted friend Kurt von Schleicher . At the same time, he was viciously attacked by the Prussian Junkers , led by Elard von Oldenburg-Januschau , who opposed Brüning's policies of distributing land to unemployed workers in the course of the Eastern Aid ( Osthilfe ) programme and denounced him as an "Agro-bolshevik" to Hindenburg. The president, having

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7874-427: The constitution and the legal order" with a man such as Hitler with his "unconditional propensity to evil". Instead of "driving out the devil by Belzebub", the Centre should act as the parliament's conscience. The party leadership answered their critics by calling it a "duty of conscience" to try to achieve a constitutional government. Though Papen did not expect the negotiations to succeed, he was nonetheless concerned as

8001-416: The cooperation of the president and parliament. Brüning was somewhat ambivalent toward democracy. Soon after taking office, he sharply limited freedom of the press . By one estimate, 100 newspaper editions were banned every month. Brüning's harsh economic policies undermined the tacit support of the Social Democrats for the government, while the liberal and conservative members of the cabinet favoured opening

8128-514: The corporatists were quite enamored with guilds and only endorsed mixed associations of employers and employees. Another meeting, the corporatist internationale was held in Berlin in 1890, which further encouraged the growth of the movement. In 1891, Pope Leo XIII issued the papal encyclical Rerum novarum , which is considered foundational to catholic social thought. In the encyclical the pope rejected class war and called for cooperation and mutual agreement between Employers and Employees. Often

8255-408: The denominations". The conflict relaxed after 1840, with Frederick William IV 's accession to the throne. The German revolutions of 1848–1849 brought new opportunities for German Catholics. In October, the bishops had their first meeting in 40 years in Würzburg and the local "Catholic Federations" assembled in Mainz to found the "Catholic Federation of Germany". In the National Assembly , which

8382-421: The end of the war. He was cited for bravery and awarded both the second and first class Iron Cross . Despite having been elected to a soldiers' council after the armistice of 11 November 1918 , Brüning did not approve of the German Revolution of 1918–1919 which ended with the establishment of the Weimar Republic. Despite his reluctance to speak about his private life, it is assumed that his war experience and

8509-403: The fact that Catholic representatives would take up the middle section of seats in parliament between the social democrats and the conservatives. For most of the Weimar Republic, the Centre Party was the third-largest party in the Reichstag and a bulwark of the Republic, participating in all governments until 1932. Following Adolf Hitler 's rise to power in early 1933, the Centre Party was among

8636-548: The failure not on the parties' incompatibility but on Papen calling for new elections. Since the NSDAP vote dropped again in the elections of November 1932 , the Centre Party considered their strategy successful and resumed negotiations, this time under the slogan of forming a "Notgemeinschaft" ("community of need"), even though the Centre, BVP, and NSDAP together no longer formed a majority in parliament. Kaas advised President Hindenburg not to continue Papen's "administration of conflict"; he advocated "national concentration including

8763-405: The field of social security. The Kulturkampf had reinforced the Catholic character of the Centre Party, but even during it Ludwig Windthorst had defended the party against Bismarck's accusation of being a "denominational party" in describing the Centre as "a political party with a comprehensive political programme and open to anyone, who accepts it". However, few Protestants took up this offer and

8890-436: The financial, economic, and legal implications of nationalizing the British railway system . Historian Friedrich Meinecke , one of his professors at Strasbourg, had a major influence on Brüning. Volunteering for the infantry, he was accepted despite his shortsightedness and physical weakness, and served in World War I from 1915 to 1918. He rose to lieutenant in infantry regiment No. 30, Graf Werder , and company commander by

9017-483: The former chancellor declined and asked Kaas to stay. Brüning supported his party's determined opposition to his successor, Franz von Papen . He also supported re-establishing a working Reichstag by cooperating with the Nazis, negotiating with Gregor Strasser . After Hitler became chancellor on 30 January 1933, Brüning vigorously campaigned against the new government in the March 1933 elections . Later that month, he vehemently opposed Hitler's Enabling Act , calling it

9144-492: The fragmenting characteristics of civil society as a main cause of the NSDAP's rise to power. In these civic societies, groups instilled anti-democratic values in their participants. From there, Hitler was able to infiltrate the groups and use their leaders by working from the inside. Since the government could not respond to all of the anti-democratic criticisms from the civil society groups, some groups aligned themselves with populist which would support them, eventually leading to

9271-415: The government on a coalition with the rising right-wing parties, the "logical result of current development". This would force the radicals to "take their share in responsibility" and "acquainting them with international politics". The Centre would then act as the party of opposition to this administration. As Papen was faced with almost uniform opposition by the parties, he had the Reichstag dissolved. In

9398-483: The government to the right. President Hindenburg, pushed by his camarilla and military chief Kurt von Schleicher , also advocated such a move and insisted on a cabinet reshuffle, especially the removal of ministers Joseph Wirth and Theodor von Guérard , both from the Centre Party. The president's wishes also hampered the government's resolution in combatting the extremist parties and their respective paramilitary organisations . The chancellor and president agreed that

9525-412: The government, the Centre Party rejected a "temporal solution", such as Papen's presidial cabinets, and rather advocated a "total solution", i.e., a government according to the rules of the constitution. Since the Centre considered Papen's administration of being "in a dangerous way dependent on radical right-wing parties", chairman Ludwig Kaas advised the President to recognise this connection by basing

9652-410: The liberal and socialist labor theories, Pesch argued for the "Socialization of Persons", into things such as labor unions and chambers of commerce. Pesch his solidarity view as such: The kind of peaceful relationship between workers and employers that is required for the interests of both parties can only profit from a fuller corporative unity of occupational organizations, wider-ranging formation of

9779-462: The lower and middle classes as well as among the Prussian Junkers . In 1930, Brüning's failure to gain a majority for his policies in parliament prompted him to call early elections , in which the four parties of the former Grand coalition lost their majority. After this, Brüning based his administration entirely on the support of the presidential decrees ("Notverordnung") through article 48 of

9906-448: The memoirs are considered unreliable, not based on historical records, and a self-justification for his politics during the Weimar Republic. Brüning died 30 March 1970 in Norwich, Vermont , and was buried in his home town of Münster . Debate continues as to whether Brüning's policy of deflation was without alternative. Some argue that the Allies would not in any circumstances have allowed

10033-475: The minister. Stegerwald, also the leader of the Christian trade unions , made him chief executive of the unions in 1920, a post Brüning retained until 1930. As the editor of the union newspaper Der Deutsche ( The German ), Brüning advocated a "social popular state" and "Christian democracy", based on the ideas of Christian corporatism . In 1923, Brüning was actively involved in organizing the passive resistance in

10160-502: The ministers for finance and labour and, on four occasions, the Chancellor. However, this also damaged the party's prospects because it was increasingly associated with all of the conflicts, problems, and failures of the Republic. The Centre had a share of the odium attached to the so-called "Weimar Establishment" which was blamed, especially on the right, for the German defeat in World War I in

10287-558: The moderate-conservative wing of the party, was appointed as Chancellor with a cabinet that, apart from the missing Social Democrats, was virtually unchanged. Brüning was confronted with economic crises exacerbated by the Great Depression and had to tackle the difficult tasks of consolidating both budget and currency when faced with rising unemployment, and of also negotiating changes to the war reparations payments. His course of strict budget discipline, with severe cuts in public expenditure, and tax increases made him extremely unpopular among

10414-530: The moratorium and delayed ratification long enough to trigger a banking run which led to the collapse of the Danatbank. The Reichsbank was forced to close the financial system and withdraw the Reichsmark from the gold standard . It also established import controls and nationalized foreign currency holdings. Brüning's actions caused the Bank of England to abandon the gold peg of the pound sterling , which severely worsened

10541-521: The national movements. The middle-ground emphasised their loyalty to the Church and rejected both extremes. To mediate the tension between the wings and to strengthen their ties with the Bishops, the party in September 1928 did not elect the two favourites Joseph Joos and Adam Stegerwald , but rather the cleric Ludwig Kaas as chairman. In 1930, the Grand Coalition fell apart. Heinrich Brüning , from

10668-629: The negotiations came to nothing and as street violence rose to new heights in April 1932, Brüning had both the Communist " Rotfrontkämpferbund " and the Nazi Sturmabteilung banned. The unfavourable reaction in right-wing circles further undermined Hindenburg's support for Brüning. Brüning agonized over how to stem the growing Nazi tide, especially since Hindenburg could not be expected to survive another full term as president should he choose to run again. If Hindenburg were to die in office, Hitler would be

10795-558: The new government, the party opted for the latter alternative. The government confronted the newly elected Reichstag with the Enabling Act that would have vested the government with legislative powers for a period of four years. As the bill required a two-thirds majority in order to pass and the coalition parties only controlled 340 of the 647 seats (52.5 percent), the government needed the support of other parties. Christian corporatism Christian corporatism has been supported by

10922-556: The new interdenominational Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and, in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union (CSU). The Centre Party continued on as a marginal party and concentrated its efforts on regional politics, mainly based in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia . The party was unrepresented on the German federal level from 1957 to 2022, when Federal representative Uwe Witt and European representative Jörg Meuthen defected from

11049-561: The nullification of the Treaty of Versailles and announcing a unilateral moratorium on German reparations. The communique led to a financial panic which depleted the Reichsbank 's reserves and led to banking crises at Danatbank and Dresdner Bank . US President Herbert Hoover tried to avert further political and economic crisis by negotiating the Hoover Moratorium , postponing reparations and repayment of inter-Allied debts. France disapproved of

11176-478: The old guild system. However, even by the 1880s this thought was a romanticized view of medieval guilds. Unsurprisingly, and many of its early advocate, including Adam Mueller and Karl Von Vogelsang , were landed aristocrats. In 1881, Pope Leo XIII commissioned theologians and social thinkers to study corporatism and provide a definition for it. In 1884 in Freiburg , Germany, the commission declared that corporatism

11303-575: The only party that fully supported him, and on the toleration of the Social Democrats. In the September election , the parties of the grand coalition lost many seats, while the Communists and the National Socialists (Nazis) made major gains. This left Brüning without any hope of forming a Reichstag majority. Instead, he continued to govern by Notverordnung . He coined the term "authoritarian democracy" to describe this form of government, based on

11430-549: The other parties. Under these circumstances, Hindenburg refused to back the coup, and Schleicher accordingly resigned on 28 January 1933. Meanwhile, Papen had formed an intrigue to oust his successor. He conferred with Hugenberg and industrial magnates and bankers during a feverish night in which the outcome was unclear to all participants. On 30 January 1933 Hitler was appointed Chancellor with Papen as Vice-Chancellor and Hugenberg as minister for economics. Though seeing their adversaries Papen and Hugenberg join forces with Hitler,

11557-403: The parties who voted for the Enabling Act , which granted legislative powers to Hitler's government. Nevertheless, the party was pressured into dissolving itself on 5 July, as the Nazi Party became the only legally permitted party in the country shortly thereafter. After World War II , the party was reconstituted, but could not rise again to its former importance, as most of its members joined

11684-493: The party and secured its continual existence despite the turmoil of the revolution. The party however was weakened by its Bavarian wing splitting off and forming the Bavarian People's Party (BVP), which emphasised autonomy of the states and also took a more conservative course. In the 1919 elections for the Weimar National Assembly , the Centre Party gained 91 representatives, being the second largest party after

11811-474: The party and the new Social Democratic government. Adolf Hofmann , the Free State of Prussia minister for culture, attempted to decree a total separation of church and state, forcing religion out of schools. This stirred up a wave of protest among the Catholic population, and bishops, Catholic organisations and the Centre Party itself united to combat the "red danger". This conflict bridged internal tensions within

11938-671: The party either dissolve or else it would be banned. Bowing to the inevitable, Brüning dissolved the Centre Party on 5 July. In 1934, Brüning was warned by friends of the imminent Night of the Long Knives . On 3 June, 27 days before the purge, he fled Germany via the Netherlands . After staying in Switzerland and the United Kingdom , he went to the United States in 1935. In 1937 he became

12065-526: The party's exclusively Catholic character and uniting Germany's fragmented party spectrum. In 1920 he advocated the formation of a broad Christian middle-party, that would transcend denominations and social classes and which could push back the Social Democrats' influence. The Polish minority in the German Empire formed one of the largest Catholic groups, but the Centre Party pursued an anti-Polish course causing enmity between it and Polish minority. With

12192-509: The plan would get the two-thirds majority required for passage. The plan floundered, however, when Hindenburg, an old-line monarchist, refused to support restoration of the monarchy unless Kaiser Wilhelm II was recalled from exile in the Netherlands . When Brüning tried to impress upon him that neither the Social Democrats nor the international community would accept any return of the deposed Kaiser, Hindenburg threw him out of his office. Despite his policies of economic austerity, Brüning pursued

12319-436: The position of the Church. The Centre consistently supported Brüning's government and in 1932 vigorously campaigned for the re-election of Paul von Hindenburg , calling him a "venerate historical personality" and "the keeper of the constitution". Hindenburg was re-elected against Adolf Hitler , but shortly afterwards dismissed Brüning on 30 May 1932. President Hindenburg, advised by General Kurt von Schleicher , appointed

12446-542: The re-formation of the Zentrum under a new name (Christliche Volkspartei, CVP). This proposal was rejected, with only a few regions adopting it for the 1919 election ; the party instead adopted the Berlin Guidelines (Berliner Leitsätze), which were more moderate but failed at making the Zentrum attractive for Protestant voters too. Adam Stegerwald , leader of the Christian trade unions , made another attempt at transcending

12573-490: The refusal. After Hitler took power , Brüning fled Germany in 1934. He eventually settled in the United States. From 1937 to 1952, he was a professor at Harvard University . He returned to Germany in 1951 to teach at the University of Cologne but again moved to the United States in 1955 and lived out his days in retirement in Vermont . Brüning remains a controversial figure in Germany's history, as historians debate whether he

12700-462: The reparation payments of 20 years ... Fighting against Hitler is fighting against deflation and the enormous destruction of production factors. In 1933, the American economist Irving Fisher developed the theory of debt deflation . He explained that deflation causes a decline in profits and asset prices, and a still greater decline in the net worth of businesses. Even healthy companies, therefore, may appear over-indebted and facing bankruptcy. While it

12827-510: The revised constitution of 1850 granted liberties, which in parts even exceeded those of the Frankfurt draft constitution , yet two years later the minister for culture, von Raumer, issued decrees directed mainly against the Jesuits . In reaction this led to a doubling of Catholic representatives in the subsequent elections and the formation of a Catholic club in the Landtag of Prussia . In 1858, when

12954-431: The subsequent elections, the Centre Party campaigned on two fronts, against both the Papen government and National Socialists and reaffirmed their stance as the "constitution party" opposed to "any measure contrary to constitution, justice and law" and "unwilling to yield to terror". The July 1932 elections brought further losses to the mainstream parties and gains to the extremist parties. The National Socialists supplanted

13081-489: The substance of the constitution", to create "clear responsibilities" and to "preclude anti-constitutional experiments". The Centre advocated a return to Brüning's " authoritarian democracy ", which they considered up to the times and tested by experience, against Papen's "omnipotent state and independent leadership", while the Nazis would only accept a coalition that would serve their purpose of achieving total dominance. Not expecting

13208-466: The supervision of a neutral state. In response to the rise in popularity of Roman Catholic corporatism in the 1890s, Protestant corporatism arose, especially in Germany , the Netherlands , and Scandinavia . In the Netherlands, protestant corporatism can be found in the works of Abraham Kuyper , whose ideas partially inspired the polder model. However, corporatism in the Netherlands and Scandinavia

13335-411: The support of the Weimar Coalition and the national liberal German People's Party (DVP). Social Democrats and DVP found it hard to agree on economic policy while Social Democrats disagreed with the Centre Party on issues like religious schools or a nationwide Concordat with the Holy See. Following the 1920 elections, the Centre's Constantin Fehrenbach formed a minority government in a coalition with

13462-503: The unemployed. This gave rise to the slogan " Brüning verordnet Not! " ("Brüning decrees hardship"), alluding to his measures being implemented by the Notverordnung . Brüning became extremely unpopular. Hindenburg wished to base the government on the parties of the right, but the right-wing German National People's Party (DNVP) refused to support Brüning's government. To the president's dismay, Brüning had to rely on his own Centre Party,

13589-506: The victorious right-wing candidate Paul von Hindenburg with 48.3%. In May 1926 Chancellor Luther resigned and Marx again assumed the chancellorship. In June 1928, the general elections resulted in losses for the government parties and in gains for the Social Democrats and the Communists . The Grand Coalition of 1923 was revived, this time including the BVP and the Social Democrat Hermann Müller became chancellor. During

13716-512: The votes of "Reds" and "Catholes", as he called Social Democrats and the mostly Catholic Centre Party. He realised he was considered the lesser of two evils by them, and he compensated for this "shame" by moving further to the right. His failing health increased the camarilla 's influence. As Brüning gradually lost Hindenburg's support, the ban of the Nazi SA paramilitary organisation initiated by Minister Wilhelm Groener on 13 April 1932 sharpened

13843-485: The war's aftermath persuaded him not to pursue his academic career, and he preferred to help former soldiers reintegrate into civilian life by assisting them finding employment or further their education. He collaborated with the social reformer Carl Sonnenschein and worked in the "Secretariat for social student work". After six months he entered the Prussian welfare department and became a close associate of Adam Stegerwald ,

13970-412: The years of the Weimar Republic, debates about the Catholic character of the party, as described above, persisted. The left-wing of the party, led by Erzberger and Wirth, had close ties to the Catholic workers' associations led by Joseph Joos . Some politicians on the right wing of the party, including Heinrich Brauns and Franz von Papen , advocated a move towards the right and a closer cooperation with

14097-506: Was a "system of social organization that has at its base the grouping of men according to the community of their natural interests and social functions, and as true and proper organs of the state they direct and coordinate labor and capital in matters of common interest." In 1885, in Fribourg , Switzerland, Bishop Mermillod held a meeting of leading Catholics studying the social Question, in hopes to internationalize this study. Referred to as

14224-547: Was appointed Chancellor, but he could not overcome the dominance of the military leadership of Hindenburg and Ludendorff . When a parliamentary system of government was introduced in October 1918, the new chancellor Max von Baden appointed representatives from the Centre party, the Social Democrats and the left-liberals as ministers. After the fall of the monarchy in the German Revolution of 1918–1919 , conflict arose between

14351-429: Was appointed interim chancellor, just as the Great Depression took hold. His austerity policies in response were unpopular, with most of the Reichstag opposed, so he governed by emergency decrees issued by President Paul von Hindenburg , overriding the Reichstag . This lasted until May 1932, when his land distribution policy offended Hindenburg, who refused to issue any more decrees. Brüning resigned in response to

14478-476: Was convened to draw up a German constitution, a "Catholic club" was formed. This was not yet a comprehensive party, but a loose union aimed at protecting the Church's liberties in a future Germany, supported by many petitions from the " [Pope] Pius federations for religious liberty". The later demise of the National Assembly proved to be a major setback for Political Catholicism. In the Kingdom of Prussia ,

14605-493: Was elected chairman on 6 May. Hoping to adapt to the post-Enabling Act order, the party adopted a watered-down version of the Führerprinzip ; pro-Centre papers now declared that the party's members, or "retinue", would fully submit to Brüning. This only served to buy the party just a few more months of life. Prominent members were frequently arrested and beaten, pro-Centre civil servants were fired, and Nazi officials demanded that

14732-422: Was less successful in the school question. Although religious education remained an ordinary subject in most schools, the comprehensive, inter-denominational schools became default. The Centre Party, whose pragmatic principles generally left it open to supporting either a monarchical or republican form of government, proved one of the mainstays of the Weimar Republic , continuing the cooperation with SPD and DDP in

14859-471: Was met with passionate opposition by the greater part of Catholic public, especially since it also included the Christian trade unions and other Catholic organisations. No side could win the upper hand, when the outbreak of World War I ended the dispute. After the war, there were many proposals on how the reform the party. Heinrich Brauns published the Cologne Program (Kölner Programm), which proposed

14986-524: Was most Influential in the German Empire and Weimar Republic . Formed in 1870, it successfully battled the Kulturkampf waged by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck against the Catholic Church . It soon won a quarter of the seats in the Reichstag , and its middle position on most issues allowed it to play a decisive role in the formation of majorities. The party name Zentrum (Centre) originally came from

15113-729: Was named the Centre Party due to the fact that in Parliament the Catholics sat between the Liberals on the left and the Conservatives on the right as opposed to the party adhering to centrism in the modern context. Also in other German states Catholic parties were formed, cooperating with the Prussian Centre Party in the Reichstag: The Catholic People's Party was formed in the Grand Duchy of Baden in 1869, and merged into

15240-606: Was no definite Church position, the group soon disintegrated and disappeared from parliament after 1867. Growing anti-Catholic sentiment and policies, including plans for dissolving all monasteries in Prussia, made it clear that a reorganisation of the group was urgently needed in order to protect Catholic minority rights, enshrined in the 1850 constitution, and to bring them over to the emerging nation state. In June 1870, Peter Reichensperger called on Catholics to unite and, in October, priests, representatives of Catholic federations and

15367-505: Was not willing at first to stand for re-election as president, but subsequently changed his mind. In the 1932 presidential election , Brüning vigorously campaigned for Hindenburg along with virtually the entire German left and centre, calling him a "venerated historical personality" and "the keeper of the constitution". After two rounds of voting Hindenburg was re-elected with a substantial majority over his main opponent, Hitler. However, Hindenburg considered it shameful to have been elected with

15494-466: Was one year old, and thus his elder brother Hermann Joseph played a major part in his upbringing in a devoutly Roman Catholic family. After graduating from Gymnasium Paulinum he first leaned towards the legal profession but then studied Philosophy, History, German, and Political Science at Strasbourg , the London School of Economics , and Bonn , where in 1915 he received a doctorate for his thesis on

15621-519: Was quite in tune with the prior Catholic corporatist thinkers, and his solidarism was a systematization of the work of Wilhelm Von Ketteler , Vogelsang & Franz Hitze. Pesch used the lense of solidarity to argue for the family as the a crucial pillar of society, internationalism based on shared humanity, patriotism based on shared state, and class and cross-class solidarity based on shared economic interests. This latter solidarity would justify collective bargaining and codetermination. In opposition to

15748-551: Was supposed to break the deadlock of the war but instead led to the United States entry into the war . As the war continued, many of the leaders of the Centre's left wing, particularly Matthias Erzberger , came to support a negotiated settlement, and Erzberger was key in the passage of the Reichstag Peace Resolution of 1917. The same year, the Centre's Georg von Hertling , formerly Minister-President of Bavaria ,

15875-617: Was that deflation would, in any case, be the best way to help the economy. His primary goal was to end Germany's reparations payments by convincing the Allies that they could no longer be paid. Anton Erkelenz, chairman of the German Democratic Party and a contemporary critic of Brüning, famously said that the policy of deflation was: A rightful attempt to release Germany from the grip of reparation payments, but in reality it meant nothing else than committing suicide because of fearing death. The deflation policy causes much more damage than

16002-633: Was the "last bulwark of the Weimar Republic" or the "Republic's undertaker", or both. Scholars are divided over how much room for manoeuvre he had during the Depression, in a period of great political instability. While he intended to protect the Republic's government, his policies, notably his use of emergency powers, also contributed to the gradual demise of the Weimar Republic during his chancellorship. Born in Münster in Westphalia , Brüning lost his father when he

16129-505: Was the result of subsidiarity. Peschs idea's were quite influential on Quadragesimo anno (1931), which was published on the fortieth anniversary of the publishing of Rerum novarum. Pesch's pupil, Oswald von Nell-Breuning , who was the principal drafter. Pope Pius XI in advocated Christian corporatism as an alternative to capitalist individualism and socialist totalitarianism whereby people would be organized into workers' guilds or vocational groups that would cooperate under

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