Fritz Fischer (March 5, 1908- December 1, 1999) was a German historian best known for his analysis of the causes of World War I. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a Year 1908 ( MCMVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Ludwigsstadt is a municipality in the district of Kronach, in Bavaria, Germany. Bavaria ( German:, with an area of 70553 Km² (27241 square miles and almost 12 Events 800 - Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Hamburg (English, German: ˈhambʊɐk local pronunciation Low German / Low Saxon: Hamborg) is the second-largest city in Germany Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a Year 1908 ( MCMVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Events 800 - Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) The origins of World War I included many factors including the conflicts and antagonisms of the four decades leading up to the war

Biography

Fischer was born in Ludwigsstadt in Bavaria. Ludwigsstadt is a municipality in the district of Kronach, in Bavaria, Germany. Bavaria ( German:, with an area of 70553 Km² (27241 square miles and almost 12 His father was a railroad inspector. Educated at grammar schools in Ansbach and Eichstätt, Fischer attended the University of Berlin and the University of Erlangen, where he studied history, pedagogy, philosophy and theology. History The university was founded in 1742 in Bayreuth by Frederick Margrave of Bayreuth, and moved to Erlangen in 1743 In 1942, Fischer married Margarete Lauth-Volkmann, with whom he fathered two children. Fischer served in the Wehrmacht in World War II. The German Army (Deutsches Heer heɐ) is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including After his release from a POW camp in 1947, Fischer became a professor at the University of Hamburg, where he stayed until his retirement in 1978. The University of Hamburg (Universität Hamburg is a University in Hamburg, Germany. In 1949, at the first post-war German Historians' Congress in Munich, Fischer strongly criticized the Lutheran tradition in German life, accusing the Lutheran church of glorifying the state at the expense of individual liberties and thus helping to bring about Nazi Germany. Munich (München; Minga is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers

By 1961, Fischer, who had risen to the rank of full professor at the University of Hamburg, rocked the history profession with his first postwar book, Griff nach der Weltmacht: Die Kriegzielpolitik des kaiserlichen Deutschland 1914-1918 (published in English as Germany's Aims in the First World War), in which he argued that Germany had deliberately instigated the First World War in an attempt to become a world power. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All For most Germans at this time, it was acceptable to believe that Germany had caused World War Two, but not World War One, which was still widely regarded as a war forced upon Germany. Fischer was the first German historian to publish documents showing that the German chancellor Dr. Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg had developed plans in 1914 to annex all of Belgium, part of France and most of European Russia. Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg (November 29 1856 January 1 1921 was a German politician and statesman who served as Chancellor of the German Empire from 1909 to 1917 The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Furthermore, Fischer suggested that there was continuity in German foreign policy aims from 1900 to the Second World War, implying therefore that Germany was indeed responsible for both world wars. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including These ideas were expanded in his later books Krieg der Illusionen (War of Illusions), Bündnis der Eliten (From Kaiserreich to Third Reich) and Hitler war kein Betriebsunfall (Hitler Was No Chance Accident).

Fischer was the first German historian to champion the negative version of the "Sonderweg" or "special path"' interpretation of German history, which holds that the way German culture and society developed from the Reformation onwards (or from a later time, such as the establishment of the German Reich of 1871) inexorably culminated in the Third Reich. Sonderweg (literally "special path" is a controversial theory in German Historiography that considers the German -speaking lands or the country The Protestant Reformation was a reform movement in Europe that began in 1517 though its roots lie further back in time Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers In Fischer's view, while 19th century German society moved forwards economically and industrially, it did not do so politically. For Fischer, German foreign policy before 1914 was largely motivated by the efforts of the reactionary German elite to distract the public from casting their votes for the Social Democrats and to make Germany the world's greatest power at the expense of France, Britain, and Russia. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927 Furthermore, the same German elite that caused World War One also caused the failure of the Weimar Republic and ushered in the Third Reich. The term Weimar Republic ( ˈvaɪmarɐ repuˈbliːk is used by historians to signify the democratic and Republican period of Germany from 1919 to 1933 Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers This traditional German elite, in Fischer's analysis, was dominated by an irrational racist, imperialist, and capitalist ideology that was no different from the beliefs of the Nazis. For this reason, Fischer called Bethmann-Hollweg the "Hitler of 1914".

Criticisms

Fischer caused a deep controversy with his books, particularly in West Germany. West Germany ( Inf German: Westdeutschland or West-Deutschland) was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany ( His arguments sparked so much anger that his publisher's office in Hamburg was firebombed. Hamburg (English, German: ˈhambʊɐk local pronunciation Low German / Low Saxon: Hamborg) is the second-largest city in Germany His works inspired other historians, such as Gerhard Ritter, to write books and articles in direct response to his war-aims thesis. Gerhard Albert Ritter ( April 6, 1888 - July 1, 1967) was a Conservative German Historian.

Some critics contend that Fischer placed Germany outside the proper historical context. Germany was not uniquely aggressive amongst European nations of the early 20th century, a time when Darwinian ideals of struggle were popular throughout European governing circles. Fischer's timetable has also been criticized as inaccurate. Hollweg's "September Programme", outlining German war aims, was not produced until after the war had begun and was still going well for Germany. At the same time, other powers had been harboring similarly grandiose plans.

After Fischer's death in 1999 it was revealed^[1] that he had deceived the public about his affiliation with the Nazi regime, which he denied to have been a follower of. After the First World War he had in fact been a member of a right-wing extremist paramilitary Freikorps for some years, the "Bund Oberland". The designation of Freikorps ( German for "Free Corps " was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of 18th century In 1933 he joined the SA, in 1937 he joined the NSDAP. The, officially National Socialist German Workers' Party, ( abbreviated NSDAP) was a Political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945

Work

• Moritz August von Bethmann-Hollweg und der Protestantismus, 1938.
• Ludwig Nikolvius: Rokoko, Reform, Restauration, 1942.
• Griff nach der Weltmacht: die Kriegszielpolitik des Kaiserlichen Deutschland, 1914-18, 1961.
• Krieg der Illusionen: Die deutsche Politik von 1911 bis 1914, 1969.
• Bündnis der Eliten: Zur Kontinuität der Machstrukturen in Deutschland, 1871-1945, 1979.
• Hitler war kein Betriebsunfall: Aufsätze, 1992.

References

• Fletcher, Roger, Introduction to Fritz Fischer, From Kaiserreich to Third Reich, London: Allen & Unwin, 1986.
• Geiss, Imanuel, Studien über Geschichte und Geschichtswissenschaft, 1972.
• Geiss, Imanuel & Wendt, Bernd Jürgen (editors) Deutschland in der Weltpolitik des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts: Fritz Fischer zum 65. Geburtstag (Germany in the World Politics of the 19th and 20th centuries: Fritz Fischer on His 65th Birthday), Düsseldorf: Bertelsmann Universitätsverlag, 1973.
• John A. Moses The Politics of Illusion: The Fischer Controversy in German Historiography, London: Prior, 1975.

External links

• Volker Berghahn, "Fritz Fischer, 1908-1999" in: AHA Perspectives (March 2000). Volker R Berghahn is a historian of German and modern European history at Columbia University.