Századok – 1998

Tanulmányok - Pritz Pál: „Új Európa” Német propaganda és béketervek - Sztálingrád előtt VI/1213

1262 PRITZ PÁL A "NEW EUROPE" IN GERMAN PROPAGANDA Plans for the Reconstruction of Europe after the War before Stalingrad by Pritz Pál (Summary) In the era of National Socialism the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Wilhelmstrae was not in the position to exercise decisive influence on the development of German foreign politics. The diplomats could not put up with this situation, and most of their time was consumed by disputes over competence with other ministries and organizations. One of their major efforts was to prevent anyone from taking important measures in creating a "new Europe" without consulting them first. While the disturbed minds confused by Nazi ideology and the flush of victory were not aware of the real situation, Ribbentrop was certain that "it will be possible to come forward with the the idea of Greater Germany only when the last military decisions will have been made and the conditions will have been created when neither friends nor enemies have to be taken into account". In March, 1942 the Imperial Broadcasting Company planned to launch a series once a week to introduce this "new image of future Europe" to the world, including the United States, via shortwave. Ribbentrop banned the series at once. In the spring of 1942 Baldur von Schirach founded a European Youth Organization, but it did not continue its activities after the statutory meeting in Vienna as the Wilchelmstraße intervened. In the autumn of 1943 Alfred Rosenberg wished to organize a large-scale programme under the title "Struggle for Europe". This time it was only through Hitler's intervention that Ribbentrop managed to ban the idea, referring to his above quoted words. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs knew, however, that they had to do something positive as well. So they started to organize a European Committee or European Workshop in the autumn of 1942, the outlines of which had been worked out by Werner Best. The present article deals with Best's career in detail. The ideas of this expert of terror about a "new Europe" were formulated in the course of his criticism of Carl Schmitt's views. Best thought that law should take into consideration exclusively the interests of the individual nations, the aim of every people was, therefore, to maintain and develop itself. With respect to the attitude of the peoples towards one another only those rules could be maintained that did not violate the interests of the nation in question but observed them. Best accepted only those views of Professor Schmitt that referred to keeping off the democratic powers from the region. In order to give his criticism a "positive" content, Best explained the völkisch idea of regional development in six points. The article continues by introducing the ideas concerning Europe after the war conceived outside the Wilchelmstraße with the one of the Ministry of Economy of June, 1940 among them. It is followed by discussing the differences between opinions told by Walter Funk in a narrow circle and before the public. Reconstructing the ideas of Gustav Schlotterer, under-secretary of the ministry, the present article establishes that one of the factors of post-war reconstruction was the positive heritage of the International Steel Cartel founded in 1926 and left undisturbed by the Nazis. The organizations and trends originated by it remained basically intact also in the National Socialist period. However, in politics proper the military victory was the main motive. Although there were several differences among the views, for example, of the diplomat Braun von Stumm, professor of law Werner Hassellblatt dealing with matters of Germans living in other countries, SS -officer Wolfram Heize, and Kurt O. Rabl, head of department at the imperial commissioner's office in control of the occupied Netherlands, one thing was common, and it was their effort for the unhindered enforcement of German interests.