The Social and Economic Policies of German Big Business, 1918-1929

Abstract

THE business of businessmen is business, not politics, and their political engagement is almost invariably a function of their socioeconomic concerns. The political behavior of big business in the Weimar Republic is a particularly striking illustration of this generalization, and the rich collections of personal papers and records of business organizations and individual firms available in the industrial and public archives of the two Germanies make it possible to explore in greater depth than ever before the relationship between the socioeconomic problems and policies of big business, on the one hand, and the nature and tempo of the political activity of big business, on the other.' Here I shall discuss some of the more important and symptomatic characteristics of this relationship for the period between the Revolution of I9I8 and the beginning of the Great Depression. The belief in the primacy of economic over political considerations was of great significance in determining the politics of big business. There is nothing uniquely German about the identification by businessmen of the general welfare with the prosperity and autonomy of the business community, but this tendency necessarily had been reinforced by the policies of the German Empire, which had rewarded acceptance of its political system with economic autonomy, social privilege, and political advantages. The old regime was appropriately rewarded for this systematic training in opportunism when it was abandoned and practically buried alive by leading businessmen on the eve of the November Revolution. Carl Duisberg, the founder of 1. G. Farben and the president of the Reich Association of German Industry from I925 tO I930, was explicit on this score. A staunch supporter of Erich Ludendorff in September I9I8, he almost welcomed the republic three weeks too early. He wrote to a colleague in midOctober: