Walther Rathenau - Family, Political career, Assassination, Works

Industrialist and statesman, born in Berlin, Germany. He organized German war industries during World War 1, and in 1921, as minister of reconstruction, and after February 1922 as foreign minister, dealt with reparations. His attempts to negotiate a reparations agreement with the victorious Allies, and the fact that he was Jewish, made him extremely unpopular in nationalist circles, and he was murdered by extremists.

Walther Rathenau (September 29, 1867 – June 24, 1922) was a German industrialist and politician who served as Foreign Minister of Germany.

Family

Rathenau was born in Berlin, the son of Emil Rathenau, a prominent Jewish businessman and founder of the Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG) electrical-engineering company. He worked as an engineer before joining the AEG board in 1899, becoming a leading industrialist in the late German Empire and early Weimar Republic periods. Rathenau is thought to be the basis for the German industrialist character Arnheim in Robert Musil's novel The Man Without Qualities.

Political career

Rathenau was a leading proponent of a policy of assimilation for German Jews: he argued that Jews should oppose both Zionism and socialism, but should instead integrate themselves into mainstream German society.

His wealthy, Jewish heritage and political engagement and decisions caused aversion within the extreme right, which later led to his assassination in 1922.

During World War I Rathenau held senior posts in the Raw Materials Department of the War Ministry, as well as becoming chairman of AEG on his father's death in 1915. He played the leading role in putting Germany's economy in a war footing, and enabling Germany to continue its war effort for four years despite acute shortages of labour and raw materials.

After the war Rathenau, a moderate liberal in politics, was one of the founders of the German Democratic Party (DDP).

In 1921 Rathenau was appointed Minister of Reconstruction, and in 1922 he became Foreign Minister.

The British politician Robert Boothby wrote of him: "He was something that only a German Jew could simultaneously be: a prophet, a philosopher, a mystic, a writer, a statesman, an industrial magnate of the highest and greatest order, and the pioneer of what has become known as 'industrial rationalization'."

In fact, despite his desire for economic and political co-operation between Germany and the Soviet Union, Rathenau remained skeptical of the Soviets' methods. The Russian idea is compulsory happiness, in the same sense and with the same logic as the compulsory introduction of Christianity and the Inquisition."

Assassination

On June 24, 1922 Rathenau was assassinated by two right-wing army officers linked to Organisation Consul.

Rathenau's assassination may have significantly influenced the long-term political and economic development of Europe. The British writer Morgan Philips Price wrote:

"In June 1922 Walter Rathenau, a big Jewish industrialist and progressive economist, was assassinated by gangsters of the extreme Right who were the heart and soul of the Freikorps. I was present at the memorial service in the Reichstag and noted an extraordinary outburst of enthusiasm among the workers of Berlin, as expressed in their trade union leaders and socialist parties, for the Republic and for President Ebert.

Works

1908 Reflektionen 1912 Zur Kritik der Zeit 1913 Zur Mechanik des Geistes 1917 Von kommenden Dingen 1918 An Deutschlands Jugend 1919 Die neue Gesellschaft 1919 Der neue Staat 1919 Der Kaiser 1919 Kritik der dreifachen Revolution 1920 Was wird werden (a utopian novel) Gesammelte Schriften in 6 volumns 1924 Gesammelte Reden 1926 Briefe, 2 volumns 1927 Neue Briefe 1929 Politische Briefe