Otto Hoetzsch (14 February 1876 – 27 August 1946), was a German academic and politician. Son of a plumber, he studied history, economics and history of art in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, starting in 1895. In 1899 he obtained a PhD, worked for several newspapers and was active in the

Alldeutscher Verband The Pan-German League (german: Alldeutscher Verband) was a Pan-German nationalist organization which was officially founded in 1891, a year after the Zanzibar Treaty was signed. Primarily dedicated to the German Question of the time, it held pos ...

and favoured the creation of a

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

. In 1905 he passed the exam as an interpreter in Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, French, English, Italian and Dutch. Between 1906 and 1913 he taught in the Prussian Royal Academy in Posen. In 1913 he became

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

for Eastern European history in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. He started his political career as a member of the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n constitutional assembly. In 1918 he joined the DNVP (

German National People's Party The German National People's Party (german: Deutschnationale Volkspartei, DNVP) was a national-conservative party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major conservative and nationalist party in Wei ...

), and was a member of the Reichstag from 1920 to 1930. In 1922 he helped negotiate the

Treaty of Rapallo Following World War I there were two Treaties of Rapallo, both named after Rapallo, a resort on the Ligurian coast of Italy: * Treaty of Rapallo, 1920, an agreement between Italy and the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (the later Yugoslav ...

with the new

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, as an interpreter. He felt that this would also lead to an international rehabilitation of Germany after the Great War. He greatly admired President Hindenburg, whom he also entertained at dinner in his home. Between 1923 and 1934 he repeatedly travelled to the Soviet Union and founded the Journal ''Osteuropa'' (Eastern Europe) which still exists. In 1928 he went on an extensive lecturing tour through the United States. Back in Berlin he maintained contacts with Russian emigrants. Although he was a German nationalist (like many of his contemporaries in 1914 he had enthusiastically welcomed the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

), the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

considered him a

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

. Consequently, he resigned from the Reichstag in 1932 and was forced to retire in 1935. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he once more became a professor of history in Berlin, this time with Soviet approval. He published extensively on Russian and American History and was widely recognized in both East and West Germany. In 1966 his classic text ''Grundzüge der Geschichte Russlands'' was translated and published as ''The Evolution of Russia'' as part of the "Library of European Civilization" series.

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoetzsch, Otto 1876 births 1946 deaths Politicians from Leipzig People from the Kingdom of Saxony German Lutherans German Conservative Party politicians German National People's Party politicians Conservative People's Party (Germany) politicians Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Alldeutscher Verband members Prussian politicians Royal Academy Posen faculty Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin Burials at the Invalids' Cemetery