Centre for the Study of the Causes of the War
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The Centre for the Study of the Causes of the War (in German: Zentralstelle zur Erforschung der Kriegsursachen) was a
think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
based in Berlin, funded by the German government, whose sole purpose was to disseminate the official government position that Germany was the victim of Allied aggression in 1914, and hence the alleged moral invalidity of the
Versailles Treaty The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
. Of the many provisions in the treaty, Article 231 required Germany to accept responsibility for the damages it caused during the war and, under the terms of articles 232–248, to disarm, make substantial territorial concessions and pay
reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation * Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin History *War reparations **World War I reparations, made from G ...
to some of the victorious countries. Although neither the Entente powers at the time nor subsequent historical consensus attached the idea of war guilt to these articles, Germany viewed them as a humiliation and as being forced to accept full responsibility for causing the war. The Centre was founded in 1921 under a Swiss doctor, Ernst von Sauerbeck, and from 1923 headed by a former ''völkisch'' activist, Major Alfred von Wegerer.


Background

The Centre was part of an official campaign by the
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
and then the
Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
to counter Allied charges of German war guilt, and suggest consequences. German Governments sought to organise materials from 1914 onwards to counter questions on origins of the war. The key elements of German effort were the War Guilt Section of the Foreign Ministry , the ''Kriegsschuldreferat'', the Working Committee of German Associations (), the Centre for the Study of the Causes of the War (''Zentralstelle zur Erforschung der Kriegschuldfrage'') and a Parliamentary Committee of Enquiry (''Untersuchungsausschuss''); they used sympathetic writers and translators, and watered down the more controversial memoirs. The ''Kriegsschuldreferat'' was established in the Foreign Ministry in December 1918/January 1919 under
Bernhard von Bülow Bernhard Heinrich Karl Martin, Prince of Bülow (german: Bernhard Heinrich Karl Martin Fürst von Bülow ; 3 May 1849 – 28 October 1929) was a German statesman who served as the foreign minister for three years and then as the chancellor of t ...
("ardent nationalist and zealous bureaucrat"). Its primary task was to prepare the case before the
Peace Conference A peace conference is a diplomatic meeting where representatives of certain states, armies, or other warring parties converge to end hostilities and sign a peace treaty. Significant international peace conferences in the past include the follo ...
against the Allied charge that Germany and Austria-Hungary were solely responsible for the war. Von Bülow instructed Hans Freytag, the later head of the ''Kriegsschuldreferat'', to lock up all documents "in case the entente should demand them" 'as they apparently had the right to do under article 230 of the Versailles Treaty', so "they could be got out of the way easily". Documents were divided into "defence" and "offence". On 7 May 1919, the Allies presented the proposed accord, and on 28 May 1919 Germany published ''Deutschland Schuldig?'', a collection of documents intended to show that Germany had conducted a defensive war. On 16 June 1919,
Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (, also , ; 28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A key figure of the Independent Radicals, he was a ...
, the French president, presented an ultimatum to Germany—if it did not accept the peace treaty, war would recommence—and on 28 June 1919 Germany accepted the Versailles Treaty. The immediate need to refute war guilt was replaced by a long-term project agreed by Cabinet on 21 July 1919 to shift attention from war guilt to a debate about European affairs since 1870. This project had three editors: Mendelssohn-Bartoldy, Lepsius, and Thimme (Director and "special advisor". The
German Foreign Ministry , logo = DEgov-AA-Logo en.svg , logo_width = 260 px , image = Auswaertiges Amt Berlin Eingang.jpg , picture_width = 300px , image_caption = Entrance to the Foreign Office building , headquarters = Werderscher Mark ...
directed the editors on how and what to publish and exercised a special veto. The result was the 40 volumes of ''Die Grosse Politik der Europäischen Kabinette'' 1922-27, which became the standard work of reference for the German view 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 ...
.


History

To disseminate the government's official position, several "independent" bureaux and journals were established, and many writers were paid for articles of a refutational nature. Besides a wide range of effort to promote its position, works of sympathetic writers were translated into a number of languages and disseminated at government expense, and visits by such writers were also paid for. As part of this effort, the Centre for the Study of the Causes of the War (''Zentralstelle zur Erforschung der Kriegschuldfrage'' (ZEK)) was founded in 1921 under a Swiss doctor, Ernst von Sauerbeck, and from 1923 under Alfred von Wegerer.
Harry Elmer Barnes Harry Elmer Barnes (June 15, 1889 – August 25, 1968) was an American historian who, in his later years, was known for his historical revisionism and Holocaust denial. After receiving a PhD at Columbia University in 1918 Barnes became a pr ...
, an American, who between World War I and
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 ...
was a well-known
anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...
writer, a leader in the historical revisionism movement and later to become a
Holocaust denier Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: * ...
, and from 1924 onwards worked closely with the Centre for the Study of the Causes of the War. The Centre provided Barnes with research material, made funds available to him, translated his writings into other languages, and funded his trip to Germany in 1926. During Barnes's 1926 trip to Germany he received a most friendly welcome for his efforts as Barnes described it in "seeking to clear Germany of the dishonour and fraud of the war-guilt clause of the Treaty of Versailles". Lipstadt, Deborah ''Denying the Holocaust'', Free Press: New York, 1993. . page 68. The mission of the Centre became increasingly irrelevant as it was subsumed into the official position of the Nazi government after 1933, and especially after Hitler's revocation of Germany's signature on the Treaty of Versailles in 1937.


See also

*
Causes of World War I The identification of the causes of World War I remains controversial. World War I began in the Balkans on July 28, 1914, and hostilities ended on November 11, 1918, leaving 17 million dead and 25 million wounded. Moreover, the Russian Civil ...
*
Color book In diplomatic history, a colour book is an officially sanctioned collection of diplomatic correspondence and other documents published by a government for educational or political reasons, or to promote the government position on current or pas ...
*
War guilt question The war guilt question (german: Kriegsschuldfrage) is the public debate that took place in Germany for the most part during the Weimar Republic, to establish Germany's share of responsibility in the causes of the First World War. Structured in ...
*
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 ...


References


External links

{{Authority control 1921 establishments in Germany Historical negationism Organizations established in 1921 World War I