The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate whether there was any validity to the argument that select nineteenth century German cultural figures--Johann Fichte, Richard Wagner and Friedrich Nietzsche-were intellectual or spiritual forerunners of National Socialism. Numerous Western writers since the Nazi era have contended that, specifically, these three figures preached, eloquently or vociforously, irrationalism, elitism and nationalism--known Nazi characteristics and thus helped prepare the way for Hitlerism in Germany.Therefore in order to deduce the accuracy of these contentions, this historiographical study examined Vie many works of scholarship and reflection since 1933 that either attacked or defended the role of the three figures within a proto-Nazi contest. A selective bibliography of secondary sources by legitimate writers was gathered and examined and it was deduced that there was no firm intellectual link with the three subjects and Nazism. Those scholars who assailed Fichte, Wagner and Nietzsche usually based their arguments over a Nazi association on a surface level. On other occasions critics simply tore out of context select passages from the works of the three in order to establish a fascist connection. In addition built-in intellectual, ideological or national prejudices by certain scholars helped determine the assignment of the three as Nazi precursors.The totality of their messages was in fact often complex, varied or subtle and their ever-shifting speculative persuasions demonstrated a lack of intellectual continuity. Nonetheless scholars, especially after World War II, have shown the true and often noble meanings of their teachings and have revealed that the differences between the three and Hitler were far greater than the resemblances. Fichte, Wagner and Nietzsche, however, are open to criticism in producing bodies of work that demonstrated inconsistency and emotion-ridden language which mane them vulnerable to exploitation by opportunists like the Nazis.Many scholars have shown then that at best an. indirect association exists between the three cultural figures and National Socialism. Yet this study also has revealed that Fichte, Wagner and Nietzsche continue to be viewed as direct intellectual links with Nazism by various intellectuals to this day.

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This thesis is a case study of the KPD in Saxony between 1924 and 1933. It uses recently available documentation in what were formerly East German archives to reconstruct and assess the KPD's internal party life and political campaigning in the region. Chapter one places the thesis in the context of existing historical studies of the KPD and addresses the themes which run throughout the study. These themes concern: the extent to which the KPD's political behaviour can be ascribed to its domination by Moscow, the so-called "Stalinisation" explanation; the extent to which party ideology could influence members' political thought and actions in local settings; and the extent to which the KPD's political campaigning at grass roots level could achieve communist political objectives. Chapter two then outlines the Saxon economic, social and political developments which provide the backdrop for the KPD's activities in the region. The main body of the thesis begins by addressing the impact of the "Failed October" of 1923, which was to have been launched from Saxony, on the KPD. The chapter deals with Ruth Fischer's attempt to pursue a policy independently of that set by the Comintern and the extent to which the left-wing leadership in Berlin could impose its policies in Saxony. Chapter four then looks at life inside the Saxon KPD during the fratricidal factional feuds of 1925 to 1928. The following chapter goes on to evaluate the extent to which the Saxon KPD's political campaigning during the mid-twenties could. achieve influence on the SPD-led workers' movement and among the radicalised Mittelstand. Chapter six then addresses how the Saxon KPD received the Comintern's ultra-Left policy between 1928 and 1930 and questions the recent trend in the literature, which points to the policy's largely positive reception among the membership. The final chapter deals with the Saxon KPD during the rise of the Nazis and asks whether it was possible to carry out the Comintern's policy of treating the left-wing SPD, which was dominant in the region, as the main obstacle to Communist objectives in Germany.

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This thesis is a study of the policy of the Protestant church leadership towards the Weimar Republic and during the first six months of the Third Reich. The scope of the thesis is similar to that of existing studies of the Reichswehr, the Prussian civil service, and conservative political parties. Most work on the German Protestant church in the 20th century concentrates on the period of the Kirchenkampf under the Third Reich, but recently the part played by the church in the Republic has also attracted attention. The books on this subject, however, give only a general picture of the church as an anti-Republican institution. This thesis tries to show by a detailed study of the church leadership, based on manuscript sources, that there were also strong forces drawing the church towards an accommodation with the Republic. As in other comparable groups, there was an important Vernunftrepublikaner element within the church leadership.

No abstract included. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

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