Bismarcks Entlassung als Anfang vom Ende? Der Bismarck-Mythos in Autobiographien derWeimarer Republik und des frühen „Dritten Reiches“

Abstract

Bismarck’s Dismissal as Beginning of the End? The Bismarck-Myth in the Memoirs in the Weimar Republic and at the Beginning of the Third Reich The Bismarck-myth, which glorified the founder of the empire as an omnipotent hero, boomed in Germany after the FirstWorldWar. At the same time, the increasing genre of autobiographies and memoirs consistently asked about the nature of the perished Wilhelmine period. In doing so, many authors connected the Bismarck-myth with the fate of the empire. They adopted the connection between the dismissal of the first chancellor und the failure of his successors in foreign policy, which often was postulated in public, and supplemented it by the dictum of inner degeneration after 1890. Thus they extended the Bismarck-myth and supported the increasing demand after a strong leader.