Otto Hoetzsch (14 February 1876 – 27 August 1946), was a German academic and politician (

German Conservative Party The German Conservative Party (, DkP) was a Right-wing politics, right-wing political party of the German Empire founded in 1876. It largely represented the wealthy landowning German nobility and the Prussian Junker (Prussia), Junker class. The p ...

DNVP The German National People's Party (, DNVP) was a national-conservative and monarchist political party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major nationalist party in Weimar Germany. It was an alli ...

and KVP). At the beginning of the 20th century, he was one of the founders of

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

research and advocated dealing with the Eastern European states amicably. For this reason, when he spoke out against annexationist efforts towards Russia in 1917, the

National Socialists Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

defamed him as a pro-

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

.siehe

Biography

Son of a plumber, he studied history, economics and history of art in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, starting in 1895. In 1899 he obtained a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

, worked for several newspapers and was active in the

Alldeutscher Verband The Pan-German League () 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 positions on German imperia ...

and favoured the creation of a

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

. 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 The Prussian Academy of Arts () was a state arts academy first established in 1694 by prince-elector Frederick III of Brandenburg in Berlin, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and later king in Prussia. After the Accademia dei Linc ...

Posen Posen may refer to: Places Europe * Poznań (German: ''Posen''), city in Poland * Grand Duchy of Posen, autonomous province of Prussia, 1815–1848 * Province of Posen, Prussian province, 1848–1918 * Posen (region), the south-western part of t ...

. In 1913 he became

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

for Eastern European history in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. He started his political career as a member of the

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n constitutional assembly. In 1918 he joined the DNVP (

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

), 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 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, 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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

), the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

considered him a

. 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 Academic staff of Royal Academy Posen Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin Burials at the Invalids' Cemetery