Richard Grelling (11 June 1853 − 14 January 1929) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

lawyer, writer and pacifist who wrote the international best selling book ''J'Accuse'' in World War I, publicly criticizing the actions of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

for waging a war of aggression in Europe.

Early life

Richard Grelling was born 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 ...

, at that time the capital of

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, ...

. He studied law but after finishing his studies worked as a writer and dramatist. In 1892 he was a founder-member of the German Peace Society (German: ''Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft''), of which he was vice-chairman. From 1903 he lived near

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, until Italy joined the belligerents in 1915, after which he moved to Switzerland.

World War I

In 1915 Grelling wrote the anti-war book entitled ''J'Accuse'', condemning the actions of

in causing the war through its foreign policies. The book was banned in Germany but was translated into many languages and enjoyed huge sales. Printed excerpts in the form of propaganda leaflets from its text were dropped by aircraft of the British Expeditionary Force into the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...

's trenches in France before the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

in 1916 in an endeavour to undermine the fighting morale of the German troops situated there.'Das Koniglich Preussische Reserve Infanterie Regiment Nr.15', by Maj. von Forstner. (Pub. 1929), P.285. He followed this success of ''J'Accuse'' with ''Das Verbrechen'' (''The Crime''), in which he attacked his critics, including his son, the philosopher

Kurt Grelling Kurt Grelling (2 March 1886 – September 1942) was a German logician and philosopher, member of the Berlin Circle. Life and work Kurt Grelling was born on 2 March 1886 in Berlin. His father, the Doctor of Jurisprudence Richard Grelling ...

Later life

He later worked for several newspapers, among them the ''Frankfurter Zeitung''. During the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

most of his writings were boycotted. Grelling died in Berlin.

References

1853 births 1929 deaths Writers from the German Empire 19th-century German male writers 19th-century German non-fiction writers 20th-century German male writers 20th-century German non-fiction writers German anti–World War I activists German male non-fiction writers German pacifists Jurists from Berlin {{Germany-writer-stub

Early life

World War I

Later life

See also

References